TODAY IS NEWSLETTER DAY - KOH PHA NGAN THAILAND
Take a look then subscribe to get in your E-mail box.
Just too easy.
http://www.hobotraveler.com/newsletterhobo144insert.shtml
- posted by Andy @ 1:22 AM

 
PLANS - GO TO HAD YAI SOON
I am going to Had Yai on about the 29th of March to meet a friend. I was in the city for 1 night or something like that a year ago to stage a visa run to Malaysia, but I will be there for a few day soon.

I have no idea what to look at in Had Yai, but it is suppose to be a very clean city, and is a more or less normal city in Thailand if that is possible in a compared to the world sense.

GOSSIP - VIETNAM IS GETTING RID OF KARAOKE
I heard some gossip that Vietnam has outlawed or somehow stopped Karaoke bars. This is an Asian place for people to meet, select, and rent a prostitute so now what will the Karaoke singers do?

I have no idea if this is true, but it would make sense. I have been getting the feeling that Vietnam is trying to come a bigger player in the tourism world, but they must be careful or they will become the next sex-tourism country like Thailand, Cuba, or maybe the city of Rio.

I do pay attention good, so do not pay attention much to my opinions on this trade.

BELGIUM - Gossip - Wants to steal business from Amsterdam.
I heard some gossip a couple of years ago that Belgium was going to legalize smoking marijuana so they could get the business from Amsterdam on the druggie business, or at least try to. What a way to make a living for a city? How stupid.


THE CHANGING OF TRADITIONAL CLOTHING
There is a pair of pants called,
Fisherman Pants.・

They are sort of a easy to put on, one size fits all cotton slip on pants that are good for fishing I suppose or for the beach. The travelers of Thailand and India have adopted these pants as a typical hippie travel pants and have changed the design.

There is this basic standard very wide design that I think is authentic or typical. I purchased a couple of pair last time in Thailand. The are perfect for lounging around in the hut or around the Hostels.

But・This year I needed a new pair and they are shorting the material. They used to be very wide and now they make them just big enough to go around you, and this is terrible, they do not fit. I am not saying that all of the pants are this way now, but the ones I purchased are this way. It is sad, because these are probably culturally actually Thailand or Asian pants and now they are changing or making them worse to earn more money. This is normal under-developed nation mentality of giving less service than is needed and not more than needed. It is huge problem with doing business. I saw the same pants in India and laughed, but then all the pants in India are too small, they do not appear to make any of them correct.

But I suppose I will have to go now to place where there are no foreigners and buy the pants. What a shame that something good and typical changes for the worse.

It is similar to the Thai Massage. I am not sure there is really a Thai Massage or typical Thai Massage when you dilute it by having every girl that has hands doing a massage, plus half are just a front for the extras they wish to sell.

IN MY ROOM
Wednesday morning 3:30 AM

I guess I could not sleep or more correctly I thought it was time to wake up and just got up and started my day, then I looked at my alarm clock and realized it was very early. But I was already up, drinking coffee, and typing on my computer, so why not just keep at it?

I have a one-room bungalow, hut, or various other names for this type of building in the world. There is a fan and three window that fold open or swing open. The place has a large built in bed, mosquito net and a small table. This is more rustic than a lot of them, but still is basic and good standard living in Thailand. I have a porch on the front with a built in bench chair, a hammock, and a clothes line. This room of my has everything but the shower and toilet for 150 Baht per night or about 3.50 U.S. I could have the toilet for 50 Baht more or for another dollar per night. I am so accustomed to the shared or common toilet I almost do not think about the other choice.

What does seem silly here in Thailand is the number of 2 men or 2 women that share a bungalow. This place is just too small for 2 people that are not in love. I would never share this type of room to save money, but it half the price for 2 people because they do not rate the price by the number or people.

Here is a photo from Koh Tao, but is the same, but on the side of a hil and not on level ground.




GOOGLE ADSENSE IS KICKING ARSE - TAKING NAME!
https://www.google.com/adsense/


I learned from Stephen of
http://www.farangs.com

About this advertising program of Google.com that is great. I have tried various affiliate programs, click through, and click to make money systems. All of them have been a bust more or less. They just do not pay enough to feed the cat, and do not add to the site.

I have already added this program to my site

This ad sense program from Google.com seems to be a big payer, and what is also great is that even I am tempted to click on the ads. I was reading or looking at a page I made on how to import or export backpack or such, and I was writing about how I was going to Vietnam, Nepal, and other places to see and over to the right of my OWN page was an advertisement for clips, locks, snaps, and other hardware to put on backpacks. I was in Nepal and they have pretty good sewing techniques, but the hardware just outright is trash. I am now worried that I need to buy American made hardware and bring it to one of these countries to manufacture a bag. But the great part about this Google program is that it give the readers
Contextual Ads・

Now this is still and ad and who wants an ad on the page? Not me really and I do not want to put ads on my own pages, but someone has to pay the rent and these ads are tied to the content of the page.

I have to search for ways to pay for my travels or to live so I am always trying to figure out how to make money. The donations have almost dried up to nothing for the newsletters, I think because they think I am rich because the site is getting some kudos or comments like the forbes.com thing. Selling products on the site is in the long run my best hope of making enough money to travel easily. But the ad sense program from Google.com seems to be a windfall. I am presently after 5 days making about 5 dollars per day. This is enough for me to live in Thailand. Not great, but I can pay for the room and eat chicken fried rice.

Here is another explanation of how it works:

Contextual ads appear on web pages based on the context or topic of the page. For example, if you are visiting a web page that discusses clinical depression, the contextual ads displayed on that particular web page would be related to mental illness and depression. Thus, you might see ads from pharmaceutical companies, medical information sites, and treatment centers for mental illness.・

By Shari Thurow of
http://www.grantasticdesigns.com

I am excited because I am almost over the new-business-hump. I have been doing the HoboTraveler.com webpage now for about 4 years, although I have had other named sites for about 10 years total, but the Hobo is just a 4 year old. I guess I officially started it about the first day of 2000 when I was in Panama.

So I am excited to be able to make about 500 Dollars per month. I suppose that does not get most people excited, but for a guy laying around in on the beach, living in a room for 3 dollars U.S. this is great. I want to thank Stephen for the heads up from:
http://www.farangs.com

And of course
http://www.google.com

I am happy and hope the checks clear, or come to my home in Indiana. Most affiliate programs are terrible.

WORKING AND TRAVELING
I suppose and I am sure really that lots of people have a dream of working while traveling so they can see the world, but still have money. The problem with traveling is you use money, but you normally do not receive money. So to earn money and travel is sort of a dream of travelers, but I can say that almost nobody does this. People can talk about teaching English, but that is really just a job in another country, there is no real mobility to it, you cannot just get up and leave. I met the disappearing Mark programmer in India that I believe made money while living anywhere, but he disappeared before I could really understand.
I hear about people all the time that supposedly make money and travel with eBay.com but they just do not come under my radar, and when I really have talked with a few, they are not really living, but just purchased a few things, and go home and sell them. Not a living a more or play toy.

MY FUTURE HELP-A-HOBO PROGRAM
I am conspiring and spending a lot of mental energy trying to figure out a way to help people to earn money while traveling. I think I can set people up with Blogs or Newsletter and I can help them to keep their world organized and sell my backpacks or what not on the pages they would make and we could share the money. It needs to be totally automated because less than 1 in 30 people that would start would continue and this would take up a lot of time for me if I set them up with a blog that published to my site and they did nothing. A fully automated set-up program is needed.

So what this would do is allow people to post their travel logs and make money also. They would not need to pay me, as I would make enough to pay them. I am still very very worried about the amount of money that could be made. Ad program like this are the reason for the dot.com failures of the past. This is not a ad program as more of a way for me to advertise my line of Hobo gear, the other hoboes would get a webpage, newsletter, blog all for free and we would both be in a win win situation.

I can say that making money off a webpage is almost impossible. It is not the easy life of money.
- posted by Andy @ 6:39 PM

 
CHICKEN CORNER OF KOH PHA NGAN HAS CHANGED
There is now a restaurant diagonally across from Chicken Corner. The milk shake corner is gone. Chicken corner restaurant a great place for just a piece of chicken in still there.
- posted by Andy @ 6:07 PM

 
HIGH SPEED IS LOW SPEED INTERNET IN KOH PHANGAN THAILAND
I am having tons of small problems with using the Internet in Koh Pha Ngan, Had Rin Beach Thailand. My Laptop or Notebook cannot be connected or at least I have not found a place. The high speed connection is slow. The pages flip and do not send or initiate correctly.

I NEED TO COPY OF COPY AND PASTE TO NOT LOSE MESSAGE!
I always highlight and copy before I will click on send.
- posted by Andy @ 5:58 PM

 
Misc. Catching up
ARRIVED IN KOH PHA NGAN
Sunday Morning 4:53 AM

Koh means Island in Thai, so I am on an Island close to another Island called Koh Samui the famous tourist resort island.

