July 28 eh, seems like some time ago and it really was. I don't feel as if I finished the summer with the greatest posts and have later learned that I let down many of my readers with my sub-par writing. Sorry. Well the semester is almost over and I have perhaps the whole thing in front of me with finals. Things are going on but staying the same. Also, I wanted to show you Huashan. Gorgeous. http://www.welcome2cn.com/huashan.html

The cow won't stop laughing

After sending my 30 kg of stuff off I had McDonalds breakfast which was a wonderful treat then while waiting for the grocery store to open I was there early enough to claim some special discount at an electronics store like Best Buy. I chose the 2gb flash memory for 2400 yen. I could have gotten a PC or nice camera but they were too much. I felt like i won the lottery then didnt even buy the thing. I did however buy some laughing cow cheese and a 3 pack of different types of rolls for lunch/snack on the bus. I bought this cheese out of homage to my good friend Joseph, how i miss her and her crazy Brit ways. She taught me to eat this processed cheese in Aus and I have never looked back. It was delicious but when i decided to try it on the bus i realized that my 3 pack was all in fact cream filled rolls. 2 of the 3 had melon cream filling and the other pack was a mix of chocolate and vanilla. Sucks, and i tried to eat around it with my cheese but the bread wouldnt relent its smell. Jo, the cow laughed.

This bus ride was in Japanese only and a pretty crappy day outside so i slept most of it since I did the 4am thing the night before, but at one stop where i never knew how long we had i made it my mission to find real bread. No sliced bread in this country, it comes as huge texas toast in 3 or 5 packs, so i keep looking and happen upon a bakery at this truck stop like place. Grab a couple garlic butter baguettes and make a run back for the bus. Of course they are waiting on me and give me a unsatisfactory look to say the least. We arrive in Tokyo 10 minutes late thanks to me. The Japanese are a punctual people mind you. Luckily Haruna hadn't yet given up hope and was there to take me to her place. Will be nice not to have to think about where I am going for awhile.

I am so rich it hurts

Before heading out on the bus for Tokyo I had a few more stops. Saw the earthquake memorial and ate ramen behind a curtain in Kobe after hiking around their favorite mountain and relishing the herb garden. Osaka brought some of the most outrageous styles I have ever seen. The girls want blonde hair really bad. Both the guys and girls havent realized the 80s are over with their big feathered hair. The skirts are short and there are more jewels and gold than imaginable. Busy as and i later learn that Osakans dont sleep. Seems nice.

Nara was pretty much the center of the tourism industry that i have seen thus far in Japan. They have this deer park with hundreds of deer, not bound by any fence or anything but the lure of deer crackers that the people give them constantly. Fatty deer. Saw a giant buddha and tried to climb through a hole in a pole in the biggest wooden building in the world that is the size of his nostril. Didnt make it but a bunch of kids did so they will have good luck the rest of their lives while i am stuck with nothing. Too many temples and shrines and plenty of world heritage sites (same as Kyoto i suppose). Met a Filippino/Chinese girl who worked as a dancer over sushi bowl. Good stuff. Ate squid/pork pancake. Good stuff. That is all.

Where Am I

So getting up for my second day in Kyoto was a sore affair. The mat that i had slept on in my sake haze had not been good for me. Luckily they were out of tatami for that night and since i refuse to make reservations for future nights we will just see how the week progresses. I will let you know ahead of time that it worked out where i had the tatami every night but this one. Saving money is good when you don't really have that much of it. So after unsuccessfully sending my bag away i hung my head in shame, and to avoid the rain. Walked the 30 minutes to the shrine/church to meet Koji and we took off for Tenri. Mind you at this point i thought we were going to Nara which is the old capital and full of world heritage sites but we end up in Tenri with his mom meeting us at the station and all that jazz. Headed straight to the cafeteria for lunch which was ok and provided for me (each day is like that scene in half bakes where they are on the date and he has the money countdown thing in the corner, gotta watch it) then we were whisked away to the lecture room in the new old looking building. Here I learned what it meant to have a joyous life, that all humanity came from Tenri and specifically one 13 part hexagonal wooden pole, and that cleaning is very important. Saw their temple which they called the biggest wooden structure in Asia but i come to find out the biggest wooden building in the world is in Nara only a few km away. Hmm. After lecture and running into Koji's dad we head for the temple. The day turns out to be great and the mountains beautiful. The building really is beautiful and polished and smells lovely. Walked around, met some of the holy men (priests i think) and went on our way. So many people cleaning freaks me out.

Went over to their home to meet the new baby: March, thus named by her grandfather so international people could pronounce it. That's foresight. She was adorable and only 4 months. Met Koji's brother and some friends one of whom came from ATL and was taking time off school at Kennesaw to study Japanese and Tenrikyo. That's the religion/way of life by the way. 3M followers worldwide and a chruch in Atlanta. Amazing and I never would have known but for the rain in Kyoto. The train rides were fun talking about nonsense and Koji looking up every word in the dictionary. Have to give him credit for persistence. Interesting how I find these people.

Rainy Night In

Kyoto is how it goes. Well not only night but also day. My only shoes, the sweet as 991's i found at Plato's for $15 are probably ruined. Well i now know that they aren't but they do smell really bad. I let them dry for 4 days or so but that just wreaked havoc on my feet and the people around me - ended up rubbing the tops of my feet off because of walking with wet straps and as for the other folks in the hostel they got a nostril full. During the day after my buddy Chuck left and I had found the new hostel, inn rather - the Cheapest. Literally called the Cheapest Inn. Got a bed and headed out. Earlier in the day I figured that I should go ahead and send all my stuff home that I didn't need. great idea right and for only 13000 yen it could be mine. That and 2 months. Ended up doing it but not after having mathematical equations equalling 2m explained and drawn for me multiple times. They are real sticklers over here because my bag ended up being (length plus circumference) 2m and 4 cm. This did not pass the test of course and multiple people held up big x's in front of their bodies. No go. That is until the last day in Kyoto and I desperately wanted to rid myself of them so i scavenged for boxes in the garbage and found some suitable ones. Packed all my stuff in and duct taped the hell out of em. We will see how far they make it.

Back to Tuesday though. Walked around in the rain for hours and my new North Face (that would be in quotes if i could find them) was leaking and bleeding everywhere. My new Gore Tex Arc Teryx jacket wasn't much help either. I happened upon a temple and was taking a picture when this guy comes out and asks if i would like a tour. Always wary of spending money on crap I say no but he invites me in and I figure he wants to practice some English. We perform the Tenrikyo practice with clapping and praying for a joyous life. Sounded good and the guy was pretty cool and I somehow ended up agreeing to go to Tenri with him the next day to see the town and the temples and the mountains there.

After spending a number of hours waiting for the rain to die down enough to make it to the subway from the YHA hostel I finally did and the kinda gay host guy was pretty glad to be rid of me and my stinking ways i am pretty sure. Made it to the Inn and since I had reserved the tatami course (read: woven mat bunk bed in the open with a light directly above, but good price at only 900 yen after i had spent 4800 for the previous night) i had no place for my things. Side note, the second i arrived my new China original Samsonite suitcase broke in many ways. The handle to pull it and the handle on top. The next day the other handle, the inside lining and some screws fell out. The one thing that stayed true were the zippers. Hella fine. Don't know why i am writing all this but i find it somewhat amusing and i am now remembering the hellish walk with overweight bags in the rain and my new umbrella blew back in the wind and nobody helps the poor white kid obviously in need, so sad it is.

Finally settled i figure i need a beer or better yet some tonic for the gin i bought at the airport. Bombay for $11 isn't too bad. Found grapefruit water instead and headed to the park i found when looking for the Cheapest. Listened to ipod, looked at lonely planet, ate some chips, and was asked to join some old men drinking sake. Things always work out. One out of three of them knew some English so we talked as much as possible and they were all retired half artists and one was A Little Famous in Japan. Many people came through including some high schoolers, dog walkers, firework shooters, a lady who gave us rice cakes, and others I'm sure. Ended up being quite a night hearing their stories and talking and listening to them talk. At any rate the sake was flowing and it wasn't raining on the walk home. I think the mat was almost bearable that night.

Chuck

No, not Norris. He is not here. But, Cox is. Or so says his email. I would have written this a few days ago since it is from Monday/Tuesday but I tell you time flies when you have to walk all day and then drink sake at night. Either that or the fact that some fat guy in an orange shirt is constantly on the computer here. Which is a Mac but I think that it was the first Mac and gets some good use the quickness level is not high. At any rate I got off the limousine bus as it was called for some reason at some random hotel in Kyoto. While standing amongst my now 49kg of luggage I realize I dont know where I am or what the hell to do. Luckily I did some Lonely Planet reading on the way and as trusty as ever it was pretty wrong. I can't read though either so maybe that played a part. So standing looking studpidly at too small and too wrong of a map this dude comes up and asks if i need help. In English. I say I am heading for bla bla hostel and i think i know but where is the subway? He points me and we part. However while again staring stupidly at the machine by which you purchase subway tickets he reappears and helps and we have a good chat. He says there is a hostel near his house so i head there with him and find the place. It is a YHA known worldwide for rules, and boy do they have them here. To start: lights out 10:30, wakeup 6:40, eat dinner 7-8, eat breakfast 7-8, out of hostel 9-4. I thought that i had entered hell or at least a regimented military school. Head up to the room and the rain starts which will last the next 4 days. Go and have dinner and find I have just that day missed the biggest festival of the year. Head back up to find Chuck.

Charles actually and hes from Canadia so its all good. I cant find apostrophe or spell check on this computer my sincere apologies for mistakes. Im not so smart as i seem. Well we get to talking and he whips out the mini magnetic chess board and challenges me. Anyone who challenges strangers at chess is probably pretty good. That, plus the fact that i havent played for 3 years. Minus the game with Ellet on our fridge that never ended. Well he beats me 3 straight but tells me i am the best beginner he has played. Woo hoo. We plus a German, Swiss, and Taiwanese dude end up talking about what the human needs really are and why most are against polygamy. That and whether Drs should be able to pull the plug. Gotta love backpackers. Got to bed at bed time and it was pretty nice i must admit. Waking up is like the damned cruise boat or train in China when they come on and yell at you to get out of bed and you have no idea what is going on. Packed up my stuff because i couldnt stand another day of these rules.

