Where the heart is.

Ulan Bator, Mongolia
May 30, 2009
6:46pm

I have to admit that I feel a strange sense of being here in Mongolia. Like this is a place that I would like to live. When I walk outside, I let the sun shine on my face and I can feel the wind blow through me. I can feel the hardness of this country and see it's beauty all around me... And I don't want to leave. It's a strange feeling of home that I have not felt before.

I leave tomorrow morning and I can not wait.

And so It begins.

Ulan Bator, Mongolia
May 30, 2009
10:47 am

12 Women
3 Men
3 bottles of Russian vodka
2 rolls of toilet paper
2 large packs of baby wipes

And Im ready to go! We leave tomorrow at 8:15am,so about 22 hours from the time of this post. After that I will lose contact with the outside world until June 19th as I travel through the vastness of the Mongolian landscape. So for those few of you that read this post I wont have anymore posts until then. I am incredibily excited and can not wait to get away from the city.

My group is pretty great. We have people from all across the world on this trip but as I have mentioned before most of them are women. I dont mind. I guess that women have a more adventurous spirit then men do. We are going to have to dig holes for toilets and not shower until we get back but I am all ready for that. A little dirt never hurt anyone.

I have checked out Suhbaatar Square about a block away from my hostel. It was built during the Russian era and includes a huge open area and a gigantic sculpture of a seated Chinngis Khan at the center of the squares large building. A little later I will most likely head to the National History Museum and after that take it easy and enjoy some of the comforts of the city like tv and maybe a nice meal at a bar.

Ulan Bator is an ok city. You can most definitly see the Soviet influence on the architecture. As well, I have been enjoying the mongolian people. They are very friendly but you can tell that they have a tough composure. Our tour guide was telling us that a famous saying about the Mongol people is that they have the spirit of the Dali Lama and the toughness of Chinngis Khan. From what I have seen this holds true.

I will be able to check email until tomorrow morning but until then thats it. I will talk to everyone soon and see you in the states before you know it.

Coldest capital in the world

Ulan Bator, Mongolia !
May 30, 2009
9:27am

And I can feel it! But I have to say that I am grateful to be in a country that I don't immediately start to sweat in.

I arrived last night after a short plane flight from Beijing but a long layover there. Because of the snow in Ulan Bator they delayed us 12 hours. Luckily I was able to get a free hotel room and food all day long so it turned out to be the easiest layover that I have ever had. My guesthouse is pretty great. It's small but cozy and with a lot of interesting people and a nice staff. If you want to take a look at where I am staying go to YouTube and search for UB Guesthouse. There should be a video that takes you through my accomidation.

I have met some of my group already and am going to go for a wander in a bit and check out the city. From what I can tell so far I really like the city. I will write a bit more when I see more. And just to let you know in advance I won't be able to post pictures here. I just don't have the ability. So you will have to wait until I get back to the states for that most likely. Sorry.

Taking the first 'Steppe'

Singapore
May 28th, 2009
1:11pm

Days, Weeks, Months...they go by faster than you think. I started this trip almost two months ago. Those two months seems like forever. I try to lay back and think about the places that I have been to and seen but after awhile they all start to blend into each other. I am grateful for the pictures and for this blog that I've been writing. And now I am heading onto the last leg of my trip before I make my way home and to Beercation.

Mongolia now stands straight ahead of me. I leave for the airport in 4 hours and then I jump on a plane 6 hours after that. I keep looking at pictures and researching the places that I will be going and seeing and all I can think is that I hope it lives up to the idealized notion that I have been harboring in my mind. I am not sure why Mongolia has been that 'place' for me. Not sure what mystifies me so much about it. I just feel like I will get there, out in the steppe, staring into a vast landscape with nothing but the sound of wind in my ears, and I will be home.

Ill hope that this is the case. That I haven't built it up too much. Perhaps I have.

But I'll know soon enough...

“Take the first step, and your mind will mobilize all its forces to your aid. But the first essential is that you begin. Once the battle is startled, all that is within and without you will come to your assistance.”
-Robert Collier

Last day in the Top End

Darwin, Australia
May 27, 2009
9:18 am

Well its finally my last day here in Darwin and I have to say that I warmed up to the city. It took me a couple of days but I started to enjoy the relaxed pace although I have to say that Darwin was a lot more expensive than i had expected it to be. I think that Singapore would have been cheaper oddly enough. In any case, I leave here at 7pm tonight on a flight to Singapore. Ill get to my hotel at about 11pm and then sleep for the night. Tomorrow is the long day. My flight is at midnight on the 29th so I have to get to the airport and wait a bit before I take off. That will take me to Beijing and after a short layover onto Ulan Batar, Mongolia. I have to say that I am really excited about Mongolia. I met some people here in Darwin that went last year and they said that it was a magical place to be in and so beautiful. I cant wait to be camping out underneath a sky of amazing stars away from the city. I have not seen the milky way in a long time. Just so that everyone knows, I will be out of contact for about three weeks while I am traveling through the country and camping in the wilderness. I should get a post of two in before then though. You can be sure that I will have some amazing pictures and stories for you when I get back.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
-Mark Twain

More Lichfield photos

More Lichfield photos

Jumping Crocs, Swimming in waterfalls, Sunsets, and Pure Fun

Darwin, Australia
May 25, 2009
7:19 pm

Just got back from my trip today and I had a blast. It was really amazing. I short run down on what I did, since I am tired and need some dinner, is this:

-Held a croc
-Fed crocs from the side of a boat where they preceded to jump crazy high into the air
-Saw amazing waterfalls in lichfield
-Swam in a pristine pool at the bottom of the falls
-Saw Gigantic termite mounds
-Ate prawns and had chanpaign while watching an amazing sunset

A very sweet day. Take a look at the pics and if I remeber and have time tomorrow I will talk a little more in-depth about what happened. Cheers!