I took a bus from the Peachy Guesthouse just off of Khao San Road or behind the Temple a couple of blocks to Koh Phangan Island. The cost was 300 Baht and we left at 6:00 PM and arrived in Koh Pha Ngan about noon the next day. I went by bus and they coordinated all the transfers and boats, etc, to arrive with no hassles. The cost of the taxi truck from the pier to the Had Rin beach or full moon beach was 50 Baht. So for 350 Baht I can leave Khao San Road and arrive on the full moon beach.

This is one of my favorite beaches in the world, because of a few factors, mostly to do with movies. I can sit on a beach full of western girls with very small bikinis and some with smaller yet, and the waves and sun, and topography is perfect for a cove or Bay of water and sun. Then at night I can walk around and choose from about 20 places that have movies and watch one or up to 4 movies during the night in different restaurants. I have to probably purchase a drink or some food, but the cost is small and I can sit and enjoy the most current movie that people can copy and steal from the big studios and catch up on movie watching.

There are plenty of people from all over the world to talk to, a minimal amount of various debauchery that Thailand is known for, and almost no tourist in the typical camera toting or photo taking type, but more of the young wanna party types. They are young, and full of tattoos, piercing, and other fashions, but they behave and life is good.

There are almost no Thai people as this place is claimed by the Western world and the Thais just are here to sell, more or less.

My room in the Black and White cost me 150 Baht for a private bungalow with a share shower. They rent motorbikes for around 150-250 Baht per day or about 3-6 Dollar U.S.

Live is real easy here, and more or less a resort for the young on 6 dollars a day. The Internet is ok here, and a little expensive, but I can manage.

I met or talked with Steve from England. He is a guy that I had met on this beach and again on Palolem Beach in India. He is very good at finding the best beaches on the planet, or mostly I suppose in the Asia Theatre, but he is nonetheless a great pointer for beaches. I have taken some note, and will follow-up on them in the future.

EXCELLENT READER ADVICE ON MANILA
I planning on going to Manila so this person has written me and gave some excellent information. I have omitted his name and personal information, but as always I try to be respectful of wishes, and will fix, alter, or edit as a person wants or does not want credits. I am not sure why business owners do not see that they could get in the newsletter or blog if they gave me good, authentic, and personal information, I normally give them a link up…

PHILIPPINES

Hi, Andy, .....

There is a lot to see and do in the Philippines. However, Manila
is overcrowded, somewhat expensive in comparison, and slightly
dangerous. I lived in the Philippines for 15 consecutive years, in
Angeles City, about 50 KM north of Manila.

… (omitted info)

After base closure, I remained in the Philippines for an additional
four years. I still return to the Philippines two or three times a
year, and sometimes I go to Bangkok for a few weeks. Although you
travel more or less as a backpacker, I am probably considered a
"Tourist."

I would recommend that if you go to the Philippines, you spend
three to five days in Manila, and a week or so in Angeles City. Then
maybe a side trip to Baguio, high up in the mountains, and then another side trip to Boracay Island. I would recommend you avoid Mindanao as it is a Muslim stronghold and there are fairly constant conflicts in that area. I think that when a Muslim boy, there, turns about age 14 or so, they have a big party and give him his own M-16 or an AK-47.

There are some 7,100 islands in the Philippines and believe it or
not, generally speaking, each island has its own language.
Although Tagalog is considered the National Language, more people speak Cebuano and Waray. At least in Manila, they speak Tagalog.
In Cebu and the lower half of Leyte, the people speak Cebuano. In Samar and the upper half of Leyte, they speak Waray. Many Filipino words are of Spanish origin, and generally speaking, the average person living there does speak English. 95% of the population is Catholic. Secondary religion, population-wise are Inglasha Ne Christo (Chirch of Christ) and, of course on Mindanao it is about 50% Muslim.

The American Embassy is located on Roxas Blvd, in Manila's Ermita district. Believe it or not, there are some Professional Line Standers who are free lance. There job is to report early morning to the main entrance of the Consular Section and stand in line. Then, when someone wants to go to the head of the line, they "Sell" their place in the line. Most of the "Foreigner" bars in Manila are located in Pasay City and in Makati. The former "Tourist Belt" in Ermita was "Cleaned up" when General Lim, retired Police General, was elected Mayor of Manila. He basically raised the price of the Mayor's Permit (License) for Foreigner oriented bars to some 100,000 Pesos and of course that put most clubs out of business in Manila. Actually, Metro Manila is made up of 23 towns and cities.

The American WWII Cemetary is located on the grounds of Fort
Bonificio and is a "tourist" destination. Intromuros, the old Spanish
Fort area of Manila is also a "tourist" destination. Rizal Park, with
its monument to the Philippines National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, is a good photo spot, but beware of the "touts" who might offer you a "Young woman." Please do not ask one of the bystanders to take your photo using your expensive camera. He will keep stepping back to "focus" and will run away with the camera.

Forbes Park is the area of Manila were the "Rich" Filipinos and
wealthy foreigners usually live. It is a "Gated Community."

I intend to go to Angeles City in the next few weeks and stay about three weeks. Hotels in Angeles range from 3 Star to half a star. I usually stay at the Orchid Inn Hotel and if fully booked I stay at the Clarkton. Room rate at both hotel for a standard air conditioned room is $25.00 a night. Other hotels are available for as cheap as $12.00 a night. I have also stayed at the Phoenix Hotel and the America Hotel for $25.00 a night. I do try to avoid Filipino oriented bars and beer houses. When a group of Filipino men get to drinking, it sometimes gets a bit roudy and dangerous.

However, generally speaking, the Filipinos are a happy, fun-loving,
and friendly people.

The equivelent to Soi Cowboy or Nana Plaza is Fields Avenue. A
bottle of beer in one of the Foreigner oriented clubs is 55 to 80 Pesos
(current exchange rate is about 56 Pesos to one US Dollar.) As for
"Take Out" service by a "Tour Guide" or "Guest Relations Officer," it is
similar to Thailand, except you are expected to pay the club 1,000 Pesos inclusive, plus a small tip of 100 - 500 Pesos, depending upon
performance, the following morning. No other extra charges apply.

A round trip flight on Thai Airways is about $300.00 in Bangkok.
However, Bangkok is a discount ticket area, so I recommend you not buy the tickets from the Airline, but from one of the many Travel Agents there. I usually use Sawadee Travel, located between Soi 6 and 8, Sukumvit, or the travel desk at the Nana Hotel, Sukumvit Soi 4. The Nana Hotel is located directly across the street from the famous (or infamous) Nana Entertainment Plaza. If in that neighborthood, you mightwant to check out the Angelwitch bar on the 2nd Level. If in the Soi Cowboy area, I would recommend a visit around 7:00 PM to the Long Gun Saloon and the New Doll House. The "Hello Girls" at the Doll House usually hold a sign that says: "Welcome to the New Doll House, home of 98 beautiful girls and two ugly ones" I can not recall ever seeing the two ugly ones.

Regards,
“Omitted Credits unless he give me permission.”
- posted by Andy @ 7:16 PM

 
KOH PHA NGAN ISLAND
Hello,

I am here on the Island of Koh PhaNgan. Will go to the beach in about one hour. I have walked around for the last hour looking for an internet cafe to connect. No luck so far. Hard to explain the mentality, but Thailand culture is not the real helping kind unless it is obvious how, or involves women.
"Cannot"

Well, I have lived without it for years, I can live a week without it.
I have not found any techie types.

The Island has changed and they are building lots of room here. The prices are about the same.
I will copy more to the computer later.
Andy HoboTraveler.com
- posted by Andy @ 8:27 PM

 
The photo below my is what Jeff is seeing in Russia, this is what I am seeing in Thailand

- posted by Andy @ 8:37 PM

 
FRANCIS SAYS THIS PHOTO IS TYPICAL RUSSIA - Thanks to Francis from Ottawa, Canada

Russia Building
- posted by Andy @ 8:23 PM

 
TODAY IS NEWSLETTER DAY - ONLY 3 DAYS LATE
Actually Tuesday is newsletter day, but I am always late or not so late with the letter, as I just keep adding and do not get the complete thought until I am late. I suppose the Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland was right. “I’m late.”

But here is Mongolia and Nomadic Nights with a guest writer, my friend Jeff Westin in the Newsletter. Plus the Travel Tip tells you how to connect your computer in an Internet Café.

Photos of Russia, Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia, Beijing, Trains and a few girls in I be Hobo shirts.
http://www.hobotraveler.com/newsletterhobo143insert.shtml

HOBOGUIDE.COM THANKS TO ANDREW FROM INDIA
Hoboguide.com an online guide that I am working on is making progress. I want to thank Andrew S, a techie from Margao, India. He is happy, vigorous, and systematically attacking and helping me to make an online guidebook for the world.

