Dublin To Scotland

We arrived in Edinburgh around eleven at night and there was no information stand open so we tried to figure out a bus route to get to our couchsurfing host`s home not too far away but nothing worked out because of the time of night it was. So Tyson made a phone call to a number that he thought was hers to say that we would be spending the night at the airport and that we would be going to her place the next night. We found out half way through the next day that he had accidentally called my friend in Dublin to leave this confusing message and our host was not sure what had happened to us. We layed out our things and slept on the familiar airport floor. Very early the next morning a security guard woke us up and poilitely suggested that we be on our way. We intended to listen but it did not work out that way and we ended up sleeping about four more hours on the seats nearby. After a good rest, we caught the city bus, paid some pounds and got into the city. We spent the first day exploring the Scottish tourist shops full of fake bag pipes, kilts, plaid products and keychains. We went to the Scottish Parliament building that is fairly new and very innovative in design and ideas. The design was created by a Spanish architect to reflect the images of the nature around the building as well as to incorporate some of the history of the land and its peoples. There was an exhibition on display from worldpress which was the results of their competition for 2011. They had chosen the top three photographs in several different categories from photographers from around the world. It was absolutely amazing. We spent many hours walking around and reading about the different stories and then gazing at the images that prove and reflect the writing. The subjects of some of the photographs were world events such as the tsunami in Japan, the war in Afghanistan, Syria and other poor countries, the economic collapse and the loss of housing for people in the United States, the poaching of innocent and endangered animals for sport or financial gains, the unjust behaiviors of countries such as Iran with their `justice system``, poverty throughout third world countries and mass murders. The photographs that these professionals have managed to capture regardless of danger to their person is remarkable. The pain and hardship caught on the faces of so many individuals was so haunting that I could not look away. These are just a few of the events of merely one year. It was a lot of heavy thinking material but a great exhibition that I will not likely forget.

We also took a one hour tour of the actual building where a knowledgable man took us around and explained everything from the material used, the meaning and hidden concepts of the building to the judicial system of the governing body. Scotland is still a part of the United Kingdom and their official parliament is still in Westmister Abby but there are many people who want independance and there is an upcoming referendom in 2014 to decide this. Thay have a great open system at present where the public can watch debates and visit the parliament with tours when they like. The outdoor area is also very nice with a few small pools of water. One of them was filled with children playing in the water. Tyson was trying to soak his stinky feet when one thing lead to another and we got into a full blown water fight. I believe that I won that fight since I only got a few spots wet, but he was soaked. When Tyson went to try to call our host to set up a meeting spot, he realized that he had dialed the wrong number the last night so he had to explain the situation to her. She was easy going about it and we agreed to meet at an address at eight pm. We head up the Royal Mile which is the famous tourist street from the Edinburgh castle to the Queen`s residence known as Hollyrood House. We visited this house after our time in the parliament building. We passed the Edinburgh castle but it was closed for the day so we only took photos from the outside. We stopped to eat and buy a load of groceries before heading to our meeting spot. When we found the address, there was only a small plain door so we thought we had the wrong place. We got lead to the other end of the street which ended up being wrong as well. We called our host again who told us to just meet her at the National Museam of Scotland so we again walked all the way near to where we were to meet her. We waited nearly an hour before I asked about the old address we had and someone gave us some better directions. I waited at the museam in case she came there, while Tyson went to the restaurant to see if he could find her. As soon as Tyson left a young guy came over to talk to me and was kind of wierd but helped to pass the time. When Tyson came back, he left but when Tyson left again, he came back. Long story-a bit shorter- we both eventually head to the restaurant where a Couchsurfing gathering was taking place and waited there for our host. She did eventually get there and we met a lot of people that night. We met a Ukranian girl who was working in a souvenier shop and offered us a discount at her shop, an American travelling Europe for a year as well as several others. There were quite a few people there and we stayed for quite a while. We left with our host and took the bus back to her place a few miles away.

Our host is a young woman who is working on her PhD in history and is also the leader of the local Green Peace group. She taught us a great deal about peace and war, environmental concerns and the history of the Scottish people. There were posters, quotes, stickers and photos all over her house that pointed out different catastrophes and information that related to her interests and they were all very thought provoking. The group are currently working on many projects including trying to get Shell Oil to stop drilling in the Arctic.

