The Super Cub Experiment

published

2011-05-01T06:54:00.001-07:00

First Update In Over One Year!

2009-12-10T13:30:00.000-08:00

So far this trip has been rolling off and on since May 2008. I have passed and had extended stays in many countries, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Italy, France, and now England. Along the way I took some side roads sans scooter, most importantly one with my dear younger brother through Turkey, Georgia and Armenia. For a child's illustration verses Marco Polo (scooter journey yellow line):

A real map should be drawn up later..

Now after a wonderful two month overstay in Turkey I was faced with the start of the European winter. Riding in the rain and snow covered passes is not so enjoyable as would be imagined when added to the wind chill of riding a 'motorbike'. I guess that is one advantage of riding such a small bike...you are never going to be moving very fast! At least it wasn't as bad as riding Iran Kurdistan where i resorted to drafting trucks to stay warm.

So time to open the diary and photo memory cards and start transcribing some of the past stories.....if i have time between trying to set up life here in London and saving for future travels! Oh, if anyone knows of any jobs over here feel free to let me know =)

Time to upload some photos. (photo in Bosnia)

Thanks.
CubMaster!

Outa (central) Asia

2008-10-25T05:32:00.000-07:00

Hey kids,
Well I've spent over a week in Mashad(NW Iran) and don't have a whole lot to show for it. But that is a good thing as I have been trying to relax and remove chaos from my mind.
After dealing with central asian bureaucracy and cluttering into town on a half broken down scoot, which couldn't even pull out of third gear, I battled the crazy night traffic of Iran's second largest city to arrive right dazzled at my well hidden home stay. There I could think about what I had just done.
Since the last post I had some time to kill while I waited for my Iranian visa to be processed so I took the train to famous Samarkand south of Tashkent in Uzbekistan. This would allow me to save time by not having to stop when I came back through on my bike. This was the first time in my trip I had taken public transport and it proved to give a much different experience. Though less stressful than tackling the map on two wheels I felt some what detached from my environment and then all of a sudden I was at my guesthouse in the middle of another city. No cranky farmers along the way, no strangers to ask for directions, no broken down locals to stop and talk to, no petrol station attendants to make chit chat and no feeling of experiencing one place morph into another. It felt much less gratifying this way and I felt more like tourist than before. Maybe this is all in hind sight but it added to the disappointment I had with the place. It wasn't all bad, unfortunately! Coming around the corner and first seeing the Registran was freakin' amazing.
It is prolly my own fault for not doing enough reading but I wasn't expecting the place to be so touristy and everything to be overly clean and restored. It certainly took a lot of the mystery and historic feel out of it. I don't think the bus loads of old french tourists helped or that these old Muslim buildings were no longer used other than to flog off nick knacks to visitors. I think that's why I liked the mausoleums as even though they had been restored Muslims still went there to pay their respects and there was no one to sell me painted paper maiche boxes(though i must say these were pretty good value once you bargained them into the ground!). ..
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note: it was at this point i was distracted buy Bike Snob NYC blog, If you haven't checked it out, I recommend you do. to paraphrase BS, like Cyclocross News it's a lot less pretentious than the New Yorker!
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TBC.....Adventures in Samarkand, Bukhara, back to Tashkent, back to Samarkand, back to Bukhara, Escaping Uzbekistan, transiting and escaping Turkmenistan.....Oh then there is Iran...What happened to China or Cambodia for that matter!

Spend Time

2008-09-30T20:09:00.000-07:00

OK, this is bollocks cos I haven't been writing when I said i would! And now I leave on the train in the morning to Samarkand. I have spent something like 10 days in Tashkent sorting visas for Iran and Turkmenistan. I have finally got the Iran one on the go which will take yet another 5 working days to be processed. So after going to Samarkand and Bukhara(prolly) I will return to Tashkent to pick it up and then get the finishing touches on the Turkmen one before getting out of the country before my visa expires. I may not have the time to make it up to the Aral Sea but we'll see.

A few things since the previous post: After having my plugged face cleaned in Osh I took off to Bishkek to get cracking on visas which were bound to be a headache. After a day and a half on the road and over some freezing passes I crashed in a guesthouse in Bishkek.
Over the next week I filled for letters of invitation for Uzbekistan, Iran and applied for Kazakhstan visa. While waiting for these pointless pieces of paper I made for the country on my sturdy'ish stead.
Having spent a week in the hills touring Song Kol, Issy Kul, Ala kol and the mountains in Karakol I returned to the smoke via Barrana Tower. Back in Bishkek with a cold I was able to pick my visas up for Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan after a few days. Cub was running a bit rough so had to fix a broken shock, pull apart carburetor and do oil change among some other small things. After another day or so of rest it was time to hit up Kazakhstan.
At the border leaving Kyrgyzstan there was a huge cue of traffic not going anywhere. It was not the best idea going at 5 in the arvo. But no worries on the scoot as i just rode around all the cars and a barrier and gave a border control guy a light and got him to point me to passport control. A cue jump on the kazakh side and i was all clear after half hour! Rode off until night came down and I noticed my taillight was out so i slept by the road. I ended up getting a surprise visit by the military who had seen my light while i was reading. I guy in Camo with an assault rifle racing towards me in the dark wasn't what i was expecting but i showed my passport and it was all OK. Later i got picked up by some locals(they wouldnt have me sleeping outside) who took me back to there home where we ate and had rounds of cognac till 5am and some Afghani hash to put us to bed. Spent the next day with them, not sure if it was out of choice though, with a whole lot more vodka drinking!
Anyway, basics, spend 5 days in Kazakhstan meet great people and never had to stay in a hotel. I made it up to Turkistan to see an impressive mausoleum and on the way back down the cub broke down on the way to Otrar, a ruined city by Genghis Khan, so I had to turn back to nearest town and seek some help and then get a taxi, with my bike in the back, to Shymkent where I spent the night after unsuccessfully fixing the carburetor. After going to a different garage in the morning we managed to get it going well enough to get me to Tashkent(where there might actually be a bike shop) but when leaving town it seemed to come right. All really amazing people that helped me and they didn't want a penny (apart from taxi driver that wasn't helpful and charged a heap) for their efforts.
Before reaching Tashkent I spent a night in a border town just inside Uzbekistan where a nice shop owner put me up.
There are stories left out here but it is a quick rundown of the last while.

Until next time when I'm not such a lazy and tired bum.

Love,
Rhino Snot.

Kyrgyzstan now

2008-08-22T10:31:00.000-07:00

Well, I arrived in Osh last night (Thursday) and went to the hospital first thing this morning. I had no problems at the border at Irkstam but was denied going over Torogart pass without visa (told in Kashgar i didnt need one as i had own transport). On wednesday the spot thing i had on my check had started to swell up and go hard which was like the the same thing as i had on my back. In the morning it was a bit worse which put me in a hurry to clear the border and get to doctor in Osh. Once i cleared the borders the road was REALLY bad and took me the rest of the day, till 7pm, to get to osh then find somewhere to sleep which took a lot longer than it should have when i got pointed in the completly wrong directions.
So, spend ages at hospital complex trying to find doctor which was a hassle when I cant speak russian. Ended up in a cue for ages then followed another patient over to the surgury building and meet up with a pleased looking doctor. Ended up on a bed and before i knew it the stainless steel implemants were out. First it felt like he was ripping the scab off or making an opening then i think he was using some forceps to squeeze the wound and fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck did it hurt. I was then presented with a small wad of puss and a bloodied piece of gauze much to the delight of the doctor. He then proceded to stick some other surgical tool inside and scoop out the hole ( i could be wrong about what was happening but it felt like that!). The hole was then cleaned and an antiseptic cloth stuffed in the cavity. No english was spoken and no forms filled and it all happened really fast so a bit of a stress. I handed over 400som ($15nz?) to the doc which was prolly a nice cash job for the day!
I took the rest of the afternoon pretty easy and will return tomorrow at 12 to get it redressed. Really annoyed that the same thing happened again and Im still not sure what it was from. maybe a mosquito or a spider??
If possible I will start heading up to Bishkek tomorrow arvo and can start the visa game.