He has done or made the choices with only a little guidance from me on the architecture of the site. He has a good tone and feel.
Thank You Andrew S from Margao, India.

HOBOGUIDE.COM
http://www.hoboguide.com

UP WITH PRETTY GIRLS, DOWN WITH FRIENDLY TRAVELERS
I suppose the quality of looks and belly buttons has improved in Thailand, but the quality of smiles and friendly dispositions has taken a drop among the travelers. Mongolia has a culture traveler as doe countries like Laos or South America and this is a different channel of travelers. But looks do sell, and packaging is good, I am not complaining and I am going to the beach to see what happens with no packaging.

RAN INTO GIRL FROM HAMPI, INDIA
I spent Christmas Eve with a nice American girl with from New York City and the same New York methodology of looking at or taking from the world. She was looking at some books to buy here in Bangkok and I spied the black, curly, JAP - Jewish American Princess from the back, and then waited for here to turn around to see if I was dreaming, or it is other dreams of mine.

She was funny and telling me all of her exploits and how she wishes to go to MBA School in Thailand. That does seem a Darwinian regression, especially for the East Coast person that has some good schools out there. I do not know what to say about studying in other countries. The best foundations are in the first level countries, and more maybe of the practical or applied in another country.

I do not want to live in Thailand. I love to visit, but I am looking for life more in huggable countries with more touch and feel. I suppose I want to be more sensitive to people like my girl friend in college Judy always wanted from me, and I was clueless. Some countries I am a visitor and other countries I could be integrated into the fabric of their society. But Thailand is definitely fun in a more basic way, and this is good.

I made a complaint about the culture of India and she commented that if I really wanted to learn about culture I would go visit or go see people.

I told her,
“I took local buses from city to city for 90 percent of India.”
In a country where all the travelers take the train, I took the bus to see what is maybe closer to real India whatever that means. To learn about a culture it takes time and isolation from travelers. You cannot buy a culture lesson or go visit a family for a culture lesson. I suppose you can learn about rich well to do families in other countries if you live with them and they for sure will put on their best Sunday go to meeting attitude and represent their country as great Ambassadors and such, but to really find the country. I think you need to spend at minimum 10 days in each city; find places where there are ZERO tourist and learn the language a little. Home stays and living with families is a good thing, but not really getting into the trenches with people.

What I find is that other cultures are uncomfortable, and when I am experiencing a culture I am on foreign ground, and nothing feel right, because I am not in my culture. If it feels good, and seems good, you are probably in a try-to-be-western-culture world of make believe.

People that do not want to talk to you, and have no reason to talk to you, and really cannot be bothered, are the happenstance world of culture. But do not think that living with a wannabe western like family in another culture is NOT culture. It is culture it is a wannabe western like family in another country culture.

Sort of like the guy or girl that does not want to be fashion, or trendy and cops out and flakes out to be a hippie, and has dreads, tattoos, and makes a statement.
“Rage against the machine.”
Hehehe…
“They are so trendy they are globalization of fashion, music, and dread, with tinges of Bob Marley, and Che Guererro for kicks.”
There is nothing unique about them, and nothing is freethinking about a person that looks and acts like the group.
I will admit. I do think there is real rage though. That smelly undercurrent inside a person that is wishing to push or hurt someone, even if only by being so obnoxious and intolerant as to try to push their lifestyle on anyone that does not want it.
- posted by Andy @ 8:18 PM

 
FILLING IN THE BLANK - STUFF THAT NEEDED POSTED!
BANGKOK MEMORIES - WEDNESDAY 17, MARCH
It is Wednesday morning and I have been shaking and burning around in Bangkok, restocking, buying, and organizing to go to the beach and also for Cambodia, Vietnam, and possible Manila, Philippines, I suppose it would be better to fly to the Philippines and then to Vietnam, and come by land across Cambodia back to Thailand to fly to either Europe or who knows where.

I am talking to Mr. Joe my friend in Southeast Travels and tours trying to find the best options. The Vietnam and Cambodia Visa takes a few days so I can apply and then come back to Bangkok to pick them up.

I am sure I want to go to the beach, and Bangkok is quickly becoming the big, noisy, and full of traveler city it is for me. I can feel it surrounding me, and making me feel like a small town boy in the big city. This is often my stress and disarranged feeling because I am out of sort in a city and feel better in the small places of life.

The smell of Bangkok is funny. There is a methane gas smell along the streets because the storm sewers are mixed with the wrong sanitary sewer stuff and is ripe. I am not sure if most travelers smell this, but there is a definite ripe smell in the background of smells when you get close enough. There are these square cement blocks with ventilation holes that block up the storm sewers, but also allow them to evaporate and smell.

I am staying in the Sawasdee INN. It cost me 180 Baht per night and is not the cheapest, but very safe and has a color TV down in the common area. It is just at the end of Khao San road and behind the temple hidden. There are about 12 Sawasdee Hotel in Thailand and they have purple signs, but they are confusing. This is the INN one.

I would probably stay in the Peachy if the noise in the television area were quieter. The Peachy is where I book bus tickets for places in Thailand.

I met with a man from Farangs.com or a Thailand Booking site last night. He makes money with his webpage and is one of the few. I am working with him on a project and maybe he will help with a Web cam I am trying to put up on Khao San Road. We are going to Panthip or a the cheapie Computer Mall store here in Bangkok today, it is full of everything cheap and the stuff we are not suppose to buy.

He knows lots of ways for me to make money to travel. So life is very good. I think I learned more in one night of discussions then I have in the last year on how to make money on my page. He has a very good booking or reservation page for Thailand Hotels.

THAILAND HOTELS - FARANGS.COM
http://www.farangs.com

ARRIVED IN THAILAND - MONDAY MARCH 14, 15 2004
I arrived in Thailand. I suppose it is debatable a little what is the date, because I am getting to pay for the 14th because I arrived at 1:00 AM in the morning on the 15, but they did not want to let me enter without paying for the 14th.

I paid 12000 Mongolian Turig or 11 Dollars U.S. Airport tax to leave Ulan Batar, Mongolia. The person at the desk said I needed to pay for a transit visa to enter China for the layover. They fortunately allowed me to get on the plane and when I arrive in China there was no problem or I would have had to pay another 30-40 U.S. Dollars just to fly through China. I am very happy to get out of this ridiculous fee pay zone of Russia, and China.

My large bag weighed in at about 23 kilos again for the trip from Ulan Batar, Mongolia to Bangkok, Thailand. My small bag is probably around 13 kilos.

PACKING TIME
It took from 8:05 am to 8:40 am to be completely packed and read to leave or 35 minutes. The problems I always have is that I do not put away things and I also still have a lot of little things that do not really have a place.

Problem areas are the shower and books.

I am going to make a bigger shower bag when I got to Thailand and a cotton book holder. I am almost to the point where if I was a person that put away things I could pack in less than 10 minutes with zero hurry and able to unpack my bag completely in 2 minutes.

I am wanting the goal of being able to hang up all my stuff in a Hostel in 2 minutes and have all the gear available easily. One of the greatest reasons I do not move more is that I hate to pack, if the packing was extremely quick than I would move from location to location quicker.

SUNDAY MORNING - LEAVING BY PLANE TODAY TO THAILAND
It is about 7:00 am and I have been playing, working, or typing on my computer and arranging pages for the last few hours already this morning. I am leaving by plane for Thailand this morning or really at 12:30 pm and this is going to occupy my whole day and night. I will get into Thailand just after midnight and this is going to kill the day.

But I am very happy to think of beaches.

It takes about ½ hour for me to pack, but I always seem to allot about two hours and than when I have extra time there is no problems. I am always amazed at the people that have no room for error system of packing. This to me right now would be a 370 Dollars U.S. gamble. People will miss their planes and go look at tourist attractions right up to the minute the leave or hang around in places and then suddenly realize they have to leave.

I will start packing now at 7:00 am and get ready. Then I will be packed for the 5000 Mongolian money or Turig trip I will take to the Airport. I think I can get it for 3000, but the owner of the Nassan is much more dependable than me trying to explain “Airport” to a Mongolian person.

So the day is a wash, and better to work on reading that is easily fit in to extra time then to believe that I would miss something in Mongolia if I did not go and look at it. I have realized that it is not important if I miss something and the day is more important, and 370 Dollars is one months worth of living and I do not want to miss the plane.