Headed out with Chuck to find the internet and a new place to stay. He led me astray but thats okay. Hey hey hey whaddya say? Well we found it and i got a banana juice/espresso drink and played for a couple hours. Dude was ok but over enthusiastic about substitute teaching. Had some sushi train and parted ways. This is when i searched out Kyoto Cheapest Inn. If the name is right I am in for a treat.

Yeah Yeah Yeah(s?)

So i had to study for exams or else fail and have a complete waste of a summer. Whoa, whats that? No, not a complete waste just a bunch of Fails on my lawyering transcript. Who the hell knows what that thing is called anyway. Why do we have to have another degree first? These questions that others bring to my attention are quite good i think. However, they are inapplicable because who would of thought of me at law school? Nobody, thats who. Well i studied every night my last week in China much to my chagrin (usage?). Sat up studing at my favorite cafe - Sculpting in Time. S.I.T. for short. Those Chinese are clever eh? I think westerners owned it though because the bathrooms were a little too nice and they had soap at the sink. The place nexxt door called Cava had nothing but the same initial atmosphere. Last night of studies meet this dude (lets call him Ethan) who is from Vermont, studies in Montreal, and is learning Chinese in Beijing. This big bearded hippy studying Eastern philosophy needs to get his shit together. I get some tips from him but only have a few days left. To be wasted for sure.

Exams were grueling but Chin Jie said we could write about whatever we wanted (supposedly in class) and the others were completely predictable. I feel that i passed. The only reason for studying was to give those Pierce kids lower grades. Dont know why i think that i am better than them, just do. The last days were passed at the various markets buying various things i didnt need and filling a new suitcase to the brim and not having it pass inspection because of that a hole ticket taker. At the airport, after a luxurious cab ride which i had given up half way through my trip, I found myself having to pay nearly 100 for my freaking bag to get on the plane. This is half the price i paid for the ticket mind you. I am a sucka. Had to get it on though for it contained my treasures from Chine. Paid after some Russian pilot/steward guy was being a real meaniehead to the people at the excess baggage counter. He and his flight crew comprised of haggard old Russkies flying Aeroflot were trying to get about 20 huge duffel bag things on there. No doubt there was a connection to the Russian Mafia. He pushed other people out of the way but we got some other dude to put our stuff in front of theirs much to his chagrin (ha) and left. Luckily the bag made it.

Flight was ok, only time i have felt like i was going to die on an airplane. I always thought the question "how was your flight" was pretty much rhetorical but i guess not. First leg into Yantai was good and i had a good chat with some dude from there who was disappointed when i told him i was continuing to Osaka. The flight over the Sea of Japan was the bumpiest ever and i thought we may skid off the runway upon landing. I guess thats why you dont want the government controlling everything. China Eastern gets a thumbs down all around. Food was good though - shrimp and ham pasta and octopus salad and fig roll. Really, good.

Last night in China was one for the ages. Went to the standard Mom's for dinner then to Bla Bla for a tshirt. Frenchie sitting next to us comes over for a chat and come to find out hes a Michelin man, literally. Hes the son of the owner or founder or some such thing. First to have a Porsche in China. Really rich growing up in Africa, school in Paris, Dublin, and New York etc etc. Anyway, had a bad date and ended up at this dive and talking to us. Drank a million and a half beers and had some interesting talks with him and some Cameroonians(?). Actually that was second to last night, Mike's last. Last night at the cafe next to He Jia and apparently they run to get pizza for us because they have no food except snacks and give us Mongolian cheese which is creamy hardness. Makes me look down on Mongolian foods already. I was excited about going there but how now (brown cow)? (Sorry for all the parens)

Yeah. Made it to Japon. Seems cool and since i flew into the wrong airport seems like a fitting start. End up going to Kyoto where I am now and this place is something else. When it's not raining.

America the Beautifur

Nothing reminds me more of how much I love America than the smell of hot dogs over an open campfire and the sound of fireworks exploding overhead. Alas this has not been my experience this year as it has in years past on the beaches of Enders Lake in Enders, Nebraska. I know that you may not think that western Nebraska is a hot spot for vacationing but let me tell you it certainly is hot. After hearing that not only the US embassy but also the Chamber of Commerce have Independence Day celebrations I decided that we should certainly go have a burger and a Budweiser at the very least. In doing research for these events I came up empty handed and forgot about it until I got "That's Beijing" the English language mag of Beijing. It said there was some party at some bar in some part of Beijing that I didn't know. Needless to say none of this worked out. Luckily, Brad our super awesome (sarcasm?) TA threw himself a going away party or dinner that night. It was to be at an all you can eat and drink Japanese restaurant. We all know that nothing goes better with raw fish than unlimited amounts of beer. Gary, Mike, and I head out to find the place after consulting my recently acquired copy of the aforementioned ex pat mag and figured it had to be this place called six root tree. Naturally nobody knew what the hell I was talking about when asking about it since the translation, however literal it may sounds, apparently isn't. Either that or it is a completely different place. After consulting my hostel girls and them drawing some characters on a business card we set off. Decided to take the subway to the district we thought it was in and then cab it from there since it was rush hour and cabs are expensive. Side note on Beijing subway - it's f'ing crowded. Made it to the stop I thought based on very in depth research and analysis of the situation and after attempting to talk to several guards, front desk people, and bus stop people nobody had heard of it. Got in a cab and since Brad had texted me the number we called and the cabbie made us get out. Other side of the road we get in one and he takes off after making the same phone call. 20 minutes and 30 kuai (no savings after all) later we arrive on the side of a street and he tells us we are there. We get out look around and don't know where we are. Asking a club bouncer by pointing doesn't help so again we dial the place and he points down the street. We start walking and finally after seeing ee, er, san i know we are close and we step in a few minutes later.

Upstairs we have our own room and most are already there. Eat a ton of raw fish, edamame, tempura and after a wait of about 20 minutes for the first beer they start flowing. We end up with rousing renditions of God Bless America, the Star Spangled Banner, and America the Beautiful among others. This was our celebration for our country and we raised a glass to Tsingtao in her name. Seems that we drank a bit much and after a run in with the squatter Mike had to head home leaving the cabbie something as well. I headed off to Angel where we had a VIP karaoke room and table near the dance floor reserved. Had some more good singing in there along with dance contests, which Chinese girls really love let me tell you, and ended with some more World Cup which came on at 3. At one point Chris, Erin, and I were out dancing to some crap rap and Eve comes over so I dance with her for a bit. This is the time that Haruna arrives after texting and calling me all night. This creates jealousy in her I later learn and must apologize. She's a cool girl and likes party and staying out till 5am regularly. When Brad (the Asian predator) found himself a target and was having a mad make out session at the table I realize I need to go check out the game. About half time I decide that I should go to class tomorrow (today) and that it's time to head home to my small, moldy, sickening loft in the dungeon. Made it to class at 9am, I should be your hero.

Crab Style

So you may be thinking that I have visited the Shaolin Temple and become a master of the crab style of Kung Fu. Think again since that isn't even one of the styles. Didn't you even listen to Wu Tang when you were younger. Just writing that makes me wonder what it means in Chinese. I will find out don't you worry. Well, crab style is what I call the stupid way in which these guys over here play ping pong. Not very cool if you ask me, but that is just because I have not won against it yet. Mao is one of the Chinese law students at Tsinghua chosen to sit in on our classes and be our counterparts to show us around and be our friends while we are here. They thought of everything huh? Well, Mao is mine and even though I didn't meet him till the third week I always say that it's better late than never. I asked him if there were public or university tables to play and i saw a gleam in his eye. We made plans to play the next day.

After class we decided to go eat lunch at the canteen on campus since it would be quick. Promptly at 1, the time that class gets out Mao calls me and asks if I am ready. I tell him we should meet at 2 because I have to go eat. Promptly at 2 Mao calls me and asks where I am. I hurry back and meet him to go the ping pong gymnasium. I talked Mike into coming too and it turns out that Sang comes as well. We play for around 2 hours but after the first 15 minutes Mike is out of his shirt. This place is in the basement and is just as you would imagine. There are 3 rows of 8 ping pong tables and although this time only about 8 of them get going we later get to experience the full force of the place. This experience is pretty good and after first being annihilated by Mao I finally come to within 4 with the last game ending 17-21. I beat Sang and Mike every time but that damn Mao would not go down. We vowed to do it again.

After Monday's pizza party where we all received participation certificates for coming on a study abroad trip several people wanted to go play. This was lead by Eve who, after hearing our stories of the now legendary Mao who took down the Westerners, couldn't wait to play him. Mike told me that she was a bad ass and her being from Shanghai made it at least believable. Now i don't know for sure if she ever won but she didn't make a big deal about it if she did. I walked over with Jackson (they all have American, or at least pronounceable names) he made quick work of me in 2 games. I traded up to play Rich who I beat and then Wyatt who I stuck with the rest of the time. He was as good, maybe better, than Mao or at least I tell myself that since I couldn't beat him. After about 3 games I had had enough and ripped the shirt off since all the other Americans had. This place was bumpin now with about 20 tables going at the same time. Some serious talent on this floor. Now for those who have seen me play you may say that I am not so good but for my once a year play I don't think I am so bad. I got within 1 of Wyatt several times but could never eek one out. I think the rest of the patrons were a bit freaked out by all the white kids in there but that's just the way it is some times. Anyway, the crab style is how they hold the paddle or racket as they call it. I think it's cheating even though it's allowed in the Olympics. This is a very difficult sport and Wyatt confessed that I am the best foreigner he has ever played. Yeah, that place was hot and wet.