Next stop

2008-08-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

Hey just about to dash and try my luck of Torrorgart pass or if that doesnt work I will try the other border. First major stop will be Bishkek.
Oh a couple of photos from friday can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/turkishraf/ShiptonsArch
It was a long way down!
Hopefully be online in a few days.
lots a love from chinese turkistan.
rhino.

Rock the Kashgar

2008-08-16T03:10:00.000-07:00

After two and half days on the road I reached Kashgar from Urumqi via desserts and a 4300m odd pass. Arrived at the qinghi hotel place at 8pm on Thursday. went to a tomb and around town yesterday and to shiptons arch (amazing, google it) today. Kashgar feels great not too many police and very un-chinese feeling as its mostly Muslim Uyghurs.
This should be expanded later

ciao partners.

Photos!

2008-08-11T05:25:00.000-07:00

A few photos from this week.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ryanjacksonscott/UrumqiRide

Back in town

2008-08-08T05:57:00.000-07:00

So Back in Urumqi YHA and relieved this time after all the hassles we got from police out in the smaller towns and country side. Looks like I missed the bombing in Kashgar by kicking about up here. Will meander down to Kashgar in the morning (only 1200k's or something!). Not looking forward to all the police checks! They shut down all the internet cafes everywhere and some shops and there are people checking bags in larger joints. it also looks like they are controlling fuel at petrol station as lots are closed and roped off or you are not allowed to ride in, so there are big cues at the stations serving. Ahhh maybe i should have left china earlier - I hate the police!!!
rhino

change of plan

2008-08-01T00:04:00.000-07:00

Heading north a little from Urumqi to fukang then Wujaqu i think then across(west) and down to kashgar. Leaving now with another couple on a motorbike. blog will have to wait!

Latest stop

2008-07-31T00:51:00.000-07:00

In Urumqi. Arrived yesterday arvo and sorted out what i needed for Kyrgyzstan visa which I applied for today and stung me nearly 200 kiwi dollars. ouch. But i get to pick it up tomorrow. I could have spent about half and picked it up in a week and done a trip out of town in the meantime but in my rash impatience I decided to just keep things moving. Not sure if right thing to do- not very adventurous but kind of keen to get out of china for some reason. Will prolly leave on Saturday morning to kashgar. Staying at the YHA 0991-4881428. Will do a proper blog sometime(i know i keep saying that!).
R.

Shangri-laaaaaa

2008-07-12T04:37:00.000-07:00

Safe in shangri-la. Had a day of wet twisty roads from Lijiang which slowed down the pace and ｔｈｅ　ｃｌｏｕｄｓcut down the views. Still very nice and the Gorge was quite spectacular. Feel like a bit of a dick because I didn't stop and walk down to river as I didnt read where the track went down from road and I just expected to see it but before I knew it I had ridden right through the gorge. At least it meanｔ　Ｉdidnt get to Shangri-la too late as it took a lot longer than expected and had just enough time to have a walk around when I　ａｒｒｉｖｅｄ.　Ｎｏｔ　ｓｕｒｅ　ｉｆ　Ｉwill stay a day to look around. Iａｍ　ｑｕｉｔｅ　ｋｅｅｎ　ｔｏ　ｊｕｓｔ　ｋｅｅｐ　ｍｏｖｉｎｇ　ｓｏ　ｍａｙｂｅ　ｓｅｅ　ａ　ｆｅｗ　ｓｉｇｈｔｓ　ｉｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｍｏｒｎｉｎｇ　ｔｈｅｎ　ｇｏ　ｎｏｒｔｈ　ｔｏ　ｔｏｗｎ　ｂｅｔｗｅｅｎ　ｈｅｒｅ　ａｎ　Ｌｉｔａｎｇ．Ｎｏｗ　ｓｔａｙｉｎｇ　ａｔ　３３００ｍ　ａｎｄ　ｔｈｅ　ｓｃｏｏｔ　ｉｓ　ａｌｒｅａｄｙ　ｓｔａｒｔｉｎｇ　ｔｏ　ｃｒａｃｋｌｅ　ａｎｄ　ｎｏｔ　ａｓ　ｓｐｅｅｄｙ（ｌｉｋｅ　ｉｔ　ｗａｓ　ｂｅｆｏｒｅ！）ｓｏ　ｗｉｌｌ　ｔｒｙ　ｔｏ　ｌｅａｎ　ｉｔ　ｏｕｔ　ｍａｙｂｅ．Cold and wet here so going to keep warm in front of fire!

Maps?

2008-07-11T17:46:00.000-07:00

Hey does anyone know how to have a map that tracks where you've been?

I see no one leaves any questions or comments so I assume no one is reading or I'm just writing such boring nonsense. Either way maybe I should stop!! Seriously though if you have any questions you should ask because I probably forget to write a lot of stuff.

Jacko.

Leaving Lijiang

2008-07-11T17:28:00.000-07:00

I was supposed to have left yesterday but my hole was a bit weepy and i took too long to get ready. Spent the day fairly relaxed avoiding all the rain and writing some postcards and walking around buying food. If you want postcards make sure I have your address! I think with all this sedentary activity and cheap food I am actually putting on some weight!
Heading up to Tiger leaping gorge this morning then continuing on up to Shangri-la the back way where I'll stay a night before hopefully riding up to Litang, on a supposedly sketchy road.
Feels strange hitting the road again after being of the bike for what feels like ages.

rye boy

Scooter Diaries

2008-07-09T07:53:00.000-07:00

Not so much scootering in the last week but a rough guide to what has been happening, if I can remember.

29th June
Luang Nam Tha, Laos. Checked out bus station though no one made it that easy to find, got it third time lucky when I ended up following the bus i wanted to the station. The bus wasn't much of a bus more like a van on steroids but the kind of steroids which shrinks your balls and in the case of the van the balls were the luggage compartment making it impossible to take the scoot on board. Since it was Sunday there was going to be a normal bus the next morning. I didn't really want to hang about for another day so I started riding to the border through the rain but realising how much i liked my idea and not wanting to get unnecessary rejection stamps on my passport I decided a U-turn back to hotel was a comfortable decision. Back in town I ended up meeting a German teacher(a bit negative but friendly enough) and just walking about trying to keep out of the unpredictable rain. Checked out the market and it was filled with Chinese junk and food and a lot of Chinese. It is very evident China is trying to make inroads into Laos to access its market and move some of its ginormous population over the border. Building signs could be seen with Laos and Chinese flags on them as an example of the flow of Chinese capital into Laos and the reason why the roads were so good about the north is also from the Chinese so they can send all there trucks back forth dropping there shit and taking back what they want with no or little tax to pay. It looks like China could soon own the place which is a scary thought.
Noticed the sore spot on my back kind of looked like it could be a bit.