Life is good, and then you have confusion. The confusion is the stress caused by making a choice that is not needed to make. The more I say no, the less the confusion.
- posted by Andy @ 8:21 PM

 
ARRIVED IN BANGKOK THAILAND
Hello,
I am in Bangkok, Thailand. Nice to be walking in sandals down the road and remembering the smell of a Bangkok. Each city has a smell and a feel, and this one is familiar. I am restocking and realizing that the cost of good in Thailand seem lower and more selection than in India, Nepal, Tibet, China, or Mongoliaa so a great place to restock on things like coffee, and other miscellaneous stuff.

Life is good, and I cannot complain.
- posted by Andy @ 7:17 PM

 
LAST TOUCH OF THE INTERNET BEFORE THAILAND
Hello,
Mongolia has been great in an aggressive and girl type of way. The country is modern medieval all in one. Great place to park your hat in the summer...!

But the people are nice, and the world is good here. They are coming out of the a Soviet depression, but the people seem to be working and prosperous in a way.

Hostels are cheap at 4.00 U.S. and life is simpler here. Good place for a Hobo to stay for a couple of weeks to recharge.

Now to Thailand for a different type of recharging.
Beach and Babes.
Leave tommorrow morning for Thailand by Air China. 370 Dollars U.S.
Big money for Hobo... ! Send money.. hehehe
- posted by Andy @ 3:00 AM

 
MONGOLIAN GUR OR TENT IN NOMADIC OR MAYBE THEY ARE NOT SO NOMADIC TENTS OF MONGOLIA
About one-half the 2.5 million population of Mongolia live in these Gur tents. Hard to say they are Nomadic, but that is the romantic view. They are 1/2 the time permanant if not all the time in the same location.



- posted by Andy @ 6:55 PM

 
LEAVING FOR THAILAND SUNDAY
I have lot of photos of Gurs, or the tents that they Mongolian people use for homes here so I am prepared for one more story on Mongolia and off to Thailand for the beach.

I will go visit Cambodia and Vietnam, and maybe got to Singapore and Indonesia. I am not sure. I am still trying to get to Eastern Europe in the spring.

LOTS OF CRIME OR VIOLENCE IN ULAN BATOR MONGOLIA
Saturday March 13, 2004

There was a couple that came back from the Gur or Tents of the Mongolians yesterday. People go and live in the tents with the Mongolians to experience the life and ride the ponies or horses. Well this couple, one Brit boy with an Iceland girl went with a girl that was from Mongolia that was a friend to visit the Gurs.

I the end they paid double for the price of the ponies and the one guy got caught with their money, or traveler checks in his possession.

VIOLENCE
I am living in the Nassan Guesthouse. It is good, but the UB is probably better because they have movies and lockers, and even thought the Nassan says they have movies, they do not.

But there was this guy hanging around from Mongolia in the guesthouse while Nassan’s husband went to the Gurs for a few days. I did not think about it, because I thought he was working for the lady the owner called Nassan.

He is a good guy, but hang around, and wants people to buy him drinks. He went to the market with us, and helped a lot to translate and buy things. He was an ok guy.

Well, he comes in the other afternoon while I am lying in my dorm bed trying to take a nap. He sits down and smelling of alcohol tells me that he love Nassan, and that the problems with Nassan is because her husband. I could care less about the local drunks drinking and having affairs.

But then in comes Nassan with her husband, and he actually hits this guy and more or less they get in a fight. They finally leave, and Nassan hollers at me,
“There are rules against having guest inside.”

I have no idea how he got in, but I am 90 percent sure that Nassan the owner let him in, and when he husband came back she changed her story and blame us.

There is a real physical or violent nature to the Mongolian society and this makes life interesting. I do think that people traveling alone or going to the Gurs should take great care.
- posted by Andy @ 6:38 PM

 
THAILAND ON SUNDAY
Hello,

Will do an end around to visit Russia and come in from the other side in the next year and save a lot of money.

I am going to Thailand on Sunday.
Lay on the beach, go check out Cambodia and Vietnam then off to ... Maybe, Maybe Greece.
The Olympics is there this year. I believe.

Life is good.

Andy in Ulan Bator, Mongolia going for the sun.
- posted by Andy @ 7:31 PM

 
NEWSLETTER SENT TODAY THURSDAY IN MONGOLIA
Here is the link:
http://www.hobotraveler.com/newsletterhobo142insert.shtml

RUSSIAN VISA WEDNESDAY
I went to the money exchange and exchange 2000 Chinese Yuan for 241 U.S. Dollars so I could go to Legends Tours here in Ulaan Baator and buy an Invitation, Visa, and pay for one night room in Moscow. I calculated this would cost around 175 - 200 U.S. Dollars.

So I walked into the Legends Tour Russian Tour operator office here in Ulaan Baator intending to pay the money, had the money in my pocket, and ready to go. When I walk in the girl said,
“Did you go to embassy yesterday?”
I said,
“Yes.”
She said,
“I see you.”
Then she starts,
“Why did you go to embassy, I told you not to go to Embassy, and now you have problems.”
I said,
“I just asked about a Transit Visa, and he said it was 65 Dollars, so the Tourist Visa is only 70, and they take the same time.
She got a irritated and insinuated and said, that now she could not be sure she could get a Visa. She said, something about the man in the Embassy having different stories or hearing different stories.
I said,
“I just ask questions, and did not lie.”
I ask her,
“Do you think I have lied to you?”
She shook and just stood sat there,

This went back and forth, and I shut up and listened, and in the end sat down and tried to listen. She is very impatient. This is how I felt that she was saying to me,
“You pay the any money I ask and stop asking question, why do you care how much money it cost?”

I am thinking… Who gives a shit if they go to a country full of assholes. I have to be worried about the police wanting a bribe, about drunks trying to rob me, and the place is Siberia. It is still very cold now and who cares? I want to go to Russia, but I want to insure that I enjoy the trip.

There is a term or they use a term in basketball, when they say,
“Do not force the play.”

FORCING THE PLAY
If you force the play in travel the cost doubles or triples. If I do not instinctually feel a good deal, it is better to pass.

I gave up and am going to Thailand.

ULAAN BAATOR, MONGOLIA WEDNESDAY
Ulaan is easy or UB as they call it for Internet and food. They have large grocery stores, and Internet Cafes on every corner. The transportation is dodgy and not clear. The people are nice, but the men seem to hang around like drunks, I do not know if they are drunks, but this is not the type of place to walk around after dark.

RUSSIA VISA
The man at the Russian Embassy said I needed to get a Visa from Legends Tours or I would have troubles getting a Visa. I thought I would get a Transit Visa, but the man at the Embassy wants 65 dollars for that Visa, and the Tourist is only 70. I smell a rat, but I am getting a feeling that all of Russia is a rat. Reminds me of Mexico. So Mexico and Russia may be the same exploitive mentality.

I will go today and apply for the tourist visa with the legends tour. The mean girl forces me to buy a reservation in Moscow to get the ticket.

So the cost is about:
115 for Invitation and Tourist Visa
50 Dollars U.S. for the room in Moscow.

It would be a lot more, but I have beaten her down about 100 Dollars and am not getting the quick visa.

She says this will take 10 days.

I am trying to skip Russia, as I do not like to go to countries where they make life difficult, because my life is difficult. Better to go where life is easy and have a good life. Of course some people would not be happy unless they were not in the middle of a problem.

I will end up in Estonia by way of Saint Petersburg….. I think?

PEOPLE COMING OUT OF RUSSIA
I have met maybe 10-15 people coming or arriving from Russia. Only one has been or seems very happy about Russia. A Ottawa French Canadian that likes to smoke cigarettes and drink. I think he like the debauchery of it, but who can be sure, it appears there is a seedy attraction for some people. He does say, and he has spent more time than most in Russia that it is very dangerous..

There is lots of people explaining or talking about the smugglers on the train. There is a constant opinion that you can bribe anyone in Russia and it is expected.

MONGOLIA MONDAY
The Hostel is slowly changing people, as on week seems to be the time span that people stay in the Hostel before leaving.

I guess I have been here about four days, and am getting settled into life in Mongolia. I have written a friend of mine Nick in Moscow and he has replied, but I have no clear or definite plans on how to visit Russia.

CLEAR AND DEFINITE PLANS?
I have learned that I will not travel or move if there is not a clear path in front of me, and a reason to leave a good situation. I feel a need make a list of all my choices or options before leaving Mongolia. It is easy and cost effective here to explore the possible options before the next step of this journey.

Jeff is a different type of traveler then me in that he travels fast and looks at all the tourist attractions. I travel very slow, stay, and live and try to understand the locals in a different way. But because he knows he is never staying he can enter and leave a country in two days, while I am committed to the idea that ever place deserves ten days and every country deserves a month.

I have a lot of options.

RUSSIAN CROSSING OPTIONS

1. Transit Visa through Russia.
2. Tourist Visa through Russia.

SKIP OR NOT TRAVEL TO RUSSIA OPTIONS:

1. Fly to Europe from Ulaam Baatar.
2. Fly to South East Asia from Ulaam Baatar
3. Go to Kazakhstan and across the Caspian Sea.

