Chad Is Everywhere

There were a few days in between my returning to Bangkok and flying home which I haven't detailed. Thought now I'd share these photos. In summary we have a few photos from this little island day trip I took. It's not the easiest island to get to and hence not on the main tourist trail. Basically you take the ferry as far north as possible. Yes, we're not in Bangkok anymore Dorothy. Then from there you take a cab to this little ferry. And by little I mean tiny. You pay the 2 baht ferry ride across the 30 metre wide river/creek. Anyway this trek is worth the adventure. Basically you get to this island and ride around it. The island is renown for its pottery and other local crafts. We just thought it was cool cause we got to get active on a bike, and ride through water. Of special note was the Temple on the island. No big Budha here. Big Rosters out the front instead. The drinks sold around the island are served in thin clay cups. Silly me thought I could manage to get on...

I know this is the news everyone has been waiting for. I'm home. Arrived very late last night. Now I've go a lot of stuff to sort out.

Think of the most sexually repulsive conversation you've ever had with someone and then multiple it by a billion. That is exactly how I would explain the conversation I had with a Ladyboy as I passed by walking to my hotel in Chiang Mai. I can recall this conversation with upmost accuracy due to its horiffic nature. It went like this: Ladyboy: Excuse me, where you going? Me: To bed. Ladyboy: I come with you. Me: No. Ladyboy: Me suck you. Me: No Ladyboy: Me f^&* you Me: No Ladyboy: Me lick you Me: No Ladyboy: awe, come back mister. And there endth the conversation as I had gone out of range. Whew! Now put this in prospective. The dude, or used to be a dude, still looked and sounded like a dude. Big shoulders can't be hidden when wearing a black cocktail dress. And well make up can only do so much. This was not eye candy. And to my endearing friends, no just because 'beggars can't be choosers' is a theory you may hold with me in jest, there is no c...

Cooking School Goals Chiang Mai Cooking School. that was all I was thinking when I chose Bangkok as a destination on the Round the World ticket. Its a scary thought but I've been wanting to do a Thai Cooking Class for years. I've just never put Thailand at the top of the list of places to visit before. But with an around the world ticket and a city to stop in within Asia, Bangkok won out this time. So for the past few months I've been thinking of how do I complete this goal. Chiang Mai is just 1 hour away from Bangkok. And well things weren't looking too good for it as a destination considering a recent plane crash with a budget airline in Chiang Mai. But I persisted by going with Air Asia and not the 1-2-Go. Otherwise known as 1-2-Explode. Couldn't help but go, considering the flight ticket cost me only 1700 baht or 60 Australian dollars inclusive of taxes. Yeah, gotta love the purchasing power here. Anyway after arriving in Chiang Mai at 8pm the first goa...

Yes thats right I've been to Bangkok. But it was closed. Or well that's what the nice gentlemen on the street kept telling myself and the other hostel people everytime we arrived at the major tourist destinations. These nice gentlemen also seemed to have a great plan of action to take instead. It involved visits to several other 'free' temples, and a cheap tuk-tuk for the day. Unfortunately if you said anything along the lines of I'm thinking of traveling to Chiang Mai you were stopping off at a travel agent. And if you mentioned you wanted to find somewhere to eat, then off course it was off to the tailor for a suit for you. These guys are why there is the saying 'being taken for a ride'. Don't be thinking you can live with the extra stops at the shops for a cheap tuk-tuk. That you can just go in and out of the shop and on your way. The tuk-tuk driver needs his free fuel, so you always had to go back inside for 5 minutes more. It's a shame the ...

If you're in Paris thats exactly what you do. Eat like the French, drink like the French, and be like the French, unless they're rude. Paris we figured to be a great place to meet up again. So Steve (my brother), and friends Darren, and Jason all met here. traveling from different parts of the world. So this is now the 3rd time I've been able to catch up with Daz in Europe, and this time Steve was here too. In retrospect this is still a cool concept however many times I repeat it. Being able to send a message to a friend to say, 'so which country we meeting in this time'. Perhaps you should try it if you've not already. Paris may of been where the World Cup Rugby was being played but somehow we ended up timing the trip to the 4 days where there was no Rugby to be seen. Go figure. But there were people to see, places to do. By the fourth day we were masters of the Paris Metro. Here is just a taste of what we experienced.

I love the Greek Islands. Sure the beaches might not be upto the standard of the ones back home but hey it was more than just the sand there. The islands are a world to themselves. Perhaps this is why when you get there everyone working there seems to have arrived for 2 days and never left. I visited 2 islands. The first being Santorini. The second Ios. My choices were perfect. I had a great time at both. And each brought their own quality to the experience. Santorini was the sights, the food, and the architecture. Ios was my party it up fun nights with lazy beach days. I would go back to both in a heartbeat.