After a big spaghetti and tomato sauce dinner, we slept.

The next morning we played with our host`s two cats, ate breakfast and walked into town via a very beautiful hike. Our host had taken a four hour train ride to London for a green peace meeting and would not be home until midnight so we did not see her that day. The hike was called the Seat and it was not too difficult but it still made us pant a bit. At the top there were beautiful views all around of the gorgeous city. It was a crowded day since apparently before we arrived the weather had been a bit crap. We walked back down the other side of the mountain into town. We went to the National Museam of Scotland which is one of the biggest and most detailed museam of all time. Funny enough, we felt very old because very common childhood toys of ours such as the original Nintendo were on display along with Sony Discmans and Walkmans. We spent the rest of the day at the museam but did not even see half of it. It was very interactive with games and films about certain subjects. We played an awful lot of games including competitive ones, video games, trivia games and informative ones. Some of the subjects we learned about were animals, space, history of communication, technology and environmental subjects. We learned that our carbon footprint for this year is astronimical and the only way to pay society back is to sit in a dark hut for the rest of eternity. As I was passing by a steam powered hydrolic machine, I stopped to investigate it further when a repair man inside popped his head out. I jumped and panicked and waved my hands at him to get away. It freaked me out more than I can say and the only reason I did not scream was because the wind got knocked out of me with fright. He was extremely regretful and appologetic but Tyson on the other hand thought it was a free comedy show and nearly died of laughter for a full fifteen minutes following the event in addition to sporadic periods of laughter until now. After we got kicked out of the museam several times because they were closed we stopped to buy more food from the grocery store. It took us a long time to decide what we wanted and we bought a lot of junk food with nothing healthy. We walked to the nearby Starbucks to check our emails when we decided that Tyson should go back and get another bag of chips because we were not fat enough. We walked towards home but stopped at another viewpoint up Calton hill. There were many monuments on top of this hill including one for Scotland, an observatory and so on. When we got to the top we noticed about a dozen photographers taking photos. We looked in the distance to see what was so special other than the beautiful sunset but we saw nothing. So I had to ask but it turns out that it was just a photography course. As we walked back to the house, my precious sandal broke once again. It was devastating but Tyson assures me that it is fixable and I hope that he is right. We watched Beverly Hills Cop and ate the same pasta dinner that night before bed.

The next morning we planned to be up at seven am but the alarm got silenced many times until after nine. We finally got into town just before a walking tour was about to start. We took the same tour as we did in Amsterdam and it was very good. During the three hour walking tour, our guide took us all over the city and shared very wierd, interesting and disgusting stories with us along the way. He taught us that some time ago, a thief or other criminal would be nailed to a monument in the center of town by his ear and people would throw things at them. The only way to get out of it would be to rip one`s ear off while losing a part of it and labelling them a criminal forever which carried great social stigma with it. We learned about some of the famous writers that came from Scotland such as Robbie Burns, the author of Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde and JK Rowling. We learned about the public executions including the story of Margaret Dickeins who has a pub named after her. She was convicted of having an illigitimate baby and concealing its death, they publically hung her but it turns out she survived. There was also the story of two men who mass murdered hundreds of people by suffocation to sell the bodies to the local medical school. They made a lot of money before one sold the other out and they got caught. One was hung and the other got six months imprisonment. This created a great underground of stealing bodies from graves and selling them soon after they were burried. People were forced to watch over their loved ones bodies at night and this is where the term `graveyard shift`` comes from. We also heard the story of Greyfriars Bobby which is about a dog that stayed loyal to its master even after death. It is a very popular Scottish story about this dog who sat by its owners grave stone everyday of its life. There are statues and references to this dog everywhere you look in the city. There is also a story of a famous carpenter and locksmith named Deacon Brodie who lived a foul life by night. This is where the story of Dr Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde comes from. He would copy the keys he created for rich families and then sneak into their homes to steal from them at night. Eventually he gets caught in the story but not before he was made the head of the investigating team meant to catch the famous thief.

