Video Vault: Rolling Down a Really Big Sand Dune

In Wadi Ram, Jordan. A first person view of an epic hill roll.

Video Vault: Waking Up a Napping Cat

Bangkok, Thailand.

I'm still traipsing around India with Jess. We've stopped in on Mumbai (nasty), Pune (nasty), Udaipur (amazing), Agra (more amazing), Varanasi (even more amazing), and now we're in Amritsar staying for free at the Golden Temple, the most holy site in the Sikh religion. And, sure enough, it's even more incredible than Varanasi. I'll give 'em all a full post up once I get some photos uploaded.

Video Vault: It's Going Right Over Us

Tel Aviv, Israel

I'm in Udaipur, India with Jess Lewis at the moment. We're having a series of excellent days, I'll provide a full report once I get some internet that's decent.

Albert Goes On a Trek and Invades Laos and Cambodia

Ok, time for a super-mega catch up post. What have I been doing, you ask? (You did ask, didn't you? I'm not making that up?)

Well let me tell you.

In Chiang Mai, Thailand, I took some cooking classes. This is me with some Pad Thai I made. Yummy! Funny enough, this was the first day of my trip I had a tummy ache, and I had only eaten things I made myself. I was pretty heavy on the spice. Click for more.

Then I went on a trek through beautiful Northern Thailand with an international group of ten. Click for more.

The first night we spent in a Karen tribe village. That's Anders there, enjoying the green tea and banana leaf cigarette he's been given. Click for more.

Then we hitched a ride on some bamboo rafts back towards home. They assembled these things the morning we left. I was put in the back to steer because I'm a strong man. Click for more.

Then it was across the Mekong River to Laos! Click for more.

I took a two day boat ride down the Mekong to Luang Prabang, which was a beautiful trip. A few times kids from the villages came out to say hello. Click for more.

Near Luang Prabang is a little village that makes money brewing lao lao, a whiskey made from fermented rice. Click for more.

That's some good hooch. Click for more.

Kept moving south, to Vang Vieng, which has some beautiful scenery. Click for more.

Vang Vieng has dozens of caves to explore. I met an Irish girl named Christine and we got into a couple really good ones. This one had stretches that we had to swim through to go on. We went about an hour in before deciding we should turn around if we wanted to get home before dark. Click for more.

The next day, Christine and I went kayaking down the Nam Xong. Click for more.

Vang Vieng is notorious for its "tubing," which involves little tubing and lots of drinking. It's feels very much like MTV Spring Break. Big dangerous rope swings and a waterslide. That's me in the upper left of this picture, midmaneuver high above the water. I'm like freaking Spider-Man. Click for more.

Spent an evening drinking with some friendly Laos. That's Christine, and James from Australia who just showed up in town minutes before this photo. He's the best Australian I've ever met. Click for more.

Then I kept moving south, going part of the way in a local "bus". These things are packed, and what you see here is us making a quick stop and these veggie hawkers thrusting their wares into the car looking for buyers. Click for more.

You're encouraged not to pee on the beautiful views along the roads. (Sorry, no more like this...)

After going by Champasak, where the pretty cool temple Wat Phou is, I made it to the beautiful island of Don Det, in Si Phan Don (The 4,000 Islands). Click for more.

Rented a dirty little bungalow for about $1.25, and relaxed for days. This was my favorite stop in Southeast Asia. Click for more.

One day I swam out among the islands and wore myself out so's I didn't feel too much like swimming back. I flagged down this boat of Lao children and they were happy to give me a ride back to Don Det. Click for more.

The next day I went garbage collecting in the Mekong around Don Det. The Lao people thought this was hilarious. Click for more.

Then I was in Cambodia, the land of gas stations that fill your tank from whiskey bottles. Click for more.

I met this South Korean girl Sumi on the bus into Siam Reap and this is us getting some squid on the waterfront before we go for a swim. Click for more.

My first night in Cambodia, I went to see the sunset at Angkor Wat with a gang of lovely ladies. That's Anne from Sweden, Sumi again, and Anke (pronounced almost just like Angkor) from Germany. Click for more.

Woke up early to catch the sunrise from Phnom Bakheng, Angkor. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a HANDS FREE HEADSTAND. They said it couldn't be done. Click for more.