COUNTRIES TO ENTER WHEN LEAVING RUSSIA
I will go to the CIA fact book and download the maps of the following countries so I can see or surmise the major cities and entry requirements for Americans.

1. Finland - Entry easy and just cross the border for USA people.
2. Latvia - Entry easy and just cross the border for USA people.
3. Lithuania - Entry easy and just cross the border for USA people.
4. Belarus
5. Ukraine
6. Poland

THE END GAME OR LANDING SITE IN EUROPE
1. Poland, Germany, Sweden, or any country that is base of flying for Ryanair.com or Easyjet.com to fly to Rome for warmer weather.

2. Possibly camp in Sweden.

- posted by Andy @ 1:59 AM

 
Aaagh Russia is a pain
Hello,

I am still trying to jump through the hoops to get a Russian Visa.
I have all but decided to get a transit visa and go straight to Estonia.

I may end up in Laos and down to Thailand...
- posted by Andy @ 11:47 PM

 
SATURDAY - MARCH 6 6:18 AM
This is a lot of miscellaneous typing that had not made it to the internet yet on Lhasa, Beijing, and the Trip to Mongolia.

There was a French guy that says he lives in New York City arrived yesterday. He is a photographers, I suppose he is a Free-Lance photographer as he states, but probably has a couple of magazines or whatnot that he concentrates on, I have not been able to discern which ones for sure, but he did say “National Geographic.” This would be a major accomplishment for a photographer.

I saw a large bag sitting around in his room that looked like a short pair of skis. I thought that this bag looked very curious for a backpacker, and he told us this was a bag of backgrounds for photos. It is quite huge, and in reality the bag he has does not look like a photographers so far, because there is nothing that announces that he is a photographers. None of the normal bevy of large camera bags, and none around his neck, announcing that,
“I am a photographer.”

So he may really be a photographer. His name is Frederick something and he is a good guy, not presumptuous or arrogant like a wanna be or maybe are people.

I will quiz him some more to learn some tricks of the trade from him, as he seems like a very capable person.

PHOTOGRAPHING MONGOLIA
This country is layered. It is not just remote and barren full of Mongolians living around in tents. I am in a very modern city full of people competing for jobs, and a living. There are department stores that look similar to the USA, and a superb grocery store that I am especially happy to find after about four countries of convenience store size stores of food shops. Most countries have some fresh food market, but a grocery store has more variety in foods than any fresh food market would every have. It takes a real importing effort and organization to create variety in food. Fresh food markets are for just that fresh fruit or maybe vegetables. All local grown and nothing that exciting, the food in a Wal-mart of large Krogers in the USA will make any of the markets in the world look sick in comparison for variety, quality, and just over all selections. So I am happy to find a large grocery store here.

I am plotting in my mind how to photograph myself Mongolia. I need a map or guide of some form to show me all the cities of the country. The layers of tourism is the problem here, because they sell 4-wheel drive tours everywhere and sort of staged authenticity at a drop of a hat I believe. The whole country looks for sale so far, and negotiable.

It is also very cold still and a short walk will bite my face, and cut at the power in my legs so this is an impediment to me wanting to move. I am probably going to read a couple of books for a week and think about this prospect, catch up on my computer work and think. Maybe in reality I will avoid the issue until it is warmer.

I have seen just hints of some rural or Mongolian culture that is unique. People think they want unique, and something they would call the “Real” country or the “Real Mongolian” but in reality they want to go in a 4-wheel drive and pay to see it. I am not sure this is possible. Anything paid for in this manners is almost always a paid for the viewer version of this, and not real. Everything is real, but to capture the essence or whatever they think they want to see is not so real. In the end we are all tourist.

Woke up and got out of bed to make a cup of coffee. I am sharing the room with Jeff so I came to the common kitchen to type on the computer for my work.

Jeff has a better than normal conception of what I do for a living and how I do it, but he is still sort of missing the point on what is involved. This was illustrated yesterday when I woke up around 7:00 am after the train ride, being worn from the trip, and just disorientated to sit in the bed and type on my computer. When he started to stir or move around it was about 9:00 am and he said something to the effect,
“You have already worked on the computer for a couple of hours?”

I agreed, and said,
“Yes, but I work on the computer daily for a few hours, if not more.”

There is a comparison that goes on for people on writing. Writing is an activity that takes about 20 minutes for people, although most people that sit down to the internet sit down for one hour to two hours minimum, they still consider it a 20 minute exercise. So to write or work on anything that involves typing should be around 20 minutes. This is the world and they would want to work on any job for around 20 minutes and not three-four hours at a stint.

I have learned in my prior business that four hours is the minimum time needed to make a move on anything. That in reality I can type for a couple of hours, but to make any real gains or accomplishments I need to put in about four hours of work.

I believed Jeff is really surprised at how much I work on the the Hobo, as he seems surprised that I am working on the computer so much. Of course he is like any normal person that sort of focuses on the newsletter and the newsletter overwelms the existence of the webpages. .

FRIDAY - SECOND DAY IN MONGOLIA - MARCH 5, 2004
Jeff and me arrived from Beijing yesterday in the early afternoon by train, it was an easy transition from the train to the Hostel as some lady hooked onto Jeff that he liked and we found a double room for 12 dollars a night or 6 dollars per person, which is very good for the city for a double. It is a proper Hostel and even has a kitchen and fridge, so the life is good. Oh yes, it is also very warm and cozy, with a few other travelers for conversation.

I am not sure how cold it is outside, but I would say around the 20 in Fahrenheit and about minus 5 or 10 in Celsius or close. It is frozen and a biting cold that nips at the face and cuts you down a little. Not terrible for short runs, but does take the energy out of you.

RUSSIAN EMBASSY
When we arrived yesterday we instantly went to the Russian Embassy to check out the situation or to prepare. Plus it is only open one hour per day between 2 and 3:00 pm and this is crazy, but that is the situation so we had to get bugging and get there.

The person or man behind the desk was an absolute jerk and started on a list of completely non-understandable questions in English. I tried to go slower and slower to have him not jumble together the questions. As best I can tell he wants from me:

1. Original letter of invitation and not a fax or email copy.
2. List of locations I am visiting.
3. An onward or ticket leaving.

I ask why, and he said so I would not stay in Russia.
I almost broke into a laugh at this, and I can tell you that so far Russia appears to be the place to escape from, and under situation to stay.

In the end he said,
“You need to go to LEGENDS TOUR COMPANY an buy a tour and get your Visa arranged.”

I translated this to mean,
“There is only one way I will do this Visa and that is if you pay that country to do the Visa.”

ONE HUNDRED PERCENT CORRUPT
I hate people like this and it is obvious that he is just a reason countries like Russia stay in the dark ages. They are so ignorant that they believe that the more rules the better. Mongolia is a very advance country and there are no restrictions on entering the country.

We went the tour operator called “Legends” and the lady was the same, and I asked her to explain the options or choice. She basically said that I needed to pay.

I asked her,
“How much do I have to pay you to get this Visa?”

She said,
“I don’t like how you are asking that question.”

She looked at it as I was saying she was corrupt, but all I was asking is how much money is the minimal necessary for her to take from me for her to arrange the Visa and get this done. I do not really care how she does it or what she does, or who she is, I just want the Visa and to enter Russian with the least amount of pain or understanding of their obviously corrupt system.

She did not like the question, but in the end put down a price of 193 for a 3-day express visa and I must buy 2 days room in some city.

This means about 300 Dollar for the Visa.
THAT IS ONE MONTHS ROOM AND BOARD FOR ME
200 Dollars of this is extra, and I am not sure it is worth paying this just to hurry up and go into frozen tundra or Russia. It is one to two months too early to enjoy Russia in a relaxed manner, and not in the Penguin wrapped manner of now. Tibet was really quite horrible for the time of the year, and we just seen brown crap or gravel. I am going to have to think about this a lot.

I am in a six dollar a night Hostel that is fun and happy in a country of Mongolia that is fun and happy and I am trying to push to go to a frozen and inhospitable country of Russia that does not seem to care if I enter or not, and only wants my money?

I travel for enjoyment, and the last six months have been full of crazies people and crazy places, and Monasteries full of monks that are about as holy as cows, and people that do anything to avoid meeting the people of the country. I have not met anyone of substance in China or Tibet because of the speed. I missed my chance for a person of substance in the small city outside of the Tibet side of the Everest Base camp because of the speed of the tour. I am not on a tour, but get the distinct feeling of being on a tour.

Jeff has a regime that makes life easy, but also robs me of my cultural experience, because he has a litany of things he must accomplish to say he has been in the country. I am in the country when my body enters the country and could care less about things like the Great Wall and all the Monasteries of the world. Seen one and you seen them all, and I did not see God in any of them. He seems to be on vacation.