In the times of the past, Edinburgh was very poor and the living conditions were atrocious. People lived in multi level buildings with the poorest people on the top because it was the most dangerous. The buildings were made of wood and fires, mold and other toxins were not uncommon. People had no bathrooms so they would relieve themselves in cups and throw it out the window. The would shout out a special saying `Gadyloo`and then throw. Apparently the term ``shitfaced`` comes from when people were stumbling home from the bar late at night and someone would shout `gadyloo`and the drunk person would look up to see where the sound came from and...yeah shitfaced. Many great stories were told during the tour including a brief telling of the history of the Royal Family and the role of religion within the country. Both subjects very touchy and powerful. We also stopped at the very popular Elephant Cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote some little books called the Harry Potter series. She could not afford the cost to heat her home during the daytime so it was cheaper for her to buy one cup of coffee for the day and that`s what she did. The cafe now shamelessly flaunts this fact and people love it. The tour was based on tips so we paid the guy some money and took off to the money museam.

The National Bank of Scotland was the first bank to print actual notes in the world, prior to that there were only coins. The money here is actually quite funny because each of the three major banks print off their own currencies which are all different from the one printed in London and Northern Ireland. Although all are accepted at all the stores and worth the same amount, some trouble can arise. Inside the museam we saw a million pounds in notes, we also saw how coins are made, we got to practise building a bank as well as breaking into a vault. Tyson broke the combination and we both got chocolate coins so we were happy. Inside the museam, we looked out the window and saw that it was raining cats and dogs, by the time we left, it was clear and sunny again. This happened a few times throughout our four days in the country. After the museam we went back to the Edinburgh castle and took some photos before going back to the National museam for the second time. We explored some more, watching films about natural disasters and looking at exhibits about poaching. It was very interactive and informative. Again, we got kicked out a second time due to time but we still did not get a chance to see everything. I would need a full week just for the museam to get a good look at everything.

After picking up some more groceries for the night, we walked back to the apartment and cooked another pasta dinner. We spent a few hours chatting with our host about the history of family tartans and crests and she told us that less than half a percent of Scottish families have actual crests or tartans handed to them from the Royal family due to heroic actions or wealth. The other vast majority of people never got them but the marketting companies created crests and tartans for people so that they could sell them products more easily. It was hilarious because many of the family names advertising crests were not even Scottish names but tourists were buying the stuff like crazy, convinced that the stories they were told were true whereas most of the families were ordinary people. She has studied history for a very long time so she shared some very interesting things.

The next day we slept in a bit and walked back into town. Part of the way, our host accompanied us but she was on her way to a Shell gas station to protest in a polar bear costume so she left us soon afterwards. We walked past several monuments and signs for the olympics in the United Kingdom. The olympic fever was not as high as we expected it to be but there is a bit of tension between the Scots and the English so they do not feel the same connection as there might be in other countries. We started off our day at the Edinburgh museum which was more history about the city. Much of the stories were the same as the stories we were told about in the tour so it did not take us long to walk through. We also stopped at the People`s Museam where first hand stories of the lives of ordinary folk in the country were told. All aspects of life were covered such as work, home life and leisure, there were very creepy wax figures to portray people doing the activities. We also stopped at The Children`s museam which was very small and had toys on display from throughout different times inn history. Unfortunately we recognized and owned many of the toys on display as historical items. We stopped to watch several street shows such as knife jugglers, comedians, people who could get out of straight jackets, floating people and also the most pierced woman on earth. This middle aged woman holds the Guiness World Record for the most piercings with nearly 10,000! Her whole face and tongue were covered in silver studs as well as most of the rest of her body that was not visible. She was offering herself up for the night if anyone wanted to pay. She has also auctioned herself off to be married and was once paid $30,000 for her services. Once you see her picture posted on my facebook wall, you may be even more surprised than you are now. Before I took a photo of this lady however, I could not find my camera and thought it had gone missing so I sent Tyson off to look for it. Moments after he had left I found it in the bag but he was gone. I waited about twenty minutes until he came back in a panic which turned to frustration and relief after finding out that it was okay.