The Dungeon

Oh, where to start. I feel I always need to answer this question not only to you but to myself. The funny thing about that statement is that you really is myself. Wow, I just blew my own mind. At any rate I made it back from Xian. You may not have realized this seeing as how there have been very few (none) posts on this exact blog. Luckily those people who worry about me knew - side story: once upon a time I decided to take a trip to the land down under. At the conclusion of my trip and upon arrival back in the US I stayed with my friend Jon in LA. We were having a grand ol time going to the beach and the pool and eating American foods. I decided to call home the third day that I was there and to my surprise home was upset. Why, I asked myself. Come to find out that those who worry most about me nearly called the FBI to go find me in Fiji. Since that day I have learned that i need to keep these people well informed of my whereabouts. Since I don't know Chinese it is very difficult to obtain international phone access here. Luckily, I do know how to use a computer so I can write emails, and believe it or not the keyboards are in Roman characters so the Chinese have to write pinyin to make a character. Ha, America wins again. Side story over.

Before leaving for Xian I realized that I may be running low on monetary units so I did some research and poking around and found a cheap place to stay in my quaint little neighborhood of Wodaoku. This of course is in the Haidian district of Beijing just outside the third loop. I found a hostel with really crappy rooms for 75 kuai a night or a little less than $10. This isn't too bad since I was paying 168 before I left. I figured that since I was only to be back in Beijing a couple of weeks this would be no problem. Come to find out that the act of checking in was nearly too much for me. I didn't check out the room since I had seen one before and decided to go ahead and book it for only one night. The girls behind the counter at first seemed very serious and straight laced but after using an internet translator to try and translate Chinese to English for me they went nuts because we did. The translation ended up accusing us (Mike was trying to help me) of being traitors. We of course took offense since it was so close to the 4th of July and made a big ruckus. Good times ensued and I finally got my room. Go down to check it out and can barely fit in the door since it rams into the side of the bed when I try to push my way through. Let me try and give a layout of the room: size is about 5' x 8' (the ' means ft i think) this is enough room somehow to fit a lofted single bed, 2 chairs with a glass table between, and a desk set up with a phone and TV. These Chinese amaze me everyday with their feats of engineering. So I throw my stuff down and get out of there which would come to be a common theme over the next several days. I don't know if I mentioned the reason for the name of the post but, quite simply, this room is in the basement which is much like a dungeon. Note that it is not cool like the dungeon at Civy that Matt and I forced Nate and Grass into every day but it's more like a real dungeon where everyone is depressed because they have been in the depressing, moldy, wet, dark environment for way too long. I would tell you the name of the place so you could see for yourself but again I am little help. I can't leave off the bathrooms or bathroom rather since it is shared by 2 floors of rooms. There is one girl's and one boy's and they are filthy, nasty, dirty like the south. When we originally went in to check the place out Mike looked in the all squatter bathroom to find a big pile right there. No good either on the eyes or nose. Shower = disgusting and the sandals provided to wear in are covered with mold as well so i don't know if they are helping me not get fungus on my feet. I didn't though and I didn't get sick so I guess it was ok. I quickly learned the area and found a cafe nearby with nice sit down toilets to use until 1230 at night. Worth the price of a coffee for sure. I actually got into this practice a lot - spending as little time in the room as possible. It was depressing so I did more walking and sitting in cafes than I had up to that point. Routine was to go home around 1 in the morning or the time that i was about to fall asleep, jump in bed and sleep. Wake up to the alarm and get the hell out. What a life.

Another problem with this place is that it is illegal for foreigners to stay there. Minor, you may say and I would usually agree in that if they let you in who really cares. But, this time I needed a visa extension and to get such a thing in the land of red tape you need a temporary residence form from where you are staying and to get this form you have to go register at the police station in your district and to do this you have to know freaking CHINESE. Suck. Finally, after talking to the lovely Ms Yang at Tsinghua several times and her making several phone calls on my behalf I decided to move back to He Jia. I didn't want to pay those prices but it's better than paying 500 a day for each day over your visa or going to jail if it's 10 days. Moved back over and the language barrier was still there so I have Ms Yang call them and explain and it all works out. Rewind. I need this because I had gone to the visa bureau the week before and they didn't accept my application because of my place of residence. The manager at the hostel wouldn't let the girls at the front desk give me the paper because my Korean translator told me that they did it before and the black people made them get in trouble with the police so they don't do it anymore. The girls were on my side and told the manager I was American and not black (all, or most of the black people here are from Africa) and wouldn't get them in trouble. Didn't really get what was going on at the time but it all goes back to the fact that it is illegal for me to stay there. Luckily now I am back at the fabulous He Jia that gets better everyday and I share a room with Mike, finally made him give in, so it's not too much more. We now have a separate shower handle and a peep hole. What's next?

Hua Shan

Yeah, so this was quite the adventure. Hua Shan is one of the 4 great mountains in China and boy was it great to us. Either that or the opposite i still can't figure out which. The trip started off as any good trip in China does - with complete confusion and lack of ability to communicate thus leading to many frustrated parties. Alex, Mike, and I were planning to go and then i invited Michael which was a pretty sweet move i guess since he was quite the hiker. Deciding to skip class to make a night hike to the summit of this 2200m monstrosity was really no decision seeing as how it was Bing Wang's class. However, we did have to write a patent claim before hand which really cut into my planning time and what i contribute to leaving my headlamp behind. Cest la vie, or whatever the frogs say.

At the train station there are also buses and we had friends that took a bus for 26 so we thought we should get that price but later in the day apparently costs more, either that or else they hate us. After Michael haggling on our behalf for about 20 minutes we got them to 30 but i was having none of it so when another old man who couldn't walk (could he drive?) told us he would take us for that price and drop us at the entrance it was a no brainer. But, when we got to his mini bus it wasn't his and he was just getting his cut. We ended up sitting in the aisles on folding stools all facing forward. Luckily we weren't last in because 3 people had to stand for the 2 hour ride. Good and loud conversation with Michael on the way there conveying C America stories and listening to his from Utah. Mmm Hmm. Ride wasn't too bad but getting out i found my legs asleep and my back nearly broken. Luckily had the wherewithal to go in search of lights. Well we found some with 12 LEDs for 28 each including battery so we all got them since that is like 3.50 which isn't too bad. Later found out we could rent them for 1 kuai but that is neither here nor there. Wandered into a Hutong (alley) looking for food and found some noodles and dumplings after a short search. We tell Michael we want some fried noodles and after looking around for a minute he asks from which province and we all just stare in amazement seeing as how not only do we know no provinces but if we did would we know the noodle style of each. Crazy man. The people we found were very proud to have us and gave us a "discount" that happened to be more than we had ever paid for such a meal.

Finished up and cruising back up the street toward the park it was about 9 and we ran into some of our Chinese counterparts (Mao, Sang, and Jackson) 1from class. Ended up hiking with them but lost them on the way. Well them as well as the others. Ended up hanging out till nearly midnight in the square listening to kids tell jokes, do cartwheels, and trying to drink enough caffeine to sustain the night. The plan is to hike up the "blossoming mountain" starting at 11-12 and get up in time for sunrise. There are 5 peaks and the east is supposed to be the place to be. With no careful planning i didn't realize it was 100 to get into the park and since i had only brought 200 and already bought bus, light, dinner, and drinks i was already low. Schade. Started out alright with only a slight incline but by the 3d kilometer we were feeling it. Taking breaks every 20 minutes didn't help and seeing as how it was so hot out we all had our shirts off and were looking like good Americans. Come to find out this is quite a popular thing to do and there was really no need for the lights since there were so many other kids on the trail. Good conversation but bad pace so i had to break free. Michael already had so after i had been climbing on my own for about 45 minutes i caught him. You must realize this "trail" is really just thousands of steps chinked out of the side of the mountain. There are chains to help you pull yourself up or a cable car if you come during the day but it was a tough go.

Ran into Chinese Superman when i caught Michael and this guy was super amazing at climbing. Such good shape and i come to find out in the morning he was hiking in dress pants. Ridiculous. We would go fast for awhile then wait for Michael. Not like i could keep up either though. No claim to that. Made it to the top about 330 which is good time apparently since others took about 5 hours. Cold as ice in a snowstorm up there especially being sweaty and in shorts and Nowitzki jersey. Sat around for awhile and then decided it was enough after seeing the other kids in vintage Chinese army parkas. These guys were renting for 10 so we had to take advantage and after trying numerous positions on the cold rock finally found that if you lay on your side, knees in chest, and arm outstretched its an ok position. Got about a 30 minute nap before it started getting light out. Saw the sun come blazing up and again it was hot out. About 30 minutes after seeing the orange orb we were without shirts and sweating. The place is amazing. Lots of exposed limestone worn away by erosion to create sheer curving cliffs with some pine trees on them. Very beautiful.

About 630 we find that Mike, Alex, and Jackson had made it to the other peak and they came down and we had some picture sessions including one with Superman. He looked stoic so i tried but failed miserably. Going down sucked and my knees were dead so i just had to let it flow. Crazy they have porter/sherpa guys to carry up water/noodles/propane and whatever else to the little shops on the way. These guys go so slow and only make 30 per trip. Quite a life. Made it down before the others and fell asleep at the gate while trying to read. Haven't stayed up all night in years i don't think. Quite the experience but tired as shit.

Of course getting back was equally interesting and we first went to the train station since we heard from the Chinese students it leaves every 20 minutes for Xian and costs only 16. Come to find out there isn't one for 2 hours from the time we get there and we are ready to leave. Go back to town and find a bus who Superman haggles down to 26 for us and almost gets in a fight doing it. At one point they tell us to get out and walk but Mike and I are there to back him up even thought we aren't what you would call fighters. Made it home and dead tired slept the rest of the day. Told all the others how easy and fun it was the next day and later heard horror stories from them. Hahahaha. Only 4 more peaks in China. I think it has inspired me to do Mt Fuji when in Japan but not sure quite yet. Letcha know later.

Xian

Oh what a night, it was late December back in 69, what a lady, what a night. Don't have any clue as to why that song is in my head but luckily it is. So hanging out at the internet cafe is cool right? The answer is yes and that is why I come. To write to you fine people. All 2 of you. My mom wrote me the other day and said that she was reading this to my grandma so i know that there are 2. Thanks mom.

So what happened in Xian. Hard to say seeing as how it was a few days ago and since i have been back in Beijing stuff has been going down. At any rate Xian is a cool city and we saw some stuff, stayed in a cheap room, and ate some cheap food.