I would love to just jump on the Train tomorrow and go across Russia with no hassle, but I see that I am taking a bite into cold hassle.

It is too cold here for Mongolia. The place is tied down for the winter and we are about one to two months away from spring. My goal is to end up in Europe in the spring or maybe Sweden in the spring where I can camp in Sweden.

10 DOLLAR A DAY LIFE
I have a 10-dollar a day life that says as long as I am paying less than 10 dollars a day I am happy. If the amount goes above this then life is not possible. I do not earn enough money to live on more than 10 dollars a day and people have just stopped giving money for my travels.

CHECKING COMPUTER
Checking batteries on laptop, that is all I do sometimes, is check the battery and see the status. I have taken up unplugging the computer when not in use and if it has a full charge, so that the little transformer that converts 220 or 110 to 19 Volts for the computer does not overheat and possible burn up, so what happens is that I forget the computer is unplugged.

I am very careful with my computer and I believe that most people do would not ever do, or believe the super redundant systems I have to make sure that slip-ups do not happen. For example the cord management is always assuming that someone will slip and tear the cord out of the computer, and this is also including myself, so what happens is I tie the loose cords in also sorts of configuration that makes the cord not cross the path of any walker, and I mean any, including myself. Doors can be such a pain to go around, but in the end there is nobody going to trip over the cord. If there cord is across the runway then it is tied on both ends so that the two bed would pull together and not the computer. But in the end I spend a lot of time checking and rechecking connections.

BATTERY IS DEAD OR ALMOST - Train to Mongolia
Ramblings to the end of my battery.
This train so far has no way to recharge my battery, so there is a limit to the ramblings of a Hobo on a train in Siberia.

WHAT DO MONGOLIAN PEOPLE LOOK LIKE?

Hmm? So far it looks like a very talk and large womanly, forceful looking custom woman with black hair and packed into here high boots, and giving orders. She had like a policeman walking the beat and I think a little club on her side. She spoke good English and was sort of quick to smile. Had round eyes as most Chinese Asians have with high cheeks. Seemed a little more woman than most of the small Chinese I have met. So I have only met one person from Mongolia and really have no idea, but this is the point. There starts one person and after awhile you learn to understand.

So when a person comes to New York City they walk around and leave and that is the USA. Or better yet they walk around in San Francisco for a few hours and that is what the USA looks like. To understand what a country looks like you better live and move around the country and see some places or you really are not tolerant, open minded or anything, you are just a person that opened a book to look at pictures for an hour.

There looks like we are passing some Oil refinery tanks on the outside of the train. Everyone is trying to sleep again. I think they work to hard at this sleep thing, and I not understand how they can sleep so much, or more likely how they can lay in bed and try to sleep.

FLAT AND MORE FLAT
I am not sure the end of Winter is the best time to look at a country for me, I am not looking at the best sides of the last two countries or so, and just see a lot of brown frozen looking ground. The world is a better in the spring or the summer, and now is just cold.

Mongolia so far this morning is looking flat, and with a few rolls. Brown and cold with mounds of dirt that do not end. The sun is coming up, and could melt, but I believe will just leave the place frozen for the day.

I am supposed to be going on this trip to probably see the area, or I would think that anyone reading this would think I am on this for the big adventure. I am on this trip because it cost about the same to take the trip by rail as by plane, plus it would delay the trip to Europe by two months so I could be in Europe in the spring.

I had no real desire to see China and especially by myself, so this was also a great way to put a check next to the country of China on my list of places to visit. China is thought a lot better place to visit than I expected, and would not have a problem in returning especially with a date or travel companion. The place is easy, modern, and for the most part cheaper. Not cheap, but cheap enough that you really do not get hurt.

I am hoping that Russia is some form of heaven for men that are full of beautiful Russian women that like to talk to modern men, and food that is good to eat. I like a more neutral religious world that is accepting of other cultures and ready to explore equally. Most of Asian are like trying to mate a turtle with a fox, while I think Russia will be more like trying to mate a Fox with a Coyote. Not an easy mix, but possible and the culture clash will be minimized. It is incredible how a culture can make themselves impossible to discuss or reach.

Most of this is religion, and there is almost no religion of the world that makes people job to actually and really meet the people of the world as their friends. The reality is they make enemies of each other, and spend the time trying to make sure their people have nothing to do with the other religions or they will be shunned or ostracized out of their society.

THURSDAY MARCH 4TH MONGOLIA TRAIN
Jeff and me have made it across the Chinese - Mongolian border and are heading west in the more or less Trans-Siberian Train to Ulaam Baatar, Mongolia.

Beijing is on the best-planned cities I have ever seen in my life. There is just no part that appears laid out, or created in a hodgepodge fashion that is normal for most old cities. But than again I do not think it is an old city, it is a planned city and built on the top of anything not wanted.

COMMUNIST ARE GOOD CITY PLANNERS
There is nothing about China or Beijing that could represent the Marx methodology of Communism. But the maybe good or who knows whether this is good or not, but what in the end you can say works is the ability of the government of China to get things done.

They seem to be a powerful business partner with their people creating, removing, building, or funding probably any necessary infrastructure so their business people can have what they need.

CHINA IS A CAPITALISTIC COUNTRY
I am on a train that I believe the Chinese are running, and running very well. Everything is like clockwork and this Trans-Siberian Railway could be one of the easiest trips in my life. Heat, bed, quiet, people to talk with, and a food car. A more modern version of the Amtrak cars of the USA, and just better ran. India is like cattle and this is more like the design the master designer in the sky had for humans.

I woke up at 7:30 after doing a cross border customs and shuffle for 4 hours last night. Every one is asleep and I will allow them the sleep up till 8:00 AM and then I go in the room to type.

There is this small round shaped pull down bench from the wall that is comfortable that I am sitting on right now. It is not bad, but everyone that passes has to squeeze by, and the numbers are increasing rapidly. I will go back into the compartment.

I guess I need not worry, the one China guy is shaving with a rechargeable electric razor and making a racket to wake his buddy below so now all are awake. I do not know if Jeff is trying or not, but he is on a toilet run so he is now.

The train has a slight side-to-side wiggle, and then a constant clank as the steel wheels hit what I presume is the next joint in the track. There is a steady rhythm to the sound and vibration that plays in harmony. The train is by far the most comfortable form or transportation over land, and the boat on water. Airplanes are really the worst for comfort, but the most desired for people. You do not see anything from an airplane, you only see two cities and the inside of the plane, you do get to every excellent food, and probably in my opinion some of the best in the world, but you are squeezed into a plane with a bunch of people that paid a lot of money to pretend they are maybe a little higher classed, and sit in seats that are the smallest in the world. The airline stewardess is so intent on serving drinks, or making your life comfortable, they forget the biggest problem.

“I am bored silly, looking at the seat in front of me. Put on a movie and give us something to do.”

So the solution is they put in Magazines selling very expensive and not needed items, and tell you about trips to places that only the silly would probably buy that do not want to see a country, but want to say they was there.

I am baffled why people go to other countries to hide in their cabins, rooms, or enclave of resort people to avoid the county they went to visit. Why not go to hotel down the street, and you would save the headaches of the travel.

TOLERANCE
Mark Twain made that quote about Tolerance and from now to eternity people will believe that people become more tolerant of other people because they travel. Although I think for me I am more tolerant, it is not the same as people want to use the term, they want me to be more respectful of other people ways, and people that are different than me, but I am definitely not more respectful or do I allow them to be themselves more around me, I find that I am progressively becoming more assertive in my protection of my space on the planet know that if I allowed the other to proceed, they would take my space without even the least thought.

Why I do not care to do now is pass a judgment or really think about why they are doing this silly. There is a lady that taught English in Korea on the train she keeps saying of the Korean people, there is the two F’s,

1. No Forethought
2. No Follow-through

Things do get accomplished, but not in the way you would think. There is no master plan, and that is why you do not want or, I do not want to pass judgments. There is no reason to pass a travel judgment when there is no rules to compare that are universal. In the end the world is probably just a rat in a cage spinning the wheel going nowhere. I am sure most people sitting in desk are more or less the trained rats. I am the rat in the gutter scurrying from place to place looking for the next morsel.

GREAT WALL OF CHINA
1
Extensive bulwark erected in ancient China. It is one of the largest building-construction projects ever carried out, running (with all its branches) about 4,500 miles (7,300 km) east to west from Shan-hai Pass near Po Hai (Gulf of Chihli) to Chia-yü Pass (in modern Kansu province). Without its branches and other secondary sections, the wall extends for some 4,160 miles (6,700 km), often tracing the crestlines of hills and mountains as it snakes across the Chinese countryside. Large parts of the fortification date from the 7th through the 4th century BC. In the 3rd century BC Shih huang-ti, the first emperor of a united China, connected a number of existing defensive walls into a single system. Although lengthy sections of the wall are now in ruins or have disappeared completely, it is still one of the more remarkable structures on earth. The Great Wall was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1987.