Beercation Blog

So Todd started a BeerCation Blog and I wanted to share it with everyone. Check it out, read it, and Share with us. BeerCation comes soon!

BeerCation

More Arnhem Land Photos

More Arnhem Land Photos

Arnhem Land and some pretty sweet views

Darwin, Australia
May 23, 2009
8:38pm

The sunset was amazing tonight. My first proper Australian sunset was not disappointing. We were driving through Kakado national park on our way back from Arnhem Land. The landscape was rolling by and the smoke of the controlled burning of the park curled off into the distance. There was no wind so they rose slowly and straight up. The smoke began to mask the sun and turn its yellow hue to a bright red that colored the trees and gave direction to the rest of the sky. Deep oranges, bright blues, and royal purples all fell in line.

It was a perfect end to a great day. My trip to Arnhem land was amazing and I not only got to see a cool little aboriginal village but I got to scale a small mountain and look at ancient aboriginal rock art while listening to some amazing stories from our local guide. I am a bit tired from going at it all day so i will end the explanation here and talk a bit more about it tomorrow. For now, pictures.

Ein Tag...Alles.

Darwin, Australia
May, 22 2009
2:07 pm

I was sitting in a coffee shop this morning reading my book and passing the time as best I can. While I was sitting there, I began thinking about how far away I was and started wondering about all the people that I know back home and what they were doing at that point...most likely sleeping.

For some reason this got me thinking of a story that I heard from Jerry Springer (Yup the smut TV show guy). Before he was the king of trash talk he was a politician and a really good one at that. And even further down the line he was an immigrant to the US. His family left Germany when he was a child. They were Jewish and escaping for a better life. He was small but he remembers arriving into NYC on boat. Everyone he said was still and quite. He was in his mothers arms and the statue of liberty beyond in the distance. When he asked his mother what they were looking at she replied simply, "Ein tag...Alles.", or "One day...everything".

She was referring to the hope of a better life for her and her family. It was the arrival to a new land that promised that.

I like this phrase. I may not be escaping from a troubled land but whenever I look at a globe or map or dream of life beyond my tiny scope of thought, my imagination stirs and all I can think is "Ein tag...Alles."

There maybe times when you travel that you get lonely and things get hard but you remember that this too shall pass. Its all part of something larger and you know it will make you a better person for it.

.......

blah blah blah blah blah. I don't even know if this makes sense.
I'm sure some of you out there are gonna barf now. Just shut up and tell me what you are up to and show me some pictures.

OK. Enjoy. Here are some pictures of the Crocodile and reptile farm that I went to yesterday. Tomorrow i am heading out to Arnhem land, which is a designated aboriginal sanctuary. Kind of like the Indian reservations in the USA. That should be really cool and I get to see ancient aboriginal rock art and hang out with aboriginals, hearing their story. Ill post some of that on Sunday.
Best

Discovering

Darwin, Australia
May 20, 2009
1:54 pm

So I decided to go exploring today and look around the town. there are things to do if you put yourself out there. I guess that is the most valuable lesson you learn when you travel. Get your ass up and go. I found a small little beach that is netted in so that the box jellyfish won't get ya. I may do that later in the week. I also searched the park on the side of town and went into some WW2 oil tank storage units. I have also been looking into going to the Didge Hut. You can make your own didgeridoo there and it is owned and operated by the aboriginal people so you know where your money is going. If I buy a didg from a shop around town I dont know how much money goes to them and am not sure who makes it. This way I know. I sent an email enquiring about signing up for the didg making course and am looking forward to making the trip there whenever I feel like going. I have plenty of time though so I can go whenever I want. But it does look promising. Here are a few pictures from the day. Cheers!

Homesick

Im feeling a bit homesick today. I guess its because I went from crazy busy to a dead halt in a day. Most likely will be some boring posts for the next few days. Ha! O well.

Settling In

I am starting to enjoy the laziness here in Darwin. I guess that I have been running around so much from city to city and from day to day that I forgot how nice it is to be in a city for more than two days. I finally have a chance to calm down and relax. For the first time last night I slept about 11 hours. Just catching up I guess. When I did some wandering around town today I found a couple shops that sell hand crafted didgeridoos. They are incredibly nice with awesome tones and beautiful wood. So I spent a bit looking at those and playing around. Not sure what I will do for the rest of the day but I may go to the aboriginal museum and check out what they have. There is also a movie playing at the theater about aboriginals called Samson and Delilah. Who knows, I may hit that up as well. For now, relaxing is nice.

Just because you wander it doesn't mean your lost

You arrive at 4:30 am. Lucky, you think, at least I slept through the plane flight. This should be fine, right? You have options...there is plenty of stuff to do around Darwin. I could always get away to a different city and try that out right? NOPE.

I unfortunately am a bit over budget and so to catch up I am going to have to do nothing here in Darwin. Maybe catch a movie here and there. Or read my book in a cafe. Its gonna be a long 10 days.

Im ok with it though. I guess its just bad planning on my part. Maybe it will be good to slow down for a bit and let my body catch up to itself. It is cool though to walk around and see the aboriginal people though. You can definitely tell that they are the second class citizens here. Its unfortunate.

Ill see what tomorrow brings. Im still in a good mood though. Hey at least I am in Mongolia soon!

Last Round of Photos

Last Round of Photos