Monday 30th
Early start and off to bus station. Bus driver didn't seem to excited about taking the Cub but with a bit of money he was full steam helping push the wee beast into lower luggage compartment. Just had to whip the from wheel off and it fit snugly between all the bags. Felt confident on the way to border but just before we were stopped two times along the road while border/military people came through bus and checked passports/visas. The driver reckoned something may have happened in China because that never happens. Suddenly wasn't feeling all that confident! At Laos border the driver was worried and said I had to have some special forms filled out to take bike over but Laos officials didn't have a clue and had no problem with me taking it over. Once we made it to the Chinese side they made the foreigners take out our bags and searched them. Then they noticed the bike and called me aside to inform me no bikes whatsoever could be brought into china and I would have to take it off and go back to Laos. After trying to negotiate and work something out for half an hour with the nice but officious Chinese I resigned to the fact I had to disembark from the bus early head back solo again. while passing back between borders there was a small strip of shops including a motorbike garage. I pulled in and ended up spending an hour persuading them to ride the bike over using one of their Chinese number plates for a temporary disguise and I would meet them on the other side. This was great because it saved me all the hassles of reversing my departure stamp and going back into Laos. They finally decided under the cover of darkness would be the best option and meet at a hotel at 8:30 inMohan on the other side. Unfortunately I had to go over way before while the border was still open to foreigners. So I spent a nervous four hours on the other side waiting to see if they had just decided to keep the bike rather than collecting the reward on the other side but just after 8:30 I heard a familiar sound puttering up the main street and I see my bike with a nice yellow plate on the back. Meet an excitable Chinese character in the hotel and asked about getting a license plate and we took off to talk to someone and then a group of cops but I didn't have a clue what he was saying to them I was feeling rather nervous about what they might do. Nothing happened and the young cops just wanted to have fun and weren't bothered about anything but I went away with no one being able to help me. Back in hotel i noticed bit thing was looking a bit red and a little puss so decided to clean it and tried to get scab of with my little pocket knife. Lost a little bit of skin around it butcouldnt get all of the scab off so dressed it with betadine antiseptic and hoped it would go away.

Tuesday 1st July
rode 350k to Simoa with an offshoot ti Jinghong. Feeling really nervous and unrelaxed as riding by myself with no riding permit, driving licence and number plate. Lots of police about but never any attention. Really good roads with multi lanes, tunnels, bridges and toll gates, that I could just ride around and didn't have to pay. the road was so different from the Laos with no cows, buffalo, chickens, goats, horses, dogs and feral kids all over them. There was still a few obligatory roadside rubbish dumps and rubbish burnings but became less the further north i went. In Jinhong I was able to find a bank in that would accept my card which was a mighty relief as I had run out of money and couldnt get any in Mohan or Mengla. After having really nice fried rice I had to leave Jinhong on the normal road because bikes are not allowed on the expressway. This was ok because you get the more scenic route traveling through villagers, tea fields and forest. The very twisty road suited the cub no end but when you are riding next to a flat straight road which can get you to your destination three times faster is very frustrating! Arrived inSimoa about 6pm and stopped at a dingey restaurant on the edge of town to use the toilet. It was just a concrete slipway/channel filled with big turds slowly making their migration outside to be washed into the adjacent waterway. I took a distant slash and made a hasty retreat.
I wasn't expecting a very big city but it was a really big and modern with high rises and thousands of shops. Found it hard to find a place to stay as they wanted a Chinese identity card and Chinese name. Found a really cheap and not very clean place that would have me and got them to make up achinese name for me. Went out walking and I don't think this city sees many white people as a got a lot of stares and i don't think all of them were friendly! Bought my first Chinese meal by pointing to what someone else was eating and it was really good gingery/garlic fried pork with capsicum with a side of rice and boiled spinach stuff in both. I think china will have the best food so far and by going on what else I have seen, the worst as well!

Wednesday 2nd
Long day riding in mostly rain and drizzle but covered 400ks and ended up in Xiangyun instead of Dali when I unwittingly turned off early. This was probably good though as I really wanted to go to Old Dali, not the New Dali, which wasprolly another 100km away.
That morning I probably spent nearly two hours trying to find my way out of Simao going round in circles. I thought I could just ride straight through following the same road i came in on but it ended up on small bumpy roads. After riding back to where i entered a tried to ask the people at the petrol station and after about half an hour of consulting maps and calling friends they were able to figure out how to escape the city and draw me a rough map. It turned out to be very simple but there weren't any signs at the turn off. Had to ride next to the expressway again for half the way which was annoying. Stopped at small town for very late breakfast and had to use the local toilet. Jeez, it was the worst I have ever seen and sent shivers down my spine. It was a dark concrete room with 3 slanted channels cut into the floor(as if you would want to share it with two others as well!) and thousands of maggots crawling up the shit chutes and all over the floor(at least all the maggots allowed all the turds to tumble all the way to the bottom without any chance of sticking like in the last toilet). I was very pleased to be wearing boots and relieved my bladder as far away as possible in order to make the speediest escape.
Somehow along the way I managed to take my turnoff to the west as the signs weren't very clear. That made me very happy! There were lots of rammed earth and adobe style brick buildings along the way which was nice to see but gradually being replaced by cinder block and brick. New buildings were still being built using the old materials though. the road continued wet and windy and ended up riding with a Chinese guy who was on a faster bike but I was quicker through corners so we played cat and mouse to the next city. I had to ask a bunch of people for the right way out of town. Once I made it back on to the main road I bumped into the Chinese guy again but for some reason he couldn't keep up. Saw him at a petrol station sometime later and he came in locking up the front wheel and nearly falling over! Rode until I saw a massive flight of stairs and was too interested to see where they went so pulled over and climbed to the top with my pack on getting all nice and sweaty. There was just a pagoda at the top but nice to be off the bike and have the heart working. Some Chinese folk Had ridden up another way and offered me a ride back down which was nice. The road after that got really nice but the bike had lost power and wouldn't go over 70km/h. I thought it may have been the altitude but I suspect it was really poor fuel as it hasn't done it since. Climbed and descended a mountain on an amazingly smooth and twisting flowing road with great views. Vegetation thinned out into spindly pine trees and gum trees implanted into vivid red earth. Once I ended up inXiangyum (without knowing it) I started asking directions to Dali when a guy asked if i wanted a room for the night and said Dali was 70ks away. Since it was already 8pm I thought it was best to take him up on the offer. Everyone at the guesthouse was really interested in my map of china and studied it for ages. No one spoke English so when it came to dinner I just had to point to meat and veggies in the fridge for them to cook. Turned out really nice and similar to lunch.
Bike needs indicator cover and bulb, tail light, a good clean, maybe a tune to stop it backfiring under heavy engine braking and isprolly due for an oil change.

Thursday 3rd
Relatively cruisy day, 300km. Seem to be getting up in the night all the time to take a slash. Not sure if it has something to do with my bite which is getting quite big and sore. will hit up the hospital when I get toLijiang. Got made noodle soup but unlike in Vietnam, cambo and Laos it was nice and didn't have that pungent meaty broth taste. Paid only $nz 8 for room, dinner, beer and breakfast. Guy next door hooked me up with a bolt to reattach my indicator then hit the road with new directions. Arrived to Dali new city and road turned into a vast expanse of concrete marked out into about ten lanes with centre stripe filled with massive erect rocks. The road was virtually empty apart from a few trucks, bikes and some very unfortunate people who were sweeping the road by hand!! Another road nearly as vast running perpendicular was lined with huge white Romanesque statues and just looked completely out of place and ill thought out but gave the city such and alien feel I thought I had just ridden onto a different planet. Ended up just blasting through the city to Old Dali which was really touristy but idled around the small cobbled roads and pedestrianised lanes on the cub which was in its element and found a place for lunch. Left my bike and bag at the restaurant and took to the stony streets on foot. Got offered ganja on every corner! went and found a place to get more information on the state of Tibet but the guy i wanted to talk with wasn't there. Found a map with both English and Chinese names on it so that should make asking for directions way easier...maybe. Decided not to hang around but when leaving heard some blues music playing at a cafe so decided to stay and have a drink and relax a bit longer. Who knewKeb Mo could sound that good? I must really be a blues starved boy! Bought some veggie salty pancake things from the side of the road to take with me and took off towardsLijiang into the impending rain.
The nice 8 lane highway thing suddenly turned into a cramped bumpy 2 lane road on the edge of town crammed with smokey trucks and crazy tour buses. I wasn't down with that shit an managed to crawl my way up into some open road. Tones of cops coming the other way which seemed strange. Ended up raining and while changing into wets an old village guy carrying a sack of something stopped and we sort of introduced each other and I gave him half my pancake thing which heyummed down then took off. The final ride to Lijiang over a mountain was spectacular with more tip top roads. trees started to disappear near the top, which must be over 3000m. Arrived inLijiang and set about finding the old town and followed the signs to where the edge of it was but couldn't figure out where to get in or where exactly the bulk of it was. Got completely confused by my Lonely Planet map and rode around for ages grumpy, tired and really sore(from bite) until I did a big swoop of the area and found a proper entry road and magically ended up exactly at the guesthouse i wanted to be at! The people at Ma MaNaxi's guesthouse were so friendly and hooked me up with some food straight away. Got talking to some with it travellers and we all went off to to watch a Ingmar Bergman flick which was cool with me as I couldn't be bothered doing anything! Asked some people to look at my bite and they thought it looked pretty serious and Ma MaNaxi said she could take me to hospital in morning. Ma Ma is the best, like a really nice slightly senile grandma. Walked about the old town after and checked out the bar street which was a real hoot with all the Chinese music and bad dance dunes mixed in with way too loud karaoke! All the tight lanes and roads are like a rabbit warren and so easy to get lost. Hit the bed bad my bite was so sore i couldn't sleep on my back. I guess it is not going to get better by itself.