MONDAY MARCH 1, 2004 BEIJING
Jeff had just hit his snooze alarm for the fifth time and we are safe, sound, and warm in Beijing, China.

We arrived late last night on the plane from Lhasa to Beijing, which stopped in some city called Chang Du or something like that for a short layover than left again.

Lhasa, Tibet
About 30 degrees above the equator.
“Elevation of 11,975 feet (3,650 m) in the Tibetan Himalayas near the Lhasa River, a tributary of the Brahmaputra.”1

Beijing or Peking China
About 40 degrees above the equator

So we went about 10 degrees further north, but are close to sea level now. I think the temperature here in Beijing or Peking, there appears to be two names is probably a little warmer. The wind, elevation, and latitude influence the temperature, so I am always paying attention to these three elements.

Note that

Fort Wayne, Indiana USA
Barcelona, Spain
Istanbul, Turkey
Beijing or Peking, China

These cities are more or less at the same degrees above the equator. Fort Wayne and Beijing may have similar weather, and Barcelona and Istanbul are similar and are also probably warmer. I try to understand why this is so all the time. Barcelona has palm trees like Florida.

23.25 KILOS IN MY BAG - CARRY ON NOT WEIGHED
The big backpack weighed in at 23.25 kilos or 51 pounds.
The small backpack is maybe 13 kilos or 29 pounds.

This is after I dumped a lot of junk, plus my new leather boots and all my books.

So I must have about 80 pounds on my back presently as normal.

THE PLANE TRIP
The first plane to Chang Du was hilarious and silly. We actually have a boarding pass, but they just lined us up and we pushed for the door. The stewardess just kept sitting the next row as they boarded. So we pushed and were in very good position. Jeff says that Beijing has a lot of pushing and shoving to get on the buses and trains. This is a good system for me, and a bad system for the rest of the world. I can almost always push everyone out of the way. This is a stupid and unjust system that is normal in most of the world. A queue is better.

THE MOVIE ON THE PLANE
For some reason as we boarded and de-boarded the plane we heard the American band the Eagle playing music, and on both short flights we saw the same American movie in English with Chinese Sub-titles. It was about three men and a little lady.

BUT - BUT - BUT - We never saw the ending. There was not enough time to finish, and everyone just seem to think this was normal. I have watched movies on buses all over the world and you almost 100 percent of the time see the ending. I do not know what is up with planes, but they have a lot of trouble with movies.

In comparison planes to buses of the world. The buses are much better than the planes at having planes. Planes are much more boring than buses and mainly because they just do not put on movie.

FLAT FOOTED FLOPPERS
I notice how people walk in the world and can often tell the country of a person by the way they walk. Countries walk in a certain fashion and some area of countries walk differently also for the bigger countries like the USA.

But as I become more aware of the Asian cultures I have noticed that the upper northwest part of Asia, I suppose Japan, Korea, China area are real floppers. There are cartoon characters of people walking like this and I never realized so clearly where they took this. But it is definitely a specific idiosyncrasy of the region.

But it also hard to believe they do not disturb themselves or that the noise would be annoying. There was a girl walk along the hall this morning in flip flops and making a hell of a racket as she clatter along on the concrete covered by 1x1 square tiles like any large store would have floors. I do not know why I pay attention to how I walk, but it seems necessary.

EMPATHY
I think there must be three types of empathy.
1. Express empathy where the other person is maybe aware of your empathy, and could broach on sympathy.
2. Un-express empathy
3. Requested empathy, which is just attention seeking, low esteem, or maybe more for sympathy crap.

I spend a lot of time working on the un-expressed empathy section or that idea that my girl friend in college constantly was trying to make me sensitive. She said I was,
“Insensitive.”

But to be sensitive or to have empathy for other people is important. I see a lot of self justifying save the world types that when I look at how they have empathy with other people on a non-verbal level are downright violent, but then can see very dominating and assertive people often considered the jerks be very empathetic and sensitive on a silent of non-verbal level. I study carefully the actions of people and their intentions and weigh them on what they do and hold the course on them. I do not weigh them by their words. Words can sound eloquent or stupid and the person could mean the opposite.

Instinct or intuitiveness is just so valuable to travel. I do not speak the same language as the world and I can only feel if they understand or do not understand me, and communication and my success in travel depends on how well this happens.

Navigating around situations or towards destinations become easier when I can feel or have empathy with the world around me, like them old Indian movies where they know the

WORRIED ABOUT PLANE WEIGHT

Lhasa, Tibet more or less from February 27-29

The airplane ticket says 20 Kilos on it and I am a little worried about my bag. I had to really add some weight with all these winter clothes and other prepare to freeze preparations I have made, so now today before the plane leaves I am going to jettison most of the extra collected things in my bag. I do not really care about weight in the poor countries because I do not walk much, or normally I just take a taxi, but I should think more about planes. I always worry about the plane putting me in between a rock and a hard place when they could suddenly say my bags are too heavy. I have a lot of things I do not need. I will for sure throw out the kilo of cup of soup crap I do not really like, plus I have collected so many connectors for plugs that the weight is getting extreme. I have somewhat gone to the putting two wires in the plug system for my universal adapters. I am so tired of buying these plugs and installing them, that I thought it would be just easier to push in two 12-gauge wires into the plug. It has worked pretty well so far. I plug in my extension cord and everything I have will plug into that.

But I am arranging my bags so there is a lot less extra stuff in the bags. My new bag will hold a lot more stuff and this makes it easy to have more also.

MY FEVER HAS BROKEN
I have been sick for the last few days. I got an inflammation on my leg that swelled up and got rather nasty. I call it a boil and had one a couple of time when my system was too down or not eating right. I got the first one when I was doing the two a day football practices in High School.

I think this is because I am not eating right. I am having a difficult time eating any normal type of diet. The food from India, Nepal, and China is so greasy that I am not sure what to eat. The Chipati in India was about the last food I had that was more of a bland nature and not so greasy.

The chicken flu or whatever you call this problem of chickens is not helping because chickens are about the only food that I find acceptable in most countries of the world. India did not eat meat, but just had a steady diet of greasy food.

They have Yak steak or more normally some form of noodles with pieces of Yak inside.

I try to eat bread in the morning but so far have not had any luck finding any. I think I just realized the bigger problem; I have spent the last 10-12 days with a group of people that want to eat breakfast at the restaurant everyday. I do not normally do this, as it is impossible to order food or to find food that is healthy. I instead go walking around towards a market or such and buy food that I can see and choose myself. There is an “I got to eat breakfast” mentality, which is good, but I am becoming very concerned about spicy foods, as I am positive that is the reason why people spit all the time in these countries. Although Tibet is a lot less than India.

I went to the Pharmacist when we finally got back from the Mountains. It was just across the street from the hotel so that was convenient. They had a female doctor that insisted that I sit and she bandaged up the sore. She wanted to give me an intravenous injection of Penicillin for some reason, I told her some to the effect as of tomorrow. A good tomorrow statement will get you out of most stupid situations.

Jeff was saying that in China a person does not feel that they have gone to the doctor unless they have had a? I am not saying this correctly. I do not think you call it a intravenous injection. She wanted to puts a needle in my arm attached to a bottle of fluid laced with Penicillin that would flow directly into my vein. This is what a Jeff says the people of China feel must happen or they have not been to the doctor. There were three people sitting in the office with needle stuck in their arms, so I believe Jeff is probably correct. I guess they like a bottle of liquid better than a shot.

Well, after I got the anti-biotic my problem slowly started to disappear, and I started to feel better. There was a lot of nasty secretion from my leg.

LOTS OF COMMENTS ON LAST NEWSLETTER
I got back from the mountains and lots of people have written about the newsletter. Most were good comments, and one was bad. I also have a heckler that is writing me crazy letters, but they are not mean, just on the crazy side.

To be part of the “in” crowd of travelers I am suppose to say or go along with the rhetoric about goofy ideas of the rich are bad and poor are great people that if only they had a chance would work.

So the one negative comment is one of the politically correct people that think I should think like the rest of the world.

I laugh or think on how controlling people are when they are astounded that I can have an opinion different than other people. I like to give my opinion just the way it come out and not edited to the degree that it sounds like some mealy mouthed politician that kisses baby. I think the more honest I am the better people can share the experience.

I have realized though that 50 percent of travel can be quite annoying, and that is why I stay longer in the nice places, and try travel quickly through the annoying places.