The temples at Angkor are ridiculously cool. Really good condition, really good design, really Indiana Jones. Moreso even than Petra, which was actually in an Indiana Jones movie. This is Bayon. Click for more.

Some monks at Bayon. I'm always hesitant to stick a camera in locals' faces, but monks are so damn photogenic so a common tactic of mine is to let them pass and then spin around real fast to get a picture of their backs. This time, it appears I was caught.

That's Sumi and me at Ta Phrom, one of the Angkor temples. I think this door was in the movie Tomb Raider. Our tuk tuk driver had this awesome wig, which I ended up wearing around all day. The Cambodians loved it. Click for more.

There are little kids everywhere trying to sell things to tourists. But they aren't annoying, they're really really fun. Super smart, savvy kids who love to joke and have a good time. Here I'm negotiating a price for a little wooden mouth instrument. I paid 2000 riel ($0.50), which I knew was too much, but I didn't realize HOW too much until I told another kid I got it for 200 riel ($0.05) and he offered me another at the same price. D'oh! Click for more.

I got a little turned around at Angkor. Hah! Click for more.Celebrated my Cambodian good times with a whiskey bucket. Click for more.

At about 6:00am after a few of these, I realized I might not have taken the days of the week into account when planning my Indian visa retrieval. Sure enough, it was Thursday, the Indian consulate in Thailand closes for the weekend at noon on Friday, and my flight to India leaves from Bangkok at 9:00am on Monday. I had 28 hours to get from Siam Reap, Cambodia, to Chiang Mai, Thailand. That's a long way, look at a map. So I got an hour's rest, rode on the back of a motorbike drunk as a skunk to catch an 8:00am bus, crossed the border, hopped on a cramped minibus with broken A/C that made my slimy whiskey sweats all the more unpleasant, got into Bangkok at 6:00pm, ran to a 7:35pm night train to Chiang Mai, had a nice sleep, got into Chiang Mai on Friday at 12:10pm...

ULP

ran outside, negotiated a fair tuk tuk price, got to the consulate at 12:20 after a couple of wrong turns, waved my visa receipt through the bars at the Indian guard ("Yes, come in, come in") and was very sweet to the grumpy Thai woman behind the counter that kept reminding me they were closed. But I got my visa, and tomorrow I'm in India!

Video Vault: All Turkeys Go to Heaven

I've been in Lao for about a week now, but rather than spend the time necessary to type out some of my adventures from this wonderful country (I'll have time soon enough), all I can give you for the moment is a video from Israel. This the turkey we pulled out of its pen and slaughtered so we could celebrate a proper Thanksgiving on the farm. I call the video

All Turkeys Go to Heaven

My Cheapest Accommodations Yet

$2.50 in Chiang Mai! The bathroom is shared, right outside, and someone might move into that other bed, but... $2.50!

Puppies Nursing Are the Cutest Thing

From my time on the goat farm in Israel.

Some puppies nursing. Set cute guns to stun.

A Well Conceived Scam

So last week, before Andrew arrived in Bangkok I fell into a very well organized scam. It started like this...

I was walking around Bangkok aimlessly, and wandered into a temple. On the way out, a guy started making fun of my shoes because they are so worn. We got to talking, and after a few minutes he started telling me some places I should check out. Then he mentioned that as a thank you to everyone for celebrating his birthday so magnificently, the king (who everyone in the country LOVES, and who in turn supposedly loves everyone in his country) was sponsoring a tuk tuk (a little motor taxi, so named for the sound its uncovered engine makes) company for the day and that they would drive you pretty much anywhere you wanted to go for 20 baht (about 66 cents--really cheap for a long tuk tuk ride). He told me to look for the yellow flags, as they marked the sponsored tuk tuks. On the way out of the temple, a tuk tuk with a yellow flag was waiting and the driver approached me: "Special deal! King sponsor today! I drive you many places, 20 baht!" So my thought is of course "Well, these two are working together to get me into this tuk tuk" so I say "No thanks" and keep walking.