Friday 4th July
Up early for hospital. Didn't sleep at all well and kept waking up in pain. All the lymph glands under my right arm were even more swollen than the night before and it was really uncomfortable to have my arm at my side due to the swelling. Ended getting a ride and got dropped in front of hospital. went inside and tried to figure out the queuing system. Paid something like 50c for a ticket and pointed towards another building. Found a doctor inside who just prodded me a few times in the arm pit and swollen third tit while i expressed great pain. Then he just sent my back to cue up again with another note. Paid some more money then was pointed back to the building I just came from to see a nurse. With flies buzzing around and stained walls, dirty sheets and filthy floor i was a bit apprehensive about what they might do to me in such an unsavoury environment. In the end though they didn't even try to clean up the scab or remove any puss and just put some brown paste over it and a bandage and sent me away! At that point I really didn't know what to think apart from they prolly didn't like me so decided not to treat me. Walked about town and decided to buy an MP3 player as i was starting to go a bit insane not being able to listen to music. Ended up with a pretty cheep Chinese thing that i hoped I would be able to figure out. Found a cd shop which had a very limited selection of pirated western music so ended up with some prodigy, chemical brothers and surprisingly a Spiritualized album i have on record back home all for a couple of bucks. On the way back to guesthouse ,whilst rather lost in the labyrinth of lumpy lanes, I bumped into a Singaporean woman that was on my china bus who acted as a translator for me when trying to sort out bike stuff and she said a private doctor is the way to go for proper treatment and probably cheaper. Went to a cafe to get some comfort food and while downing a Yunnan coffee and some cheesecake a young Chinese couple came in and the girl spoke English so I hit her up about a doctor. She happened to have a friend in town who worked as a doctor in the Burmese army for 8 years so we trundled off to his hotel. They all couldn't believe what the hospital did nor could they understand why i left it so long! Gan, the doctor dude, cleaned the protrusion with salty water and plastered it with some other brown slurry he made from some sort of Chinese antibiotic pills then chucked a bandage over top. he said it will help soften it up so it can be worked on the next day. I was informed though that I may have left it too late. I failed to ask, to late for what? Maybe i didn't want to know. I was sent off with more of the brown pills which i was to take four of every three hours and a bag of bitter tea which looked like dried mini broccoli. I was told not to have coffee, alcohol, smoke, spicy food or mango's!
Meet back up with the Chinese couple at the cafe to share their huge meal Which was all really nice apart from the pig head fat and liver. Had a couple of green bean ice blocks for dessert which were surprisingly nice. Had to leave my lovely couple and sort some photos for bro and get some rest.

Saturday 5th July
Slept in and listened to music. had lots of fruit for lunch then called home for first time to wish my wonderful Mum a happy birthday. Went to get my bite cleaned out in the arvo which turned out to be rather epic. I think the pills were working because my lymph nodes were already starting to go down. I arrived at hotel to find another doctor from Chengdu there and she did most of the work which was prolly a good thing. After removing bandage and cleaning the area some puss was removed with gentle squeezing but a syringe was then used to go deeper and suck out blood and puss. I was then informed that that wasn't enough as it was still hard and would need to be cut open. Then Gan pulled out his big leatherman and started sterilizing it with his lighter. I was told, "this will hurt a lot". Has no one heard of anesthetic! After a very tense minute the lacerations were made and chunks of puss made there exit under the internal pressure. With a lot more painful squeezing then washing down of water a stream of blood pink water was running down my back and into my shorts and out the legs where it pooled at my feet. At the end it was all covered up with another brown pill paste and bandage. The English teacher who was there didn't seem to keen on the whole thing said there was now a big hole in my back. It was all quite painful and stressful and went on for quite a lot longer than i expected so feeling rather tired.
Made way back to guesthouse and bumped into a NZ dude I meet in Dali and decided to have dinner at the same place and ended up talking to a brit who was super easy to get along with and later went looking for a good place to find a drink. With all the rain and cold I decided to hit the Jim Jarmusch back catalogue and watched Night on Earth which made for a nice easy night in.

Sunday 6th
Slept in again but still feeling a bit under the weather. Took off with some other dudes to a small village north of the city. Stopped to walk up a hill to visit a Tibetan temple thing but pretty blah and i think the people see too many tourist as it didn't feel too friendly. Arrived at village and really disappointed with how touristy it it was. Meet Doctor Ho 'the most admired man in china' who is supposed to be the guru on natural medicine. Thought I would see what he thought of my puss hole but was very disinterested and more interested in telling us about what he had cured and what famous people he had meet. Really nice man(he wished me well with my recovery) but i think a bit senile at 80whatever.
Went back to my doctor and took bandage off and supposedly lots of puss and then they squeezed out even more but they didn't really want to show me. I was then told if it isn't looking improved enough the next day I will have to travel ages away to Kunming to get surgery!
Kicked about with others for rest of day keen to take it easy and give my hole a healing chance. Tried some yummy yak cheese balls when out for tea. Miss really good cheese!

Monday 7th
Really tried to relax and didn't do much but was good for me to just sit and enjoy the environment i am in and watch locals go about their day. Talked to people about guesthouse before seeing my doc once more. Lots of puss but less red so don't have to get surgery! Got it all cleaned and bandaged up again. Feeling much better and got given some real antibiotics. Hung out with all the Chinese people at their hotel which is actually pretty neat because if I hadn't been been bitten I wouldn't have done something like that and interacted with a normal group of 'locals'.
Showed an Israeli about town and went to an Irish bar for something different.

Tuesday 8
Another quiet day. Went to get puss scooped out again but hole looking good though. Meet some lost people and showed them back to Ma Ma's - Dangerous town! Went out to Irish bar again with funny Aussie dudes and a guy from Chile and meet a local guy from the states who I got talking to earlier in the day which was great cos he knew lots about the ethnic minorities and local info. Talked to some other westerners that live here which is interesting because its such nice place but totally different culture that its hard to gauge how someone from outside would cope here long term. First late night in ages, 3am.

Wednesday 9
still in Lijiang seeing my doctor. Said good bye to some good people i got acquainted with. Strange meeting so many folk on the road and then having to go your separate ways once you've got to know them. Its not bad just not that normal unless your travelling- and that new for me. Feeling low and unmotivated. Got some nice emails which is a good pick me up. Hit the streets to get some money and walk to black dragon lagoon(or something). Crossed up stream from the main entrance to avoid the excessive 80y entry fee. Walked 500m maybe up Elephant hill. Tried to run and jump up steps but I think the altitude started to get my breath or maybe I'm just really unfit now! Not a bad view from the top. Came back down to city and got really nice sweet crusty vanilla buns and then went to get my sore sorted. It had less puss again but more blood which he said was a good thing. Will get final dressing tomorrow. Bought a bag of really good sweet lychee's and finished them off after dinner over some reading. Hit the Irish bar again with a group of Israelis then found a computer to write some of this.