Towers - the drum and bell towers are central city are are really not that cool but we did see a drum show and they played drums as you would imagine Chinese people to do. I did learn that they divide night up into 4 parts and hit the huge drums to signal when the new part starts. I found my Chinese name at the gift shop but it was like 40 kuai and Eve told me she could just write it so I left it and she has yet to fulfill her promise. Saw a sweet show that was promoting the war on drugs. It really sucked actually but there were some cool little kung fu kids doing flips amongst the 50 year old uncoreographed, uncoordinated dancing women. Funniest part other than us being the only white people there was when a gust of wind came and blew the stage backing all the way across and a bunch of police jump out to stop it and get knocked over. Ha. Prior to that we had a great time at the massage parlor getting our feet massaged. First time and an hour goes for 50 (or $6). They only had 2 people to do it so while Gary and Eve got theirs i just soaked and soaked in tea. Feet smelled ok for once. Meat on a stick was to follow on the street in the Muslim quarter which was good stuff. That is all.

Terra Cotta Soldiers et al - Day after we get there Bing Wang and Tsinghua sponsor a trip for us to see not only the 8th wonder of the world but some other crap too. Saw another summer palace where some cool history happened that i have already completely forgotten but i do remember Tom our tour guide who told us the emperor there had thousands of concubines but one favorite one who was rubenesque. She was hot. Later found out that there was one lady emperor, otherwise known as an empress i suppose, that had a mere 5 concubines. Interesting dont you think? Yeah had a good lunch with candied potato for desert and Bing told us to dip it in our beer before eating. When in Rome. Pretty good i guess but i think its just to cool it off. Bing also bought a sweet golden picture of a "old car" or horse drawn carriage for a mere 150. What a steal. Made it to terra cotta and after the circle movie we go into the warehouse. This place is huge and there are a predicted 8000 buried clay life size soldiers and horses and carts. The guy started building his tomb when he was 18 and ironically died while checking on it 30 years later. Hung out with Mary Wong and Alex and i dare say we got some good pics. Well, they did my cam was out of batteries. Quite amazing though just the sheer size of the place. In the next building you could get a bit closer to check out how the excavation works. They still have about 70% covered they think. Funny they build these buildings on top. Oh yeah, it was funny in the movie when some farmers discovered them by pulling up a head of one of them out of a well. How often does that happen. Was cool but hot as hell out there in the middle of the country in the middle of the day. After, everyone thought we were done but then we stopped at the actual tomb (Qin) and walked up to the top to an unimpressive view but plenty of pomegranate.

Night Out 2 - Not quite as wild but equally fun when chillin with Michael and Gary. Walked what seemed like 30-40 miles to find some alley food vendor that they promised they would come back and visit and eat their noodles. Just as predicted they were amazed/happy to see them and we had a killer meal of the bready dumplings and noodle soup for about 3 kuai each but the guy refused to take $. Got some Bai Jiou the local liquor made of sohrgum and it was horrid. Like really strong bad sake is my description. Its like 110 proof so yikes. Funniest part was when the owner guy sent some girls over to sit with us at our down low table. Funny enough to see 3 big Americans at this table that is a foot off the ground but when it is crowded w/ 2 more girls even better. We certainly attracted a lot of attention from the passersby but made it worth it bc i think we got some business for him too. So he was trying to hook us up with these girls but they were just there for a few weeks for fun with friend. Sounded good and i guessed them to be 15 so when they said they were 20 i was amazed. These Asian women, i tell you what. Michael had long conversations about family and girlfriends and America and prices of things and since i don't know Chinese i couldn't really take part or say what transpired. I did buy some cookies though. They were pretty good. The people all want you to have Chinese girlfriend, are amazed by American prices, and want to know what its like to have siblings. The other night i heard this song about "we make ya'll speak Chinese;" some rap song that i had to chuckle at since none of the Chinese people could understand it and i wonder if the DJ even did. Ha.

Other day trip - the Saturday that we left we had another sweet tour of the big wild goose pagoda (already seen it), a history museum (unimpressive replicated pots and the like, might have been better had i known any Chinese history or could read it), and a western food buffet. Buffet made some people sick and by western they meant one pot of crappy spaghetti and some cold french fries. Met some international ambassadors from GA and AL though so that was cool even though they were only like 14.

Train ride home was long and sleepy. Ate noodles, basked in the air conditioned goodness and had deep conversation.

First night in Xian

Seems to be the way of this trip is to go hard the first night and sit back and wince and try to recover the rest of the time. Headed out with Mike and Eve on an adventure after Eve asked where we could go. She also goes to GSU and is from Shanghai so her Mandarin is quite good, obviously, and its very nice when she's around. Unfortunately up until now she has been taking off straight after class for her "job" and we could never hang out. At any rate we made it over to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and heard there is a nice water show there. Ate a hella good meal at a veg restaurant where they are willing to shape tofu into anything. Lucky for us we got some pork like tofu, with the layers of fat and everything, some duck tofu, some lotus flower, and soup. Killer meal for quite cheap i think. The park was cool around the pagoda and filled up before the 830 start to the show. Was a mini Bellagio with the dancing waters to traditional music. They say it's the biggest fountain in Asia... More pictures with Chinese dudes followed the show. Always love that when people make you feel like a star.

After the big show headed out with the drinkin crew to 1+1 the only proper club in Xian. Was nice, had 5 floors all with different vibes and plenty of Chivas. We rolled in hard and set up shop in the number one VIP room and bought the bar. Actually just some vodka and Chivas and some food and mixers. Came out to less than $10 each. Total deal. They mix the whiskey with green tea. Must remember this for it is quite tasty. Drank up walked around checking out the scene which consisted of all Chinese people, us, and about 3 other white guys with Chinese girlfriends. True China and all the while a decent House DJ with crappy lady MC. Hot gogo dancers and all that. Chill on the top floor which was open to the sky but the real action was later on after some really wasted Chinese dude started buying shots for Mike and I. Well sharing his bottle anyway. Invaded some other VIP rooms with Anni dancing his arse off and being a bit sloppy. Headed out and ran into some tall "girls" who were staring me down. Went over to the room and the security guy was pointing them out to me and telling me to head over but i had a bit of a funny feeling. Brad, our team leader, sauntered over and asked if i wanted to talk to them and went to bring them over. They came over and we found out through our context clues - big hands and feet, low voice, cheekbones, and being from Thailand that they were ladyboys. What a surprise. Through sign language we figured out one was pre-op and the other post-op. Had a good laugh with them and they went back to their dancing. Now, Anni comes along and i tell Mike to tell him the girls want to dance with him. He's all for it and after about 10 minutes of grinding it's just too much. Have to tell him and he tries to play it off and hugs them and kisses them even more. In the cab on the way home he makes fun of us southern boys but the easy response is that we weren't dancing with dudes. Next day we all have a good laugh and it's over. Guess it doesn't matter where you are or what the culture.

Chugga Chugga Choo Choo

This is no Chattanooga Choo Choo or whatever the hell that thing is that goes up that mountain in that state above Georgia but these are real trains that people still use despite their fair to poor condition and lack of speed. We paid about 400 RMB for the ride to Xian which is an overnight run of about 14 hours. No stops and it really took this long. My friend Eve on the other hand took the plane and it was about an hour and a half. Thing is the ride was kind of fun and we really got a good look at who our classmates are being together for that long. The drinking crowd has been established and in Beijing they go to a bar they found that nobody else goes to called R&B. They go for the sole reason that the Tequila shots are 5 RMB. Getting drunk is rad, as long as it is with Americans is the attitude. I guess.

Mike and I got in a car with Alex and one of the Chinese students who was insistent that she be in her correct seat then there was bitching from the other car bc a fellow student and her partner couldn't be in the loud car. Whatever we switch and end up with Michael and Gary. They are from Houston and Creighton respectively and are fairly solid guys. Inter sting to talk though still nerdy like everyone else on the trip. Note: I do not exclude myself from this group label. We have a good ol time and although we didn't plan ahead as far as alcohol was concerned as some of our fellow students did, we did have plenty of cookies and pastry. Pretty much had that for dinner bought one beer and talked all night. Gary has a phrase book called 'Making out in Chinese' that we tried to put to use to pick up some chicks but to no avail. Clay then borrowed it to talk to some Frenchies in the dining car and became an international ambassador as he later put it. Fred had what was to be a funny repeatable one liner: Frenchie, Frenchie, Impossible. Or something, ha. Bing Wang herded us around like we were his children or grandchildren and didn't want us to get lost. Mary Wong hung out in the dining car being hit on by her students. And I endured it all in the first cabin soft sleeper. I could have saved a few hundred had i just got a chair but i didn't know that until i got there. Bummer.

At one point a service guy on the train comes by chasing a girl rubbing his exposed nipple. At this point we have no idea what is going on and we later hear yells, and other noise from the adjacent rooms. Falling asleep to the gentle sway and white noise produced by the train is heavenly, if you are shorter than me that is. The beds are not what we would call made for tall people. Waking up at 6am is pretty sweet when they come on the intercom like they do on cruise boats only this is in Chinese and really just annoying. Quite a bummer but we were nearly there. Made it to the bus which seemed to be a mile away following the direction of Bing Wang and we meet Tom, which is his tourist name he tells us, who gives us a ride to the hotel and tells us a bit about the "town" of 6.5M people. Small by Chinese standards. Our room on the train has decided to ditch out of staying at the hotel and since i never had made a reservation this worked out swimmingly for me. I had support and since Michael knows Chinese we were going to head out to find a cheap hotel or hostel. Again Bing to the rescue and he wants us all to stay together so gets them to offer us cheaper rooms. First it is 230 which we turn down and then it is 100 or 50 each which we accept. Shared bathroom but who cares the room is nice with AC, phone, TV, good pillows, tea, and everything else we have come to expect. Find out the showers are only from 8-12 at night which sucks though and there are no big towels. Ya win most, and lose some i guess.