Tibet is a very mountainous and difficult country. When the Dalai Lama was the King or Dictator of the country he ruled by religious persecution or dogma.

But he lived in the Portala or his Palace and his people lived in gutter. All advancement in this country towards a prosperity where you do not work all your life and die young happened after the Chinese took over.
It is still obvious that the Buddhist religion has people feeling guilty and donating money on a daily basis.

When we went to the mountains this last time we stayed in a very nice Monastery on top of a mountain. Actually one of the Monks was the owner or something and we staying in the guesthouse.

But inside the common area four to five men sat around and snorted something up there nose, and talked. They had beer for sale and outside next to the wall were a pile of empties. I did not realize that the one man was the Monk, and kept thinking to myself,
“This guy is wicked.”

I realized the fat little guy had a sweatshirt on over his maroon colored robes.

I just know that every time I get next to Monks they want money, or they will cut the line and want special treatment.

TIBET IS MODERN
Except for the cowboys that live up in the mountain most of Tibet seems very modern. All of the roads are laid out with good planning. They have landscaping along the roads, and there are sidewalks. The country appears new and crisp and very little to show of the age before the Chinese where they lived in probably abject poverty.

What I am not sure of, and keep thinking about, is do these people take showers? India was a bunch of non-showering people in most of the country, and so far in China there is a real problem with them wanting to include showers as parts of room. I think we have given up on the idea of them having heat in the room, but we went to a lot of Hotels the other day searching for a Hotel that had hot water, or a way to clean.

If you take China and India together this is half the population of the planet. That means that half the planet does not shower.

It has been very hard for me the last few months of constantly fighting to keep clean. It does appear that like children avoiding a shower the other traveler like the vacation from showering.

What happen to me when I do no shower is my hair stand up straight or sticks out in all directions, so people look at me. I suppose this is why everywhere in the world they where hats, or scarves, so they can cover up the fact that they do not shower.

I have been laughing because I said in this blog that Jeff did not shower a couple of times and Jeff’s mother read my comments and wrote him about the comment. Jeff where some form of leather Indiana Jones hat that covers up his very short hair. Don’t worry Jeff showers better than most of the other travelers, but if he wasn’t I would tell him bluntly, but he is a lot cleaner than the girls.

I could tell a lot of other things about Jeff that I will leave out of the Blog to protect the guilty.

Note that I have been making lots of fun of him for having an electric toothbrush that he carries and uses, telling him that this breaks one of them unwritten macho creeds on what you will do or not do on the road. It like women that carry a hair dryer, they are considered basically tourist that should have stayed home.

We are and I am a tourist though. I want to live as high a quality as possible for least amount of money. I have to pay more here in China for showers or search a lot harder.

Fortunately for me, Jeff reads the guidebook from cover to cover and looks ups all the hotels and is not a winger. I am normally a winger or a person that just finds a Hotel in many ways. I look sometimes for the Lonely Planets “Popular with the backpackers” phrase so I can meet people and have better conversations in those hotels.

I was talking with Jeff and we were trying to think if Russia is a shower or no shower country? I suppose we will learn.

COMMON TOILET VERSUS PRIVATE TOILET
Jeff and me staying a really nice room in many ways in some city up in the mountains. It had TV, Hot Water, carpet, and large double beds with large fluffy comforters. After we heated the room with our two electric Hot Plates life was really good inside the room.

Now, what hit me, or I am realizing more each day travel is that the shared or common showers are just as clean as the private showers inside a room.

With a share toilet or shower you have to walk to the facility and use it before or after other people. With the squat toilet I suppose it is cleaner, but with the shower you do have to walk in areas where maybe other people have foot diseases or fungus, or other problems.

But if the management is not disinfecting and cleaning the shared shower area, why would I assume they cleaned my private bath before we entered.

What brought this to my attention was a lot of black Chinese hair inside the tub of the nice Hotel.

I think a person that really wishes to be clean to carry along with them powdered laundry soap and clean their private toilet.

SECOND TRIP TO THE MOUNTAINS
Four of us went on a three-day trip to the mountains. It was more or less a repeat of the same scenery we encountered on the trip from Katmandu to Lhasa, so for me it was just another freezing, bumpy, monotonous trip in another Toyota Land Cruiser, but older and to me a little nerve racking.

We travel up to about 5000 meters again, and my understanding of weather is that you could have blinding snowstorms and extreme weather conditions. The vehicle did not have heat, but with the sun shining in the vehicle was warm.

The two girls in the car ended up making fun of me like I was stupid for not wanting to travel up to 5000 meters in a vehicle with no heat. We was lucky and they feel pompous and I think they are about as stupid as two girls can be, or typical in mentality of a person that will eventually end up hurt or robbed.

I took the chance, because I knew that I would just get out of the vehicle if they started to go into dangerous situations, or the weather became really bad. Plus and for reasons I do no understand there is no snow in Tibet really. If it had snowed this winter there should be drifts or accumulations of snow in areas. There are no accumulations of snow to be seen, only on the mountaintops.

I will be glad to separate completely from these two girls that were on the tour with us, and go to Beijing. Traveling with people that are going the same direction is not a good reason to travel with them. You need to have the same philosophy on travel and opinions of the world. That still does not mean you will agree, but it is a better chance. I am conservative and wish to enjoy the trip.

There is an idea that we are all best friends, and this is not true. We are people that met on a tour and traveled together, there is no real friendship that has any understanding

I do not like to share many trips with companions because my quality of life goes down dramatically as I also have to share in their bad decisions. The hotels on the tours sucked, and since we started choosing our own hotels quality of life is 100 percent better. In the end a tours will stay in a 5 Star hotel under the hope or even delusion that they will have better quality of life and conditions. I almost always have a pretty good quality of life inside my hotel rooms.

I THINK I AM SUPPOSED TO BE IN A COMMUNIST COUNTRY

The Encyclopedia says,

“system of political and economic organization in which property is owned by the state or community and all citizens share in the common wealth, more or less according to their need.”

Tibet is part of China and not part of China, it is what they call an autonomous region. I have slowly learned that there exist these autonomous regions everywhere and that the USA mentality of Unity keeps me from noticing this word and understanding that it really possible to have two countries under one flag more or less, but really quite separated.

For example Barcelona Spain is an autonomous region of Spain, and in essence means they do not have to share the wealth with the poor regions… as much, but a little, and lots of times as they wish.

It is just confusing because the constitutions of autonomous regions like Tibet and how they mix with China is not simple. I think it works because both China and Tibet want it to work for business reasons.

But this is not a Communist Country. Free Enterprise is booming and there appears to or look like most other countries. The government here feels like it has little tolerance for Mickey Mouse games, and just would may shut up a problem before it became bigger.

- posted by Andy @ 8:23 PM

 
ULAAM BAATAR MONGOLIA SAFE AND SOUND
Hello,
Arrived a couple of hours ago into the Capital of Mongolia, a city of about 800,000 people and cold. I have already tried to go the Russian Embassy and the guy more or less said I had to get the Visa with a company he recommended called Legend tours. We went there and it very obvious this is a nutcracker operation and they like to put people in the vice.

I just do not know. Russian is looking less fun, when they want to force me to travel the they wish. It is obviously corrupt. I do not like to contribute, help, or be in the middle of this pay through the nose strategy or don't go.
- posted by Andy @ 1:49 AM

 
BEIJING INFORMATION
Copy and paste space for later
- posted by Andy @ 1:31 AM

 
ALERT - MONK MAKES MOVE -Tour group girl returning to Katmandu.
About half the members of the tour group returned to Katmandu from Lhasa and did not go forward into China. The one befriend a Monk and he tried to Kiss her and other...

This is true and hilarious.

The excerpt from her group e-mail: She writes and speaks bad English.

..i met a munsk ...he wanted
to stay in my bedroom ....he tried to kiss me a the end it was really
funny but really stressfull at the beginning ...he was really nice during the
afternoon ..isa met him and she agrees he was nice too ....but i didnt
expected a munsk in my bed the same night ....

I predict in the future the stories we will hear and learn about Monks will make them stories of Catholic Priest in the USA seem minimal. There are a lot of boys living in big cold rooms around the world, with a few older men...
Reality is hilarious and sad sometimes.
- posted by Andy @ 12:24 AM

 
BEIJING CHINA IN MAYBE THE WORLDS BIGGEST INTERNET CAFE - OR MY BIGGEST
I am in a huge Internet Cafe
http://www.51520.com/

I arrived to Beijing China last night by plane, all is good. I have all my updates on my computer. Will upload to the travel log soon. May leave for Mongolia in 2 days.

Lots of Visa Application headaches for Russian. Lots of work arounds being done, and call audibles!

But a Double AA has entered Beijing.

That mean Jeff and Me, Andy HoboTraveler.com
Two USA type A personalities.


- posted by Andy @ 12:11 AM