Thursday 10th
Messed around in the morning and tried to find a computer to upload some pictures with no luck. For some reason lots of computers wont recognise my memory card or it gets blocked by the security program and I cant figure out how to allow access as everything is in Chinese! Got a final bandage put on and paid my doctor. He said I can change it after 3 days to a week which seems like a long time. After the guy from the couple, who introduced me to the doctor, showed me a motorbike shop and rode on the back of my bike with his dog which must have looked pretty funny. Got an oil change, new tail light and taped a random indicator cover where the missing one was. Found a place that cleaned my bike for 80c and it was really dirty! Now all ready to hit the road again. Will try and head up to Shangri-la in the morning via tiger leaping gorge then the next day try my luck taking the road up to Litang. Will be interesting to see how me and the bike handle the altitude.

Love from Lijiang Spiderman.

The Week

2008-07-04T05:45:00.000-07:00

Hey Buddies,
Long time no posting. Been away from computers rather awhile but I am now settled in Lijiang, China with comps. Will try and do a fleshier version en la manana but here is the gist. Spent an extra day in Laos waiting for a bigger bus to take me and bike over border but didn't make it and got kicked off between Laos and China. payed someone to take bike over and no probs but another day gone and no real change in geographic position. made my way up through Yunnan staying in some pointless big cities on the way. Amazing seeing the country and people change, really impressed. Arrived in Lijiang later than expected because I had wanted to go to the hospital to get my large, sore, scabby, painful, slightly pusey protrusion a looking to. Instead watched an Ingmar Bergman film and drank cream and coffee. Went to hospital today but really useless and just put some brown paste on it and a bandage but didn't even clean it up (probably a good thing going on the state of cleanliness of the place they would have made it worse). Ended up asking around later for a private doctor and meet a girl who spoke english and she happened to have a friend in town who worked as a doctor in the army in Burma and he gave me the Chinese medicine treatment. so he cleaned it up a bit and made a poultice of sorts with water and brown pills made into a paste and gave me herbs to make tea with and pills to take every 3 hours. Will get it redressed tomorrow and hopefully really cleaned out. Hope it goes well because he thought i had left it too late, whatever that meant.
Resting easy.
Until tomorrow.
Jackson Scott

the section i was dreading

2008-06-28T05:43:00.000-07:00

Just rode up to the border at Boten. Got some heavy rain action and the road got worse until the intersection going to Boten so the last 20k was lovely. There wasn't much there almost like it wasn't a proper town. there were scary monkeys tied to poles and rat/moley things in cages(waiting to be eaten maybe) so it felt a little creepy . Asked around about a number plate but everyone was Chinese and no one really knew any English. Asked the at the Lao side about taking bike over and they said I'd have no luck on the ching chong side. One Chinese dude said just take number plate off. Most of the bikes didn't have number plates so maybe he was right but i don't think this would cut it with a foreigner. Went to get some lunch and while waiting for menu a group of Chinese men invited me to eat with them. They had heaps of food and not long after they left so i had a whole table of really good Chinese food! So a massive free lunch was a nice cheeky bonus. Decided i would go to plan B and head 50 clicks to the closest town (Luang Nam Tha) and try my luck sorting something else there. Asked at a travel place about taking a bus and putting my bike on(without plate) which he said was a good idea but since it is classified as a 50cc I should have no problems taking it to china as it is. Will take his word but i think i will still see about taking a bus over the border and try to keep my white face and the bike disassociated through the border crossing. Need to go to bus station first thing in morning to see what buses are running into china (mengla). Fingers crossed. Otherwise i will just try to ride it, the worst thing they could do is turn me back between borders but that would be a real hassle.

2008-06-27T07:37:00.001-07:00

The $70 tent getting put to good use

Our traditional breakfast. Shared my two pineapples i was hauling round with me.

Village out in the back blocks
Views from my bumpy road

Truck trying to steal some hardwood for Johnny's deck! Not the best road

More native fare. .5 star dinning.

Nice road with with views to match

Waterfall near LP

Trying to take a dip

Small section of road in LP. not very good pic.

A blinged out version of my bike.

Reluctantly left comfortable Laung Prabang this afternoon. Went and saw a really nice waterfall this morning about thirty clicks out of LP. Great to be blasting along without all my gear in just shorts and shirt. Got there before opening and before anyone else so i had the place to myself which was excellent because it felt way less touristy. Ran around like a mad man and up to the top a couple of times and then cooled of in a mighty fine swimming hole. Busted back into town and checked the museum/palace which was plush and indulged in some nice coffee and baguette in a french/italian cafe. said goodbye to my ice coffee girl, who i fell in love with, well her super friendly service and coffee, and got food for the road. Not sure why i liked LP so much. Maybe it was the feel of the old french buildings or that people were friendly but I didn't stay long enough to properly check it out.

Rode up to Lithavixay but road was a shocker with surface missing and big potholes. thought we had overcome such poor main roads! Started to rain late arvo just as i was getting to the top of a hill. The sky looked almost black so i knew it would be bad(still raining, 7hours). Had to ride really slow but still managed to nearly lose it on the smooth wet tar surface as both wheels slide out. Stayed up with a big dab. Bit disappointed i didn't make it further because i am now staying in a very bland junction town. Will see if I'm close enough to china to find any chinese number plates in the morning but will prolly head straight to border town and try and suss something out.

Movin on up

2008-06-26T09:40:00.000-07:00

Tired so be quick. In Laung Prabang. Looks nice so far. Will check some sites in morning then prolly head north close to border and figure out how to get across(well bike at least, I have a visa) into china. Ride from vang Vieng to LP was awesome. Great road just wish i was on a super motard and would have been perfect! Still i must have been the fastest on the road making all the passing maneuvers. Only a few dodgy moments coming into corners with the back stepping and once where I lost the back pushing too hard through a bumpy corner and getting a mini high side thing (but when you don't actually go over!). Really hot but I guess that's not too bad when i hear how cold it is back home..

Cubmaster

Tourist slut

2008-06-25T06:33:00.000-07:00

Hmm. Haven't moved Far(net distance north that is) since the last post(2 days ago). Spent a day in Vientiane in the end but wasn't planing to. Ended up sorting some insurance stuff and then meet up with some Spanish dudes (chile, mexico, catalunia) from the night before and walked(very slowly) about the city checking some of the sites in the sweltering heat. Left Vientiane late yesterday morning, with the spoils from a very nice french shop (it had the best brownies!), and headed north aiming to cut of the main highway just before the tourist capital Vang Vieng and head up the back roads to the Plain of Jars. the Main road made for great riding with all the ups, downs and tight corners a motorbike loves though far to many pot holes to let really loose. My first mistake once off the main road was missing a turn off and riding a brand new(incomplete) road, which wasn't actually on my map, until i reached a checkpoint which i just blapped through only to hear a whistle squeeling behind me. So politely, i turned around and the security guards told me I was in a 'Special Area' and had to turn around. I showed/told them where I wanted to go and they told me there was no problem so i made my way back15 odd km. On the right road this time i was very disappointed. It was really rough and rocky I knew i could ride it but it would be slow and punishing on the Cub(bike). I was pretty annoyed cos the guy i asked at the travel place said the road was good. I bumped around for the rest of the afternoon until it was starting to get dark when I approached a couple of guys eating dinner on the side of the road. They gestured to me if I wanted to join them so I pulled up and filled my face with sticky rice, spicy vegetable stuff and a few shots of rice moonshine. The men were friendly and helpful and tried to use the tiny bit of English they knew while also trying to teach me some Lao. I set my tent up next to their truck for the night and woke to the sound of cooking. After packing up more workers came from the town with some more food and bottles of water so I had breakfast well sorted! After saying goodbye I headed north to Longcheng and by midday i had arrived, been stopped, and told to turn around by the "special area' security. Grrr i was so close to where i needed to be, why didn't anyone tell me I couldn't get through!! At least he told me the other way through was also impassable so i accepted my unpleasant journey backtracking and heading to Vang Vieng. I dropped the pressure in my tyres to racing levels and fanged it back to vang vieng trying fiercely to avoid a pinch flat. Knowing the way back and giving full juice when i could i retraced all the previous days effort and more and arrived in vang vieng by 5pm. Sore. Tubing anyone?