Bleh

Yes, I am talking about class, the reason that I have come to Asia this summer. Without it I wouldn't be here, yet with it i feel that i am not really here. Odd how that works. I am surrounded every day by Americans who not only have American views but in many ways they seem closed to anything else. Seems odd that they have chosen to fly half way around the world to eat pizza, drink Budweiser, and hang out with their classmates from NH when they could be doing exactly that for half the cost back home. Needless to say China is cheap for Americans to travel in. You can easily pay much less than a dollar for a meal if you want noodles or rice. On the other hand you can spend easily as much as you do in the States which seems to be what most people want; what else were they thinking when visiting Outback Steakhouse that had no steaks but charged the same for a burger?

At any rate they are my classmates and i love them one and all. They all have their unique quirks and make interesting, although often disagreeable, comments during lecture. Speaking of lecture we have had 4 professors thus far: Hennessey, Wang, Wong, and Orcutt. I believe that we have one more in the China Legal Systems class that will start when back in Beijing. For the time being here in Xian classes are great.

Bing Wang is the head IP Law professor at Tsinghua University which is a premier university in China and where we are studying. Pierce Law has had an arrangement with them and a summer IP institute here for 10 years or so. Cool? Yes, they are also partnered with Harvard, Stanford, and Boston University to name a few. Mainly an engineering and electronics school their law program is coming up although nobody yet says it's the best China has. Luckily, law is a new thing over here, especially IP law, so it is ok and there is time for improvement. He is an esteemed professor and filed the first patent application in the country on behalf of the university back in 1995. This is when they first introduced patents. As you can see they are slightly behind and although now their law is fairly robust the enforcement of the law is what lacks. Prof Wang has a tendency to read word for word from his ppt slides and smile about it all when in reality it does get a bit tiring. He teaches China IP and this is the only 2 credit course so we have 20 sessions with him while only having 10 of each of the others.

Hennessey has been coming to China for about 22 years he says and knows Mandarin pretty well. Enough to speak to the Chinese students in the middle of class with a phrase for something that he is lecturing on. He loves doing this and always has a big smile on his face afterward. His class is world IP and about all of the international treaties and conventions that may or may not apply to China as well as the US and all other countries. It's ok but now over. Coolest day was talking about geographical indicators and how the Greeks have just won a war over the Danish for exclusive rights to the name Feta cheese. This along with most types of liquor, including Bourbon, are geographical indicators and have many many rules and it is one of the main things that the US and EC fight about.

Mary Wong is our Singaporean professor who has practiced everywhere, worked for the government, influenced conventions, been on panels, and is really really into copyrights. Cool class and she is full of energy talking about Google Books, Grokster, James Joyce's estate, the creative commons, Danger Mouse's Grey Album, etc etc. Very cool class since it is so up to date and quite interesting to hear the views of my classmates on the subject. There are about 10-15 Chinese students from Tsinghua Law that come to class every day and they never speak during class but have some interesting ideas when spoken to outside of class. None of them are going to be IP lawyers which is interesting and also interesting that if you want to be a judge you do that early in your career, before becoming an attorney, and make the decisions without hearing arguments. Odd, but Mary is cool and fun to talk to.

John Orcutt is a former investment banker from Boston. He's a cool guy and certainly opinionated in just about everything. Luckily his opinions are researched and well articulated as to assume agreement from the class. He teaches foreign direct investment in China and talks about companies from around the world coming here to set up shop. Less than i would have thought are doing it and about 75% of the money is coming from Hong Kong. It's basically an economics course and whether it's worth it to protect your investments here, whether to set up R&D here, effects of piracy, and the governments position on the whole thing - tending away from the "public" companies. Good guy and a lot of the Pierce kids think he's the best or one of the best at their school. So far 3 American profs and one Chinese. Mary Wong is pretty much American although never passing the bar in America she seems to know quite a bit. Classes are in dungeon like rooms in both cities but at least in Xian they are in the hotel so for those who don't like to get up in the morning they can wait as long as possible before having to go. Dope.

Beijing Highlights Thus Far

Trivia - Tuesday headed out with some kids to trivia which was a blast even though we sucked as usual. The duck taped hamsters team name has now officially made it around the world. All who are privy will be honored. Saw the embassy on the way down as well as the downtown which isn't so impressive since there are 30-40 story buildings everywhere. Had a burger for the first time in a month and a half i suppose and was of course disappointed. Don't try to bring your foods to the new land.

Summer Palace - This place is pretty special. I think it was the palace of many dynasties once the capital was moved from Xian. It was all destroyed by Anglo-French forces in the late 1800s but they are working their asses off to make it as nice as it was then in time for the Olympics. Everything is getting a fresh coat of paint to make up for all the years without. Really takes away from the history of the place if you ask me but believe it or not the Party did not. Hung out with Mike and Alex a chick from NY that goes to school in W Mass. She doesn't go to Pierce either so we recruited her for hanging out with the "cool kids." The palace is on a beautiful lake drifting into the foothills of some sort of mountain. Typical tourist place but beautiful.

Sunlitun Clothing Market - Smaller (they say) version of the silk market but with slightly more respectful vendors and a few more tailors. Some of those in my cohort headed out to get suits made on Tuesday but of course I, being an outcast, was not invited. Headed over with them this second time though when they were getting their suits fitted to try and pick a few out for myself. This place is way rad and you can get anything you want: jewelry, paintings, luggage, shoes, shirts, etc and all brand name. Or so they say. Picked out some cloth for the suits i wanted and of course it is all the finest cashmere or wool blend and after doing so picked out some cloth for some shirts. In the end got 4 suits and 11 shirts for a little under $500. Seems odd to be spending money i don't have but having hand tailored suits and shirts for the price of one off the rack back home was an opportunity not to be missed. Took Haruna, Mike, and Alex back for the fitting before leaving for Xian and we all quite agreed that they were nice. Time will tell.

Great Wall - Saturday the whole lot of us headed up to the Wall at the Simatai section which is about 3 hours out of Beijing. Got to say the thing is as amazing as you would ever imagine. Not being wimps Mike, Alex, Denise and friend, and I decided to walk it. The others simply rode a cable car up. Seems like such a waste to be at one of the wonders of the world and be afraid to take advantage of being there. Tons of pics and tons of people but the most annoying are the ladies who "farm and make souvenirs" and then end up walking with you and try to sell post cards. Everyone has got to get theirs but annoying nonetheless. Trip down consisted of sore knees, almost falling on my face one hundred times, and a zip line over the lake to the bottom. Was pretty BA but not so fast (to quote Haruna). Was really quite a peaceful ride but funny to see Castor, a Venezuelan practicing attorney in our classes, do it because he was kind of freaked out. Yes, it certainly is Great.

Forbidden Palace/Tienanmen/Silk Market - This was our Sunday adventure and it turned out to be a pretty exciting day with Mike and Haruna. Cool beans. Started off at forbidden city and tried to get the student discounts but without the china student passport looking thing it wasn't happening. Mike's in line and getting pushed out of the way by some lady so i kind of nudge her off and she goes nuts. Luckily i don't understand Mandarin so it didn't mean too much to me. That's the most irritating thing though: the fact that the people here just don't understand or care about order or queuing or anything along those lines. Silly. Once inside we wandered around looking at old thrones and more traditional buildings. Nothing too amazing until we found an air conditioned museum with nice art but the highlight was the temperature. Got dragged into an art studio by a student from Mongolia and she was nice and explained to us all the differences in the art and what it all meant but in the end another tourist trap selling stuff that you can find anywhere for 3 times the price. Luckily she said she would give us a special friend discount which is always encouraging.

Tienanmen Square was quite what i expected - a vast concrete square with some Chinese flags. Wandering out of the Forbidden City we had no idea if we were headed the right way so we kept walking and all of a sudden popped out under a picture of Mao. Found the big flags, government buildings, and his tomb. Walked around a bit, learned its the biggest city center square in the world and found a cab to the silk market. Wanted to come back for the flag lowering but didn't make it because we were bargaining too hard.

Silk Market was also quite a place but since being at the other clothing market i was slightly prepared even though i didn't do much bargaining there. Worst part was the cab ride over which should have been 10 yuan but he charged us 30 for what seemed like no reason. None of us knew enough Chinese to know what the hell was going on but to show him i meant business i wrote down his license and tag numbers. I don't think he cared and have since realized that none of the pictures in the cabs match the drivers. Pictures of women with men driving and pictures of fat guys with skinny ones driving. Quite a system. Anyway, made it after grudgingly (throwing) paying him. Entered and started what was to become 3-4 hours of intensity. We all had goals of what we needed and then all decided to buy much more. Ended up with an Omega watch, True Religion jeans, 10 pairs of CK boxers, 18 Zegna, Boss, Burberry, and Hermes, Sony headphones, and a battery charger all for about $100. Not too bad i don't think. Interesting we are studying IP and the enforcement of trademark infringement. Hmm. Oh well it's all part of the experience. Haruna caught on quickly after first being blown away by how much they were asking. Typically they ask a ton and you counter with about 10% of what they say and end up at about 20% of the initial. This has been my experience and once learned H took the philosophy and ran getting much better than i and getting 2 earring for the price bargained for 1 and a Japan jersey for less than $4. Mike broke a sales lady's heart by offering her too low of a price so i had to tell her she broke mine by asking that price. Hitting up the ATM is always bad when shopping but it was needed and even though no CCCP shirt was bought we still know it is there. Oh yes we will be back and with a vengeance.

Ho Hai - I guess that's how it's spelled, not really sure. What i do know is that i ate shrimp with their shells and legs on. We luckily took the time to take the heads off. Interesting thing is is that they aren't at all bad. Just adds a little crunch and a little extra flavor. Ate at a fairly nice restaurant in this uber hip little part of Beijing set on a pond with paddle boats and floating candles. Found out after dinner that they have these outdoor dance floors everywhere and anyone who can do the hustle or the 2-step or any dance that i don't know is encouraged to take advantage. Pretty nice so Alex and Channing did. I think it got them a little too in the mood for dancing because after walking past 50 cool bars with free foosball, big screen tvs, and pitchers of beer we somehow decided to go to some salsa club off Wangfujen. Don't really know how to spell anything so if i am wrong please just tell me and i will soon correct it. Made it to the place after an impressive sculpture display down this trendy (Bally, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, etc) street. However, during the day they serve anything you want on a stick including the likes of scorpion and beetle. Made it to Havana Lights and expected a few people there but found nobody and no cheap drinks. Had a crappy margarita and others had equally crappy mojitos. Danced a little with Channing leading the way and teaching us all a little bit. Unfortunately I did not take it seriously enough and remember nothing. Whoever my future girlfriend is is probably already disappointed.