So after about 15 minutes I wander into another temple. I stand and stare at the Buddha for a few minutes, when a Thai man that has been kneeling there looks up at me and asks if I know how to make a wish to the lucky Buddha. I say no and he leads me through the process on my knees. Then we get to talking, he tells me he is an English teacher at the school attached to the temple, etc etc. He asks me where I'm planning to visit today, and recommends a few other places. Then he says "You know, what you should really do is get into a tuk tuk with a yellow flag, there's a special promotion, etc etc

So I walk out of the temple and I'm like, "What are the odds that two super nice people at two separate temples are working in concert to get me involved in some elaborate scam?" I decided whatever the odds were, 20 baht was a good deal for a tuk tuk adventure. So I flagged down a tuk tuk with a yellow flag and asked "Is there some sort of special deal today?" "Yes, yes! The king sponsors tuk tuk rides today! 20 baht! I take you anywhere!" So I hopped in.

After taking me to a couple of temples, he tells me he needs to go get a stamp to be reimbursed from the government. So we stop in front of a clothing store and he tells me to go in and at this point I realize I've been suckered. So I go into the shop and tell them I want to buy two suits but their price is too expensive and come back out. I ask the driver what the next stop is, and he tells me it's a temple. I figure I might as well get another temple out of the deal and go with him. On the way I ask him who is sponsoring this trip, the government or the stores, and his answer is murky (intentionally, methinks) thanks to his uncertain grasp of the English language. So we go to the temple and on my way in a man sweeping the ground tells me I can't go in yet, and directs me to a little sitting area where I can wait. There's a very friendly-looking man there and I sit and stare at the trees, counting down the seconds until he starts up a conversation that leads to talking about this amazing deal the king has going on. It takes about 8 seconds.

When I leave the temple, I ask the driver what the NEXT stop is, and he says it's another sponsor. I tell him I don't want to go to any more shops, and pull out my 20 Baht. Then he levels with me, and tells me that if he takes me to three stores today, the person running the scam promotion will fill his gas tank and give him dinner. He begs me to keep going with him. I figure it's like TV commercials or ads in a magazine--sometimes you gotta put up with a little crap to get what you want. And I was enjoying the cheap ride around, so I accepted the subsidized trip and had a fine time for the rest of the day.

What amazes me is how intricate the scam was. They had friendly people planted all over the city just to plant the idea in people's heads that this government promotion was going on, so that when a select group of tuk tuk drivers, who are notoriously untrustworthy, mention the same thing it comes with a certain amount of credibility. Impressive!

Video: Goats On Parade

From my time in Israel. Every day after milking and feeding, we let the goats go wandering in the hills, accompanied by a few good dogs. They would wander around and come back by the time the sun went down. There were about 220, and when some wouldn't return we'd have to go out looking for them. Some of them have bells on their necks for herd location purposes. Apparently, part of the way they find their way home is by the wind coming up through the valley. They know if they're walking into the wind, they're headed home. So if it was a particularly chaotic day windwise, they would get scattered and we'd have to send out some searchers.

Video: Escorting a Goat to Get Milked

Slava escorts a goat through the pen to the milking station. This was my favorite thing to do on the goat farm in Israel. Catching goats is a blast.

Hotel Comparison Videos: $7.50 in Jordan vs. $6.75 in Thailand

Recently I've stayed in two budget hotels. The first was the Sunrise Hotel in Amman, Jordan:

And the second was the place I've been staying in Bangkok, My House:

The Verdict:
The Sunrise Hotel in Amman was bigger and had two beds, but My House is much cleaner, has a [cold water] shower that works, and is in a much much MUCH nicer part of town than that Jordanian hole. Plus I didn't have to haggle for the Bangkok price, while the guy in Amman started the price at $22.50. After I walked out he chased me down the street and agreed to my price, then while registering asked me "Why so angry? Why you want to [punching motion] me?" He was a young guy, probably 16. Later he asked me how to get a girlfriend, and when I said "I don't know," he accused me of lying: "Don't say you don't know! You American, you have many girlfriends, I know! Tell me!"

Where Do They Get These Wonderful Toys?

There is a playground in Tel Aviv full of cool stuff, and this structure is the highlight. After making this video I actually came up with a better way to do it, if height is your goal--standing in the middle and swinging from there can get you just about flush with the ropes.