Larking about in Laos

2008-06-22T02:30:00.000-07:00

Still safe and well. Been away from computers for a while. Just arrived in Vientiane and need to go find a room. Spent a day on a small island on the Mekong, near the border with Cambodia, to rest up. Yesterday spent most of the day riding a roundabout way to a massive cave and got caught on some gnarly bits of road but also some nice gravel.

Riding(grinding) around the island on rather small, suited for an asian, sit up and beg bike. Jessica would agree on the riding position, TJ wouldnt agree on freewheel action and nobody could get behind the chinese engineering!

Lao skinnies. On that bike i was nervous!

Riding into where the Cave was and where I stayed with a family in their village. Really nice place and people seemed really friendly and people were actually working! Feeling better after going there but cave trip wasn't as good as i had hoped and boat men riped me off as they never stopped to show me stalagmite gallery and maybe other stuff. These people really piss me off at times (got my glasses stolen the day before!). Villagers all had cell phones, electricity, satellite dish and plenty of music playing, goodo.
Getting bike across river. A bit easier than 1200gs but im sure they would try anything!

Stung Treng

2008-06-17T20:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry this blog hasnt been getting the treatment it needs. Just escaped the jungle from which i was trying to cross from Siem Reap to mekong. Spent the last two nights with cambodian families and one of which was in a small village in the 'jungle'. Pretty cool but the mosquitos were big enough to lift me right of my bike. The roads were really bad and really on suitable for dirbikes but the cub pulled through with a broken exhaust, bent gear shifter spindle pegs and brake pedal, Filled the engine 3 times with water submerging the bike in puddles and rivers (when i got caught in monsoon rain). Heading to Loas this arvo might just make it a small day and stay on an island on the mekong. I'll try to keep in touch. Sloooooooooow Internet.

Templed out

2008-06-14T22:04:00.000-07:00

Just quick note. I've been in Siem Reap and the temples were amazing but i dont think i could look at another for a while. Heading off to the Laos border on road 12, may or may not cut across to Strung Treng. Sorry, stories later (maybe!).

Penning from Phnom Penh

2008-06-12T06:28:00.001-07:00

Finally made it this morning. Had a look at some sites and visited the Tuol Sleng genocide museum which was really depressing. Had dramas crossing the border when they told me bikes cant leave Vietnam but hey i made it and will try to write about it later. Off to get something to eat. Will leave tomorrow and head north to seam reap (not sure if that is spelled correctly) as im running out of time to get to china. Later.

Heart of Darkness

2008-06-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

Eh up,
Would like to write more about Vietnam but dont have time at mo so here is the wrap: Off to Cambodia in the morning, if all goes well, and will aim for Phnom Penh. Not looking forward to the sore ass from seat...
Tops

Ahh monday blues

2008-06-09T01:04:00.000-07:00

What have i been doing?? The weekend shot by with no big dramas. I think saturday was a low key affair. I slept till midday, though sleeping not in the true sense. Sleep usually involves going to bed too late after a cold shower in order to bring body my temperature low enough to allow me to pass into sleep. Later once the body has again re-accustomed itself to the ambient room temperature and realised how humid it is I am then suddenly awake again and up to down half a bottle of cold water then fall back to sleep on a new dry space of mattress. Then for the rest of the night it is a matter of rising and falling back to sleep while each time rolling over to a cooler less damp area of the bed! And with unsettled sleep i end up having unsettled dreams which may entail going over and over what i need to do that day or some yellow menace creeping around en the shadows of my room. Oh, how i think i exaggerate. If were so bad, i wouldn't be so tight as to not pay the extra to have noisy air conditioned comfort.
Where was i before i veered of writing complete nonsense? So, saturday: bought a helmet, tried to find a market to buy petrol container(they dont have those red petrol containers here), dinner, emails, coffee, NO beer(!), meet cool people, ate too many lychee things, watched euro football (had to support Portugal because couldn't get behind the country(turkey) that persecuted my Armenians!), had a power cut, and then went home. nice and simple.

On sunday i had actually organised something the night before so Jo and i were off the the mekong delta for the day. I had pretty low expectations of the trip as it was one of those touristy tours but i needed to get out of the city for a day and i knew this would be stress free. The one feature of the trip was taking a boat from the mekong back up the saigon river to HCMC. The rest of the trip was pretty lame going around a few islands on the mekong and getting shuffled on and off smaller and bigger boats to see around. It probably wouldn't have been too bad if what you saw wasnt so made/influenced for tourists and i found everywhere to be quite messy and lots of rubbish everywhere. As least now i know roughly what the mekong looks like. We stopped on one island for lunch and afterwards i took out a real junker full suspension bike (which was very hard to do for a bike snob like myself!) and fanged it about the paths and small roads doing wheelies over bridges and cutties through corners all to the great amusement of the local kids. so stretching my legs on a bike again was prolly the best part in the end. The boat ride back was good as we got to see all the boats working on the river and waving kids from the river bank plus a lot of it all looked very nice and tropical! Taking three hours to get back i could also catch up on a bit of sleep.
So anyway, i caught up with marcel at our cheep shop for a few beers and a little faux vodka. I think jo couldnt make it as he was catching up on sleep from the night before and i think the mekong trip had taken the last out of him. We went off to watch the croatia/austria football match but we got tired and lost interest after a while. Said our goodbyes, as marcel was leaving thailand on monday, so drinking buddy of nearly two weeks will be missed :-(

Now monday and my scoot was supposed to be go. went and had a look but electrics hadnt been fixed. not sure if there was a communication breakdown somewhere so will go back this arvo to check it out and hopefully pick up. I took it for a whirl around the block and the new engine seemed good but will have to see what it is like at top speed.

Mmm hungry time now but will have to see bike first.
Loving the emails everyone is sending, its still possible to get lonely in a city that has more than twice the population of all of NZ and even simple email always puts a smile on my face.

Mucho amor

Friday 7th

2008-06-07T01:51:00.000-07:00

I needed sleep so ended up in bed till mid day. Took a moto around to the motorbike fixit shop to find they had already put the engine back together and had it running on the bike. I wanted to check out the parts he bought to make sure he was using things like japanese bearings. I guess ill find out now when i break down in the middle of nowhere! Should be done on monday morning which is earlier than he said last time. Went looking at helmets again. no luck so went to the market for a coconut to drink. Got chatting to a man from Bali who was visiting. I couldnt tell if it was the same person i meet in the park last week who was trying to get me to meet his daughter who was going 'study' in NZ! Got another motorbike dude to try and find me some more helmet shops but he was useless then tried to rip me off...
Had enough so went back to hotel to relax. Had some beers with the boys again then meet up with the canadians again and some other american girl for a few rounds of vodka (I think a trend is starting to develop here!). Tried the Lush club in down again but very average and pretty horrible music apart from maybe a missy g or duffy track! Got talking to some middle class vietnamese which was kinda interesting but a bit strange cos they could have been from anywhere. Again, we had a crazy taxi back to our local bar where the vietnamese girls followed us back to. Was feeling pretty tired and tried to keep some distance between me and the girls as i really wasnt in to mood for any attention! I then made sure i had a whole morning of sleeping.
Need to start doing some more interesting things. Will try and get down to the mekong delta on sunday then have the bike going on monday and be free!