World Cup - It comes on at 10p, 12, and 3a here so have seen some decent games. Lovin it going to the bars or outside spaces to watch it. Seems the Chinese love it, perhaps more than Americans. Have taken to watching the first and most of the second before retiring and having my door knocked at 5am. Cool stuff. Sucks about the US not winning a game. That's what happens in the Group of Death i suppose.

He Jia - This is our hotel with the cute housekeepers, cold AC, bathrooms with a window to watch TV, free toothbrushes and combs, a hand shower, and free breakfast all for less than half of that damn Xi Jao. About the breakfast, it's not delicious after about 2 days. It consists of about 5 different pickled veggies, fresh tomatoes, rice and eggs, 3 kinds of bread - chewy rolls, tortilla like, and chewy cornbread, and 3 kinds of soup - hot soy milk, rice soup, and grits soup. My typical brekky ends up being one of the veggies, some tomatoes, a tortilla slice, and some warm milk. Gets old but its food i guess. One count where Xi Jao wins. Bought some Cheerios though so those are kickin, even with the warm milk.

First night (on the town)

Well after a bit of entertainment from Prof Bill Hennessey with his Chinese speaking (to the Chinese students in the class) and neverminds and long talk of TRIPS, WTO, and WIPO we were in for a bigger treat with Prof Bing Wang. He is a prof from Tsinghua University which is the host institution for our class. Seems that this may be a long class since he reads off his ppt slides for an hour at a time. Good English lesson for him i suppose. So our class schedule is basically 3 classes a day from 9-1 then off the rest of the day. This is perfect for me seeing as how it is very close to how i schedule my classes back in tha ATL.

During the class breaks made some friends and since i wasn't currently checked in anywhere, had to leave the Xi Jiao bc it cost an arm and a leg compared to Thailand and how much money i have left to spend. It was 336 a night and Mike (my new friend who is a Georgia state student who i hadn't met) told me about the place he was staying that his Indonesian friend hooked him up with. Called the He Jia this place was a little more my scene with absolutely no English, unless you got lucky in the lobby and there was a translator about, dirty carpets, and half the price. Of course it ended up being booked for the night so Mike offered for me to stay with him since he had a double. Was quite a room, essentially the same as the other bar a safe, mini fridge, and stand in shower. Threw my stuff down and hung out for a bit.

Headed out for dinner a bit later and since the US was playing that night (1st Czech loss damn it (the games are on at 9, 12, and 3am here)) planned to watch that somewhere. Mike had been in town about 5 days and his Indo pals had shown him some spots so we hit one up later to be famously dubbed "Mom's" by yours truly. Went in and since this place is famous for its dumplings, according to Mike, that's what we had along with some fried rice or something. Got 2 plates of dumplings thinking we were big boys but not a chance at finishing them with the beer too. During dinner at the table next to us a Japanese girl, 2 Peruvian girls, and a French lad showed up and we started talking to them. They were headed to watch the games too since Japan was playing first and invited us to go along since we didn't know too much about the city. Headed out to the also later famously "Man on se moon" with them for an interesting night. Had multiple beers and tequila shots after betting Haruna that Japan would lose. Got late and we were the only ones left but we were cheering hard for good ol America. Unluckily for us everyone was cheering against us and since they didn't look Czech i couldn't really figure out exactly why. Well maybe i do know why but we cheered loud and were quite obnoxious anyway. At the end of that barn burner we decided that since it was only about 2 am we might as well go sing karaoke till 5am which we proceeded to do. Rocked out to favorites like "living on a prayer", the "Nelly, i love you" song, "Pour some sugar on me", and many other favs from britney, journey, etc as well as some Japanese standards performed by Haruna.

When we left it was light out and we realized that this was to be only the 2nd day of class. Got back to the room Haruna showered and we all fell asleep immediately. Woke up a couple hours later for the delicious breakfast that is provided consisting of no western food and all pickled vegetables, rice and eggs, a couple breads: one tortilla like and one cornbread like, and 3 types of soup: hot soy milk, one that's like grits, and one rice soup. Not bad today but just you wait. Wow, should be an interesting trip.

Arrival

Getting into Shanghai after 3 hours of bad sleep and food that i could not recognize, either form or taste, i realize that i really am in a country where they don't all speak English. Even a little.

Not having a ticket out of the country I thought i may encounter a bit of trouble but planned to play it cool knowing that i had all day until my flight to Beijing. Getting up to the foreign passport counter they take a quick look cross off my visa and stamp it. The girl behind the desk says something which sounds like all the other words that i have heard. I hate to have a closed mind but i have never been in a place where the language is not even close to anything i know. Ma for example means four different things here depending on the tone you say it. This drives me insane knowing that even if i sound out a word it doesn't make any sense and the people give me blank stares just because i don't have the rising tone.

To be fair Shanghai is like NYC and is very western and a lot of people do speak some English. I found that out trying to change my ticket to an earlier flight but also found out that some ideas just don't translate simply. Watching some world cup on the Emirates TV and a little Internet in the business center got me through till my 1pm departure time at which time we sat on the runway for 1.5 hours eating the same meal as the previous night. At this point i have given up on meeting my classmates and profs for the welcome dinner which was to be at 6. I got in around 630, got my bag, a 100 RMB cab, and finally a hotel room which was way overpriced (near 40 US). Thing is i didn't care since i hadn't slept in a bed in 3 days and hadn't had a shower to boot. Felt nice watching some English TV (channel 9, where the announcers aren't that great), laying down, and taking a shower.

Headed out on the town to explore after not finding any other law student looking people and found some Internet, 3 RMB dumplings, 5 RMB beer, and a big screen with world cup. Hung out eating my $1 meal and cheering for Netherlands i believe since that's which way the crowd was pointed. Good night and an early night to bed gave me a very restful feeling the next morning. Breakfast included with the room and i went at it since it was partially western. Found some classmates but headed off to class misinterpreting the directions and walking about 2 miles out of the way asking the whole way which way it was by pointing at my phrase book's characters for "law" and then "school". Needless to say this didn't help much and i was over 30 minutes late but just missed an intro portion and settled into my seat to get back to what i had only left a month before in Atlanta: American law school with American students. There are Chinese students from Tsinghua (the school the program is based out of) and they are great fun and a great help and very friendly in every way. Looks to be an interesting rest of the summer...

A Most Interesting Day

So leaving Tao I opt for the 10am ferry with bus transfer that arrives in Bangkok at about 830p depending on traffic. Since my flight wasnt until 2am i thought it plenty of time. Come to find out that the people of Thailand really love their king. Perhaps more than any other king in the world according to the only English channel in Beijing, CCTV-9. Many international dignitaries came to Bangkok to celebrate his 60th year of rule, the bank made a 60 Baht note, and everyone in the country wore yellow shirts.

The boat ride wasnt bad except for the fact that i had just left Jo and was now on my own and that there was one of the worst Martin Short movies ever on - National Security. Luckily i have traveled before and seen this monstrosity so i didnt need a repeat but got pulled in nonetheless. It was easy to pull away in the middle though seeing as how i hadnt gotten as far into Crime and Punishment as I had wanted and the fact that you couldnt hear anything at all. Well we made it to land and boarded what was probably the nicest bus i have ever been on and I took up downstairs for a good sleep since last night was a pretty late one. Slept/read/listened to music for a solid 3 hours and we had our first stop where i purchased some sort of curry with what i thought was chicken and was just a part of the bird i had never seen before with several hollow bones sticking out of each side. Was ok and i got a wheat flavored green tea which was horrid but also some sesame cookie things that Court had introduced me to long ago. Made the bus ride pleasant and repeated the process for another 3 or so hours to the next stop where i had some sweet corn bread cooked in palm leaves and some sour mango. Seems like when on a bus all you do is sleep and eat. Hmm.

After some time there was only one person left on the bottom level of the bus, Jen, and myself. We talked all the way into Bangkok and was in a fairly good mood considering when we hit a wall of traffic. At first just thought that there was a wreck or rush hour but it was Saturday so that was quickly ruled out. I became familiar with where we were from my previous walk from the bus station when i met the elephant on the sidewalk and thought we were almost to Ko San Rd where the bus was to drop us off. After sitting for another 20 minutes and being almost 930 the bus driver turns around and drops us on the sidewalk. I say no prob since I have made this walk before and turn down a cab ride with my new friend and start off. Heading toward the bridge there are more and more people and they are all wearing the same thing. The traffic looks to be stopped and i am sweating like a crazy american wearing pants and a backpack. Make it to the bridge to encounter gridlock of people standing on idle cars and buses. Thinking there is a caved in bridge, sinking boat, alien landing or somethign of the sort i find a police man and ask who tells me i can go ahead and cross. I try again and become frustrated and turn back to find a water taxi or regular one. Asking the cop again he says there is nothing on the river for 2 hours. I stop a cab and he and 2 others say they arent/can't go to the airport. Getting some nerve and being hot/mad/frustrated/confused i go for it and head up to the bridge again and start pushing the Thai people aside to make my way across. I talk to one who finally tells me there is to be a firework show later and thats what everyone is waiting on. I get in a line going across (or to better position) and start pushing with them. Miniscule Thai people go flying this way and that at my hand. Having no regard for age or gender I make it across in a little less than an hour and see that at this time it is about 1030.

I know where to head for a cheap bus to the airport and go straight there forgoing the beer Chang, No Money, No Honey, and Same Same shirts that i so desperately wanted. They tell me the mini bus leaves at 11 and i sign up for not so cheap a price. 11 comes and goes and a few Japanese girls show up to ride with me. The proprietor of the travel agency finally after becoming frustrated with my asking about the bus tells us to follow her to find the bus. We wander for another 30 minutes and reach the cab which is stuck in post firework traffic. Get in and make it to the airport around 1. Check in and the flight is delayed until 230 so everything is fine and i have a dip cone at KFC to celebrate. Deciding not to check my bag since i was hoping to get an earlier flight out of Shanghai i put it through the xray and forget my knife is in there and they find it (although it had made it through in the US and Korea). I try to send it home but it is too expensive and i had no Baht left.