When you get stuck in Athens for an extra day due to high winds canceling ferries to the Greek Islands you do think that the weather is going to be much better the next day. Or well that must of been what I was thinking. Anyway I managed to book a ferry out of Athens on the Monday. First stop Santorini. I chose this island as the first port of call as I figured it was the furtherest island in the Cyclades which I would visit. What a bad call that was. The fast ferries are nice flash looking Catamarans larger than the Brisbane City ferries. You are assigned a seat on the boat, so after taking my seat I thought it would be plain sailing. After all it was only a 4 hour journey. My seat was towards the front, and in the middle. Near the snack bar. As I said it was to be a 4 hour journey. So I couldn't resist. After all nearly everyone else visited the snack bar too. And there in lies my mistake. I looked at the menu and thought, hmmm cheese pie, sounds good. For those uninitiate...

Now I knew when traveling here it was going to be tough to read the signs. Perhaps I was a little naive as to how hard. When you combine the constanants from the English alphabet which are worth more then one point in Scrabble you're not going to get a word. Everyone knows you're struggling if you're left with J, P, M, H and X. In Greece though it's a whole new ballgame. I'm sure X is only worth one point. And then just to make it tougher to read they then insert all the mathematical symbols like Beta and Gamma. You might as well just insert the symbol for Pi I say. The words here either contain no vowels, or the whole alphabet. The result. The poor kids roam the streets unable to spell their name. Although this last point is unconfirmed as I couldn't speak one word of Greek to confirm this issue. And the result set upon me. I was there in the middle of Athens central at 3am in the morning trying to figure out which direction I should be walking to get to...

Argh! sorry but there have been no updates due to a lack of wireless internet facilities in the hostels here and there. I will resume to normal broadcasting shortly.

When traveling in a new country you're lost. And without a sufficient map you can risk missing the whole point of the city. Well I wasn't going to let this be in Frankfurt. You see I only had just over a day to be going around Frankfurt. Not that Frankfurt is described as the centre of the world in the tourism market. In fact far from it. One of their main things in the city centre, a giant sign dedicated to the Euro. Wow! What this meant was I was committed. Committed to buying the 50 cent tourist map all in order to not miss the main tourist sights. Fankfurt's stature in the Tourism world did not though stop them from charging for their map. Hmmm, they mustn't like the tourists. Hit them up for everything. In the morning before finding the tourist information centre I actually achieved much more with not more than a simple colour hostel map without the dots of interest. I managed to stumble upon Country Fair in the main street. All I could think was heck Frankf...

Ask yourself If I were going around an art museum and I see an empty chair at the 'Ask Me' point what would I do? Damn right I'd take a seat and let people ask me questions. Heck it's no different to where-ever I am. People always ask me questions, and I'm always giving answers. They may not be right but they're still answers. As I figured, if they had of asked me something I didn't know, then I would have re-directed them to ask me about something about Sports. And if all else failed then they could of always asked another 2 questions. After all it was '3 for a dollar'. Truth though is that the above photo is staged. Not that it's half easy to guess. Still it made for a funny moment in the Chicago Art Museum.

Yes Big news. I'm no longer in the USA. Myself and Stumpy the Greyhound have completed our separation. And the customs officials have no more concern about letting me through just one more time. I'm gone from North America. On my way home. Or be it via Frankfurt, Europe. So yes you can still all hate me for the fact I'm still in a place where you'd love to be. Tomorrow, I fly to Athens for a week and a bit in Athens and the Greek Islands. Yes I needed the island holiday before I got home. It's a tough life this traveling.

I agree with Frank Sinatra. Chicago is my kind of town. Or well I think its my kind of place in the summer. I don't know whether I'd hold the same view if the winds of the Windy City were ice cold. How did I get to Chicago? I flew of course. There was just no way I was going to be able to handle a bus ride up from Miami. Flying was a benefit of having organized ahead. A cheap flight. Just how they should be. After getting into Chicago I barely had enough time to take a walk around before it was time to take advantage of the 'free' activities. Improv Comedy night. Don't ask me where I was that night. We had guides playing a quick game of let's disorientate the tourist. In going to the comedy I did get to pass by Wrigley Field. Next day was a free tour of the city. Not to be missed by me, the cheap lazy explorer. Of course no trip to Chicago was not complete without the obligatory trip out to get a photo at the holy site. So yes I've had a photo at the Michael...

There is not a better way than to lay on the beach to get over a horrendous bus ride. Miami, South Beach. Home to the rich and famous. And me too. Be it for only a few days. I had decided upon South Beach on the basis of there being no cheap accommodation in Memphis for the weekend with some big College Football tournament on. Yes there was a long bus ride getting to Miami, but in the end it was worth it. I had found white sand again. The only thing missing was waves. There ain't gonna be no surfing contest in Miami I can confirm. Aside from the beach Miami is well known for the Art Deco. A style to its own. This was different and enjoyable to see, but well it wasn't as profound as I thought it would be. Find of the first day had to be at lunch. The restaurant I stopped in at had a 'Grilled Dolphin Steak Sandwich'. Yes Dolphin my jaw dropped. Here I was thinking do I order 'Flipper' or not. Heck through all my university days when I worked at the resta...