Thursday 5th

2008-06-06T05:56:00.000-07:00

Went around to the little motor bike fix it shop and the dude had already taken off the engine and completely stripped it down. Gave him some money so he could by new parts to rebuild engine with 110cc parts, new cdi electrics and new 4sp gearbox. forks and shocks are all going to be serviced and new seat and tyres. he tried to tell me it would be done on friday(next week) but informed him it had to be done sooner and he said tuesday. So it looks like a fortnight in total in saigon before im gone. How i mange to have things end up last minute!

Caught the taxi off to china town with the boys and went to the big market. I didnt really need anything but just to have a look around. got a 'mechanical pencil' for 20c to replace the one i let jess steal. Walked around to find a pagoda and found some small one and took a look around. It had a small pond filled with turtles and surrounded by bonsai trees and miniature bridges and stuff like a childs toy house. Would have been better to take a moto guide and gone by myself and would have been able to see more because we didnt know where we were going and just wondered around in a fairly ordinary looking place with the exception of a few dragons. The people were friendly though and didnt try to rip us off. Got some sugar can juice and deep fried pastry things for really cheap off the street. Had to have a sleep when i got back. I guess its the heat that gets to you after a while.
Went out later to look for a helmet but in true communist style they had the quota of models but only in one size (a bit of an exaggeration but it was very limited). Ended up just wondering the streets and found a pagoda thing that looked interesting. When i went to go inside i was stopped and given incenes and a few things as offerings to the gods. Once i had walked around and planted all my incense and placed my gifts to the gods i headed for the road. Once out side i was stopped and was demanded to pay 50 000 for each offering but i didn't know how serious they were and i didnt want to offend by haggling over religious matters so just payed up! there went my money for the next day. hopefully i will get protection from the gods for my travels!
Kept on walking and the night street stall were starting so i got some really nice crispy fried noodle and a coconut to drink for about $2.
Meet up with the boys later and had some beers then went round to our cheap shop with some really cool french canadians we meet (they knew trailer park boys!) and had rice vodka before tracking down some french people down in a club in town. I managed to cut my finger open on the vodka lid so now another thing to heal. I think it must have been the most expensive club as they were charging 100 000D for a cheep beer (c.f. 10000 at shop)! It didn't have a license so maybe that was why. We went from there to Apocalypse now and back to local Go2 bar while being chased by an Austrian girl. Managed the make back to hotel alone!

Wednesday 4th

2008-06-06T05:40:00.000-07:00

Finally meet up with my Vietnamese motorcycle fixit man at the scooter shop and got sorted what i wanted and what could be done. Went round to his little shop and left the super cub there to start work on it in the morning. Could only get the engine increased to 110cc as 125 would be too much hassle and a completely new engine would have to come out of a stolen bike and the quality would be unknown and cost twice as much. So its back to something simple and very common so will be able to be fixed anywhere. Went searching for someone to photocopy and laminate my vehicle ownership card for a spare and the lady who did said i could get locked up for doing that. ohh, living dangerously! Meet up with jo and marcel again and got a few drinks. Got talking to a Vietnamese man who had really good english and i think he could speak french and was very intelligent. So we asked him why he couldn't get a better job than just driving a moto and he said it was because he didn't have a communist card. Also if you wanted to have a public servant job you had to be second or third generation communist. Had an early night :-)

Saigon so far

2008-06-04T05:22:00.000-07:00

Just 10 observations I've made whilst trying to fit being a tourist into my regime of drinking.

1. Saigon has a very distinct perfume. It smells something like stagnant water, rotting fruit, exhaust fumes, aromatic food and rat piss. Obviously its stronger in some areas than others and maybe only a mix of some of the above ingredients. Thankfully the final blend is not that bad and you soon become accustomed to this base smell and and then you can enjoy more the subsequent simpler root scents!

2. There are a lot of rats. This could quite possibly explain the rat piss smell.

3. Rubbish and food scraps are usually just thrown on the 'foot' path and washed onto the street or just tossed into the gutter where later it will all be swept up by hand. This will most definitely explain the rats.

4. The foot path is not a path but a series of paved or concreted platforms at various altitudes and angles for which to park the thousands of scooters.

5. Scooters don't remain just scooters. They are modified and added on to until they turn into all sorts of mad max utilitarian contraptions. Nothing is ever wasted.

6. It is true what they say about having a whole family on a single scoot and the excesses of over burdenment are not to be taken as only an over exagerated cliche. You can see a mountain of rubbish traveling down the street and think it was a truck only to see the front and discover its a moped with a couple of arms holding on which lead back into a plathora of scavenged goods.

7. There is not much music heard and never have i seen any played live. If prodded the taxi driver will sheepishly apply the volume to his music but other places of business outside the car will rarely ever have music playing. Exceptions to the rule are touristy restaurants and rent boys on bikes shaking their rattle shaker things trying to drum Up business. Unless of course, you consider the cacophony of a million different horns and honkers chiming at once a form of instrumentation(i think maybe prostration)!

8. Apart from newbies being very susceptible to being riped off and hence becoming very suspicious and resentful of the peddlers and beggars most of the saigonese are very friendly and will endeavour to speak you language and have some chit chat.

9. I am always surprised by how many people can speak other languages and/or who are trying to learn other languages while being severely under resourced and running a shop at the same time to all hours of the morning.

10. The young kids are amazing and so cheeky. They know better english than a lot of the older folk. They may very well steal off with your bags but they are sure to steel even more smiles.

Thursday 29 -

2008-06-03T04:38:00.000-07:00

A quick impersonal rundown from the rest of the week:

29th Thursday

Up early and went to vietnam visa issuing place to have my visa extended only to fill out forms then be told I had to go an do it through a travel agent even though travel agent said to do it directly. Feeling like im on a ferris wheel going round in circles! Ended up getting visa sorted for $35 and could pick up the next day. I think it is a bit of a racket 'cos if the visa place had given it to me in the morning it would have been $10. Decided to take a look around town a bit. Headed to fine arts museum which pretty limited and run down. I guess art is a bit bourgeois for the commies. Walked to the market and had a poke around. I was offered the same t-shirts by half the stalls I dont think originality is their specialty. Found some cheap food though and checked out all the live fish, crabs and the like in buckets. Left the market but came out facing a different way than i thought and headed off to the Unification palace but got lost and i didnt have a proper map so just took a moto there. Palace was a bit strange as the architecture and interior design had all been kept the same as it was in 1975 when the city fell. Walked around to War Remnants Museum which wasn't very big or informative but had some good photography. The deformed babies in jars was a bit unexpected and very depressing. It was more an anti war anti american exhibition. Took a moto across town to motorbike shop to see what they had found for me. I was a bit disappointed with the honda cub but supposedly you dont get much choice as most bikes are really worn out and not uber cheap. Decided to hold out for something different in the mean time and have a look myself. By this time i had really had enough of the heat so headed straight back to hotel. Went out for dinner and met a dude from london and decided to catch up at bar later. He didnt turn up but got talking to a couple chaps from holand and france. We left the bar and headed for a corner shop where the beer was only 10 000 Dong and stayed drinking Saigon till 3am. Found i was locked out of my hotel but there was someone about to let me in.