Writing this i suppose it doesnt sound bad and it really wasnt since i made my flight and got to see one of the largest street celebrations i have ever seen but on the way i thought there was no way i would make it and if i did then i would have a fake ticket. Everything always works out and this is why we travel. The experience makes you laugh in the end.

What was that place called?

Yeah, Id have to say that my writing has been more than absent. Nearly non-existent, not that anyone really cares but the thing is i do because this page is mine and for me. So take that. Well once upon a time I was on an island called Koh Phangan and then left that for one call Koh Tao. This writing is to be on the latter which i will fish around in my memory to see if it has not completely left. However, I fear that it may have after a fairly intense and busy week in Beijing. Yes, i have been here for over a week and not written.

Once upon a time I was on an island in the Gulf of Thailand which was (and is) part of the Samui chain. Something like that. I was traveling with a beautiful British girl called Jo and all was good. Yeah, we made it over after another ferry ride bought from the lady with the gun. After she showed us she was packing we decided to do anything she said and take all recommendations. Well, i guess we did try to underpay her for the taxi ride into the city but that's beside the point since it was a very confused situation and she later showed up on the pier to collect. Quite a ride over and upon arrival it was as Jo said with dive shops everywhere and more importantly those trying to hawk their services. They scream at you to get you just to look at them and turn them down. Feeling bad telling them you don't dive and wouldn't think of diving you give in and listen to one which only invites competition and before long you are surrounded once again. With Jo's experience in the business we made our way through and were thinking of doing our advanced divers course with master divers where whom she had dived (dove, doven?) with before. We talked to them and thought we could get cheap accom but to no avail since they would accept no less than 350. On 2nd thought we went and talked to the guy sitting at the bar who ended up being American and a fine bloke. although a little too into diving for his own good, especially being from Mississippi which as far as i can tell is not known for its diving. At any rate he tells us he is staying at a place in the other direction for 150 and offers not only to show it to us but to give us the advanced course at a really good rate since he is a new dive master himself. We walk down and negotiate the room for 200 which is good because the only reason he got 150 was bc he paid for a month; we paid for a single night. The place was alright but nothing amazing and we set off to find one of Jo's old haunts. Pass some pretty dope clubs/bars and finally come to it, our beacon in the night: Sairee Cottage. This place is good food cheap. In American terms its a place called Joe's. Whatever that means. We end up eating there more times than i care to admit but they treated us right, the food was good, and the views (especially sunset) were divine.

Next day going to breakfast came upon Beau (American dive guy) and he came with us to explain his idea for teaching us at a discount. Seeing as how i am thrifty (not cheap of course) i was completely open to the idea. In the end it didn't work out bc all the regular dive instructors were pissed off at him for taking clients but it was a good try. Ended up talking to him a little too much and he became clingy wanting to go w/ Jo back to the full moon party and staying with her after i left etc. To this day i receive USA World Cup propaganda from him, way too enthusiastic about something he knows nothing about. Not to say that i do. Well, we sign up to do a couple of dives at the shop for the next day and head off to Shark Bay. Sounds ominous eh? Yeah after a helluva walk to get there we find a nice quiet beach and hang out in the sun listening to music, reading, sleeping, and Jo giving me what came out to be a quite professional haircut as she would tell you. Looks good, but a little dorky in my opinion. Better than paying $4 huh (not cheap, thrifty). Went home and come to find out later that the snorkeling off of that beach is some of the best on the island and you can ALWAYS see sharks, thus the name.

Went for some dives the next day and made friends with the dive guys on the boat and hung out with them later on and kept seeing them around. Good lads. The dives were fun but not amazing. Chumphon was first and having not dived for a year i didn't really remember how things worked. Finally got it all hooked up right and jumped into a choppy if not big sea. Jo followed and her weights immediately fell off which i guess was my fault since she was my buddy and i was supposed to check things like that. After all was sorted we started the descent and it was slow because of nasty currents, clogged ears, lack of skill, and on and on. Made it down to about 20m and swam around a bit not seeing much bc of crap visibility and high currents. No big fish but maybe some blue ringed angels and whatever else. Got back up and immediately took advantage of the free coffee and biscuits (good jelly filled ones i might add). Next dive was much better and reminded us why we dive in the first place. Cliche no? Well we saw all kinds of stuff: rays, eels, triggers, butterflys, parrots, good corals, huge schools, and i don't know what else. Stayed down for over 50 minutes which was a nice long dive. I'm always the first to run out so i feel like a loser but oh well its just the way it is. Get back up and the boat doesn't start for an hour so we hang out and are the last ones back in port. Luckily, its ok since we don't have big plans.

Went to a private beach the next day at an amazing resort and we had to pay to get on the beach but it was completely secluded and they had bamboo rafts in the sea and good snorkeling, good clean sand, good bar and food. What more could you want? Don't remember the name but we hung out on the bamboo a good part of the day. On getting in the water the fish surround you and nip on your legs and its quite crazy. Out on the rafts we start feeding them seaweed and they go crazy for it. After many games and jumping into the fish and back and forth to the beach Jo makes a new friend called cleaner. This fish loved her and didn't leave her until she was completely out of the water. She couldn't stop talking about it for the next 2 days; really attached id say.

Rented another scooter since we thought our skills pretty good and headed for Ao Leuk Bay which is another great beach w/ good snorkeling and another nice day and later in the afternoon headed to Shark Bay to see the sharks since they were guaranteed. After barely making it alive over gnarley roads we head out over shallow coral into the deep. Dive boats whizzing by to park and big waves and deep water didn't deter us but apparently did deter the sharks. After being in the water over 2 hours and still seeing nothing we call it. Actually saw big barracuda, angels, and huge schools (I'm talking millions of tiny fish). Head home to celebrate our last night together. I had already extended my stay by a day thanks to a little research into ferry/bus to Bangkok. Had a killer buffet of thai/pizza/lasagna/mexican/wings/salad the day before and tonight went for sushi. At the buffet there was an absolute downpour and we ended up staying for about 4 hours playing backgammon and watching MI3. Totally rad. Passed a free food place to celebrate the first night of world cup but didn't give in immediately. Found the sushi and it was good but mainly rice. You'd think that being on an island there would be fish around but apparently its scarce. Good food and went back to the free bbq to fill up. After went to the mad pancake maker for one last roti. This guy is all business and knows how to make em. Chilled at Dry bar and Pure after. Laying on beanbags looking at the ocean for hours, what a life.

Headed out the next day after one last brekky at Cafe Del Sol for the divers breakfast. MMMMM. Little did i know that the next 24 hours would be some of the most amazing/strange/interesting of any of my travels. Sadly leaving Jo, who was going back to Phangan for the big party I headed out into the deep blue.

Juergen's Night

Well, well being in Beijing at the mo its a bit difficult to remember all the way back to the glorious days of Koh Phangan but let me just say that it was, well, amazing. Jo and I arrived after choosing to take the night ferry route leaving Koh Phi Phi at 2p and arriving Koh Phangan 7 or 6am don't really remember but it was quite an adventure. Ferry out of Phi Phi included Shakira singing over random scenes of Thailand with "whenever, wherever" was spell binding. Also the movie that they decided to play which i dont know what it was but it was good. Some horrible alligator dinosaur in Australia but it was a Thai movie. Makes you respect the entertainment we get in the States. There was a fairly uneventful bus ride across the peninsula with the usual stops at random food places that the bus driver's sister owns or some such nonsense. We ended up being the only ones going to Phangan so by about 8 we head to the pier for the 11p ferry ride which is like 7 hours when the normal ferry is about 2. We get on and check it out and there are some mats on the floor as expected per Estob's email but it was a bit warm so we get off to walk about and check out Surat Thani a bit. Good fruit stands and food stands right there so we get some melon, pina, and banana and go to town on our dinner. Good stuff but too much sweet fruit makes you sick after a bit. Walked around a bit more and came across a German dude sitting there drinking Mekong and waiting for his friend. Hung out with him for a bit learning about his life since kindergarten, time in India (which Jo disagrees with by the way even though she was there 1 month and he 2 years), and all sorts of other random tidbits of knowledge. We invited a French chica over to join the party and she had the hardest name ever: Olepheus, or something along those lines. After a few drinks we boarded the ferry and found our mats and bags as we had left them and settled in for the night. Wasn't too bad. Had a good chat and laugh and slept alright but when they turned the lights on at 5am was a bit early still. Getting into Thong Sala, the port town on Phangan we found a ride to Haad Rin (the party town, oh yeah) and headed down. Upon arrival we headed to a place Jo knew was good bc of last year's travel so we headed but it was about 630 and nobody came out till about 7 or so. Got a room, broke a bottle of Mekong, and passed out. Haad Rin was nice but not as much party as expected. Saw fire shows and a few people but for the most part shopped around and had some meals. Laid on the the beach and watched soccer, read, and took it all in. Decided to Head to Thong Nai Pan Noi bc Jo had old friend there and I had to see Doc's land and the place he calls his 2d home.

Noi, as it came to be known was quite chill and just the place for us. Found a nice bungalow for 250 with the best view on the beach. Could see the whole thing from the porch bc it was at the end. Found good restaurants: Baan Pong's. Good bars: Flip flop. And met some cool people. Found our French friend again, met 2 of Jo's mates from Somerset, some Swiss, and tons of others I'm sure. Loved it. Found a sweet waterfall with good action and a crazy bar below that seemed to cater to those into mushys, took a trip around the island by scooter, against Ash's best advice, and had one hell of a go at the half moon party. The trip around the island was great with more waterfalls, tales of travelers wrecking scooters, a blind man getting coconuts, running out of gas, Jo yelling at me, and Sheesha a sweet all white bar in a crappy fishing village who had kick ass juice. That's all that we could afford there since it was probably the most expensive place in Thailand. Beautiful though with all white furniture that opened up to the beach and was quite elegant. The half moon night there was supposed to be one but we couldn't find a ride after dinner and drinks with some top notch Irish guys. A really wasted German dude stumbles in who is all smiles. Come to find out his name is Juergen and hes a pretty cool dude. About 35 with crazy long hair and just been down there drunk too long. Finally found a ride after searching the beach for 600 which we thought too expensive but seeing as how it was 1am there weren't many choices. We were told it may be canceled but nobody had ever heard of one being canceled so we pressed on. After a 40 minute cab ride of singing Thai reggae ("no war, I can't take anymore") we arrived to find no party. We, as well as the driver were all quite confused and disheartened after all the prep that went into the night. Jojo had the perfect outfit. We turn it around for the long bumpy ride back. Only bar open on Noi at 2am is the Thai karaoke bar with many gay guys and lady boys so what else would we do but pull up a chair. Turned out to be great with the 3 of us singing every half way English song in the book (all of 10 id say). Headed home to get a couple hours sleep because we had to catch a cab to get to the ferry at 10a. Kick ass. Next days after trying to obtain a ticket to Beijing for over a week with frantic emails to the States and to airlines I found a travel agent with the best price but the problem is when I finally saw the ticket it was for the wrong day. They got the people who issued it to fax the schedule and it was correct so i put blind faith in the lady who booked it because she showed us her gun that she used to protect herself from the crooked Thai police. Yeah, cool, good times.

The REAL Beach

Let me first tell you all that this keyboard is absolute crap and there will be many mistakes. Well actually there will be none bc i like things done right but just know it has taken a lot of deleting to get this post in the current condition. I wrote the previous 2 posts at the Shanghai airport where i chilled most of the morning. Was a rather nice airport but they werent having any of me getting on an earlier flight and if you have a pint of Thai Whisky in your bag they will not be happy and will make you check it. Just some little tidbits for yas.

So back on PeePee or Phi Phi or whatever it is. The main island is Phi Phi Don and thats where the town is and the places to stay, dive shops, restaurants, etc. Then there is Phi Phi Ley and this is where the movie was filmed. Luckily they show The Beach every night so if you havent seen it then you can walk into any of about 10 bars or restaurants that will be simultaneously playing it. With DVDs for 80 baht ($2) they have them on everywhere. We saw MI3, Ice Age 2, and attempted Da Vinci Code a few times but never caught it right. Anyway we set up a sweet long tail tour around the island to see Phi Phi Ley and Bamboo Island and Monkey Beach and some other hotspots around that people like to see (ie Viking Cave). Yeah i know pretty tough to figure out names like those but they are cool places. Maya bay is where the movie was filmed and we went and checked it out for about 50 minutes bc at that point captain wanted to be moving on. Went and did some boat jumping and snorkeling, drove past Viking cave to take a picture and stopped at Monkey Beach. This place was crazy. Captain gave us bananas to feed them and they were nice but wanted the food pretty badly. They even swam out to get it - can you imagine a swimming monkey, ha. There was a german guy (the one who showed us down from the viewpoint) who happened to be on the tour and he was kneeling on the beach becoming one with nature but all of a sudden the food had run out and they were no longer happy. Quite a bad thing for this chap because after driving a scared lady into the sea they went after him and there were about 15 surrounding him and clawing at him and one bit him on the leg. He was, needless to say, freaked out the rest of the day. Quite interesting.

Had a sweet fried rice lunch and more beautiful beaach before bamboo island which has a lot of those beach pine trees that make me think of Jack Johnson. Anyway, walked around it a bit, i found a sweet tool that consisted of a stick a rock and a string. Dont know the purpose but it was certainly cool. Had a really cool snorkel seeing squid, triggers, and a whole lot of brightly colored fish. Really good water and really shows there is no need for diving.

Esto and John took off the next day for Koh Tao for some of that diving stuff and a change of scenery while Jo and I stuck around a few more days. They were rather uneventful but really nice w/ Jo learning new Poi tricks from some local guy who offered to take us climbing cheap too but it rained. Saw the Germans a few more times, lots of breakfasts at Garden Home which had a ton of pics from the Tsunami and how it was rebuilt. Did some shopping and then headed on to Koh Phangan to find Doc's land and a little bit of party.

Dont know how i can buy fake Ray Bans when i aam going to study (or here to study rather) intellectual property and world wide enforcement of things like trademarks. Hmm. Miss you guys.

Koh Phi Phi 1

Where is Leo? Am I in a video game or am i going insane? These are the things running through my head as the crossing is being made out to an intensely mysterious island. Nobody goes there and there is a small community of travellers living there, killing fish, and stealing from the local marijuana farmer. This is my story.

Upon arrival i didn't see the enclosed bay or pot farm or picturesque beauty. Wait, i did see the last one. This place is beautiful. The rocky islands here are beautiful and the beaches not too bad either. Well getting off the boat we were surrounded by would be taxi drivers and bungalow renters but we had our own path to pave so after some discussion and a Roti for me we decided to go to Rantee Bay on the other side of the island away from all the people and noise. We hire a long tail and he takes us to some skanky place that he says is it but all it has are two old women who don't speak English and a mean, barking dog. We ditch out and head for the neighboring beach because we saw signs of life over there. After getting settled into some bungalows (Steve and John's w/o fan, ha) because there was only one choice we head to the beach and it is hot. After some intense Frisbee which would last the whole while on Rantee got some food and learned that the restaurant closes at 430. We plan to make the hike over the hill to town that night. After a long day in the sun and some good snorkeling right off the beach we realize that we really are alone. The other people that were here earlier in the day were just passersby on the tour boats who stop for the snorkeling. We get ready to head up to the viewpoint for sunset and start off not ready for the steep, muddy hike that followed. Jo decided it a good idea to take a malaria tablet on the way up so feeling nauseous she wants to throw up and nobody has any water or food. The sunset ends up being quite beautiful and we head down following some Germans that we end up seeing the rest of the time on the island. Stop off at the 2nd viewpoint and the colors keep getting better as any good sunset should. Head down and find a place called the Rock to eat and its an old boat that has been crashed perhaps by the tsunami. Pizza and beers and happiness for some curry and water for others. Walked around a good bit and found some fire shows which were bad ass and some pancakes. When it was time to go we went to the taxi boats and they wanted 600 when it was 300 earlier. We refuse and start to head back by light of one headlamp. We do end up making it with Steve leading and I in back with the torch. We experienced laughter, fright, and complete darkness on the walk. We tell our friendly Burmese bungalow owner and he is amazed we didn't see/trip over any brown snakes which are quite deadly. Smiling nervously we head to breakfast.

Another day on the beach and a decision to move to the main bit of the island that night. Maybe we aren't cut out for the intensity of being alone on a beach in southern Thailand.

Railey Beach

Upon arrival at this magical beach with sheer cliffs dropping into the blue lagoons far below Jo and I saw Steve-o with his ever popular mesh bball jersey and a book running up to the boat to help us offload. I thought this quite odd since it was only 9am but hey what are brothers for? He took us up to the seaview of viewpoint or some such bungalows in which he and John were staying and showed us the luxury of the rooms. One fan, one non-flush toilet, one hard pillow, and one shower with little to no water pressure. In case you dint know these are the kinds of things to look for when travelling. It really wasn't too bad so after a walk around to the west Railey and to Tranong beach (where the hard core climbers stay w/ no electricity it seems) we decided to stay at the same place. It had a pool for gosh sake!

Went and got some brekky at mom's the eatery that would take most of our business on the stay for the cheap and good eats and boy was it. Checked out the beach for awhile, Pranrong was the nice one with the views of the cliff islands dropping into the sea and caves and all that jazz. On the walk over there was a herd of monkeys that people started feeding so they started going mad and becuase of my fear, rather dislike, of monkeys i stayed a safe distance. In Ecuador a few years back i had a run in where a monkey stole my camera and was showing its teeth and wouldn't give the bag back. He was a real bastard so that is now how i feel about all monkeys.

Jo got her feet scrubbed and we chilled and napped and what not. That night was a sweet fire show being advertised so after a well negotiated dinner of fresh snapper at 35 baht per 100g (we actually didn't get them to change their price at all after 10 minutes of haggling) we headed down. At first there was the usual fire twirling with staff and poi but then came the fun with a muay thai fight (that we could see) and the cobra show. Woo scary. The Thai boxers were goofy little dudes who got drenched in water between each round and then hopped around. The water intensified the hitting sounds but there were a few knock downs. The guy in the red shorts had an interesting style keeping his pants pulled up with his thumbs and looking off into the distance (John says at him since he was sitting VIP) waiting for his moment to strike. I think he won but couldn't be sure because no blood was shed and no knockouts made. Afterward were the snakes and it was amazing what this guy could do with the things. He would stick his face in the snakes face and move it to and fro trying to intimidate the poor guy. To end the show he kissed the top of the its head to pin it to the ground before picking it up. Even more impressive was a boy of about 12 who had 3 snakes going at once and although they tried to escape and his partner had to save him once he was amazing to keep them all riled up and striking. He pinned one with his mouth and one with each hand to end his show.

Next night we found a pretty sweet little beach bar that we jumped in because the rain came out of nowhere. It was a downpour so we got stuck in this quarter moon bar with some Germans and a magic Thai. Yes, after playing a few games of connect four of which we were about 50% winners against him (yes, of course i won) he pulled out the magic show. He put coins through his arms hooked rings together and all sorts of crazy stuff. Loved it.

Went climbing with Nu since that's what people do in Railey. None of us had ever climbed before so we figured since we were all usually pretty good at stuff we were probably advanced beginners. Well after the intro climb in the rain we went ahead and did a 30m climb with a nearly sheer face for the last 7-8m. It was crazy but the view up there was worth it. Falling off didn't really seem to matter but i didn't actually until the last climb (cobra) where i kept falling even after thoroughly chalking myself. The crazy monkey was our fav and we got some good moves on there. This is the climb that John perfected his butt up maneuver that no other climber there had ever seen. It seemed to work for him so he did it on the next climb as well. Quite an intense and tiring day with the 4 climbs for 4 of us and rain and all that. Needless to say we were all quite sore the next day when we caught the ferry to Koh Phi Phi where 'The Beach' with Leo was filmed and the place in Thailand that was most devastated by the tsunami.