30th friday

Took a taxi and went looking for motorbikes in the morning with Jo(france) on the street which is meant to have lots of shops. It was really hot and the sun was out and i was starting to get a bit annoyed at looking at bikes of very dubious quality. once you took the 'tourist tax' off the price they still wernt very cheap. Decided to taxi to first motorbike shop to look at the first bike again and see if they had come up with anything else. Couldnt make a decision(normal for me!) so had another look at bikes on the way back into town with no luck. Decided to relax and go to museum and pogoda but taxi driver kept getting 'lost' so it took a while to get there! After making it back to hotel i gave the motorbike shop a call to see when they could start work doing the engine on the bike they had but it would have to wait till monday. Dinner turned out to be a meaty affair consisting of only a massive slab of chicken grilled and a pile of rice. though simple it was mighty tasty. I can foresee the vegetarian diet taking some puishment this trip! Meet up with the guys again at the corner shop for some more cheap drinking then went into the main district to a bar called Apocalypse Now (not that original either!). I was expecting it to be filled with tourist as it was really expensive(relatively) but it was mostely Vietnamese. Strange kinda place playing some pretty shonky breaks and house beats(imagine 'take me home country road' to a cheesy dance beat!) and the place had tons of security guys around. It even had some lady boys and figured that most of the girls were prostitutes! Some american guy started talking to me then asked if i was gay but then said we were in the supposedly gay corner. Not very encouraging!! Meet some other backpackers and deicided to go back to the bar back in our district and kicked about there for a few hours until daylight. The taxi ride back was interesting with his erratic driving trying to go fast with lots of tooting and his funny techno music blasting! Got talking to an american brother and sister from florida that were traveling together and were really cool and made me think about how i was already missing my sisters and bros. Didnt have to worry about being locked out of hotel again as they would already be opening again for the new day!

31 Saturday

Stayed up until i could have breakfast in hotel then went to bed and slept for most of the day! Tried to organise meeting up with a SERVAS member to meet a local foreigner for something different. will wait to see how that goes. meet the guys again at the corner shop to partake in some strong coffee and more saigon session beer that never seems to get you drunk but tastes pretty good. we went back into central district to find a party that a french girl had told us about at an italian joint. they were playing some interesting music like wu tang clan mixed with the specials, go figure! but we couldnt find anyone so we left and ended up bumping into a girl from iceland and a guy from england. We managed to find a Lebanese bar and had turkish coffee and a shisha session which was nice and relaxing and got to do lots of talking.We all then headed back to our little corner shop back in our backpacker district and partook in a couple of bottles of the cheap local vodka then took off to the local bar and meet with some people we meet the other night. Went back to the americans hotel and listened to music and spent the day sleeping it off!

1st june Sunday
Got back to the hotel at about 6pm to get myself sorted then meet back up with the americans and others to find some sustenance before going off the to our cheap corner shop again for more coffee and Saigons with the othe other guys followed by a couple more bottles of vodka. We then had to spend some time back at the local bar. Manged to somehow catch my shoulder on something and gave at a bit of a cut. Decided head back early(well before day) to the americans hotel where jessica was kind to clean my little wound with iodine and gauze it.

2nd monday
didnt sleep in to long and saw the lovely floridans off at 11. I think i will miss them as its hard to find people like that in any country. Moved into their hotel to save some money. Feeling the affects of the weekend but manged to get a few things sorted including getting a Loas visa and catching up with the people at the scooter shop. Will have to wait till wednesday to see someone about doing work on the engine. Starting to feel the need to get out of saigon because i know know im going to be here longer than i want. Caught up with the guys again at the cheap shop for some beers then headed over to the bar to play some pool and got talking to a guy from england who told be about a boat to the cu chi tunnels. Had early night, yeah!

3rd tuesday.
Up early to catch the boat at 8 to the tunnels. really good to see something different and the boat ride up the river was cruisy. Had an interesting guide and nice to just sit back and be told stuff. the story of the tunnels was amazing but you didnt get to spend much time in them. This was prolly a good thing as the are very small and hot. I bought a fistful of bullets for the M1 riffle and shot down some targets whilst almost losing my hearing! Came back to Saigon on the bus which happened to be the same one marcel(holland) was on which made it not so bad. I think the girl across from me was a hooker and trying to pick me up. Fending off that sort of stuff gets really tiresome grrr. Caught up with the boys again at the corner shop and Minh a local older guy was there again which is cool cos he knows english well and can answer most your questions. Had some cheap sticky rice off the street for dinner. We went back to the lebonese bar again and then checked out a club which was pretty fancy but not my thing. I was feeling pretty tired so we didnt stay out too late. Checked the local bar again for any one we knew but all quite quiet so went back down to the trusty shop on the corner for ice cream and beer! Hopefully get bike sorted tomorrow. Feeling sunburnt.

Ill put some pictures up soon.

Day 3,4,5,6,

2008-06-02T05:42:00.000-07:00

Still in Saigon.
Well there has been a bit of a lack of postings. will try to flesh it out later. Been doing too many all nighters and illicit activities! Will get some sleep tonight and try and think of something to write tomorrow. Going to get some work done on a bike starting on Wednesday so should be out of here on friday.
Having too much fun, this place is whack.

x

HCMC day 2

2008-05-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

Just spent the day busting around city on a cyclo and the back of a motor bike. Glad to be alive! just kidding it dindt seem too dangerous but saw a few ambulances with sirens blasting and the cyclo driver said, "ah, a lot people die in ho chi minh!". Then he proceeded to try and rip me off. good times. I then took to the streets again on the back of a scoot and while blapping up streets the wrong way and being blasted by horns we crossed town to try and track down a motorbike to buy. After tracking down saigon scooters i find that the story is that the city may have the most motor bikes but its all a mono culture of chinese, taiwanese and japanese scooters and even the russian minsk motor bikes are hard to find. So ive got them to send their little vietnamese boy out to look for good bikes and i;ll see how he got on tomorrow. I spent the rest of the day trying to get some visas but i have to get my vietnamese visa extened first which travel places said would take about a week(ive read it should only be 2 days) and gave various inflated prices. So i decided to track down the vietnam consulate place/thing myself and get the real story(or another tale). Unfortunately upon arrival they were all 'now closed' for the day. Will try again first thing in the morning. Once i get my passport back from that i can go back to cambodia embassey and drop of the form i picked up and wait a day for a visa or get one at the border (along with any bribes they try to sting me with). After that i just kicked about and found some food and ended up with some noodle soup thing with grissly bits of meat and chunky peices of fat and tendon in it. It wasnt too bad but i think i should find something with a bit less animal products and a few more spices next time. The spring roles were nice and made all proper so wernt oozing with oil. I had lost half of my big buckle off my pack on the way back from the airport the night before but after walking only a few metres from where I ate i found a little shop with knock off bags(think Lowe Pro but changed to read Lowe Peak!) and found enough buckles to suit any bag. Thats the cool thing around here - you dont have to go far to find what your after.

Need more rest. Hopefully do touristy stuff tomorrow and talk to more people.

ciao

Cruising low on a cyclo:

Wires and wheels:

Fancy a pickle?

lane where I'm staying at mo:

Ho Chi Minh

2008-05-27T09:56:00.000-07:00

Well, a first quick post.
Finally made it to Vietnam albiet a month late. I should be well into the start of the rainy season now! It was all dry once i landed at 8pm (12 nz time) and a lush 27'C which seems about right though a bit humid. I think its going to be a bit hot for me tomorrow though. Flying over HCMC at night still looked amazing with all it coulourful shop lights and its splattered array of yellow house and street lights which made it look a lot different than your typical city night scape. Even from the plane you could see all the thousands of motorbikes hooning all over the place. It shouldnt be to hard to find a bike in this town! After landing i got too tired arguing with taxi drivers and gave in to paying more than twice the normal fair. Still, kind of fun trying to get proper prices and still managed to pay way less than they were originally demanding. It was a very cool taxi ride into town with heaps of bikes, motorikes, big trucks, and cars coming at you from all directions though it wasnt at all (well mostely) scary and everyone seemed very couteouse and gave you plenty of warning toots. After finding a good hotel i did a quick walk around and it was pretty full on with lots and lots of people, busy shops and people trying to sell you stuff or themselves and homeless folk. After getting a meal for a couple of dollars i thought it best to get back to hotel seeing as it was 4 in the morning old time, meaning i havent been to bed in a couple of days. So if all goes well i should wake up without the squits and be able to start sorting some more visas i check out some m-bikes whilst also taking in some sites.
Ka kite
Rhino.