We walked to the bus station stopping briefly at the busiest McDonalds of all time for free fries. We took the three pm bus to Birmingham which was meant to take eight hours. We stopped for about twenty minutes in Glasgow which looks like a mildly interesting place. We also stopped in Manchester for about the same time and got a good tour of the city from the bus. Since it was raining the whole city looked a bit drab. The scenery along the way was very beautiful though with green hills, huge fields, random ruins and a whole lot of rainbows. We played hangman, ate like crazy, bugged each other and laughed until about eleven when we reached our destination where two beautiful people were waiting for us with smiley faces. My friend and her husband picked us up from the stop and I talked non stop the whole way home until nothing was left of my voice but a raspy mess. When we got back to their lovely two storey home just outside the city, we sat and chatted until the middle of the night. We ate brownies and caught up on the last year of life with big changes and experiences had by all of us. We will be here for a couple of days and we are looking forward to our time very much.





"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Derry to Dublin

We were at Tyson's cousin's place in Letterkenny, Ireland, in the early afternoon when the baby woke up from his morning nap. We had a big lunch of authentic Irish stew with mashed spuds, for them this may not be a special meal because it is a common one but for us it was new and delicious. We ate while the baby entertained us with his cuteness. Tyson`s cousin`s husband also came home from work for lunch which was a nice break in the day. After our tummies were filled to the rim, we headed out to the beach area of town and even though it was not warm by anyone`s standards, the place was still very nice to look at. The rain held up for the most part. We drove to Tyson Aunt's house in Muff (near Derry) where they have a dairy farm.

Some of Tyson`s cousins were hard at work on the farm and his other cousin had to run off to work herself so we were able to watch her son again. It was time to milk the cows so we went outside to herd them into the milking parlour. We had to stand at the end of the lane and block the road to send them in the right direction. Tyson wanted to help his cousin with milking so we all walked up to the milking parlour and jumped in. The cows are brought into the room ten at a time on either side of the pit and move into individual stalls where they are given feed to keep them occupied during the milking process. Each cow then gets its udders cleaned with a soapy rag and has four sucction cups attached to them to pump the milk. It is pumped into a holding jar that can hold up to twenty litres (roughly two cows worth) of milk before it gets transferred to the large holding tank. After the pumping is finished the suction cups are removed and the udders are sprayed with an iodine solution that prevents infection. This process is repeated until all the cows have been milked. The cows are then moved into a holding barn before getting herded back down the lane to the fields. The whole process takes about two hours and is repeated twice daily. I was carrying the baby so I watched and it was a fairly quick process but apparently there are bigger farms that have computerized systems for more cows.

We went back to Tyson's cousin's place in Letterkenny that night and Tyson went to work helping to fertilize some land in a big John Deer tracktor. I stayed back and baby sat a little for the afternoon shift. The baby and I went for a walk through some of the countryside where he intelligently pointed out many of the animals and the sounds they make. We came back to the house and enjoyed dinner together with Tyson's cousin. After the baby went to bed, we watched some television but both of us fell asleep on the couch and napped until the boys got home. We learned about a kidney transplant that Tyson's cousin has had several years ago. Her story is an amazing and inspiring one. She found out her kidneys were failing badly by accident as an adult and her life changed instantly. She went on dialysis for a few years and then as a result of a horribly unfortunate crime she and seven other individuals recieved the organs they needed to save their lives. In short, a very young man and his friend brutally murdered two men older than themselves in Dublin Ireland. The two men were stabbed through the temple and into the brain with screwdrivers over a tiny scuffle and their lives ended. As a result of their family's generosity however, their organs were donated and many people benefitted. It is a story that really touched me because there was light at the end of this tragedy.

In the morning, we babysat for a few hours and we really enjoyed it, the child is at a very fun age and his character is warm and funny. After breakfast Tyson's cousin brought us to the farm in Muff again and we had a tour of the grounds. We saw the dozens of baby calves who were only weeks old. They were frightened of us when we first entered but they warmed up to us after a few minutes and were even suckling on our fingers and letting us pet them. They are very cute with their big brown eyes and soft fur. We saw the chickens who were not scared of us at all and we fed them dry grass stems. We walked along a small river and took a look at all the big machinery that helps with all the work there is to be done. We walked up the hill to another fair sized piece of property with an old and destroyed house on it. It was the home of Tyson's grandfather's cousin. She has passed away now but the home was looted several times by hooligans who stole copper piping among other goodies that they could sell. As a result the place flooded and over time, the damage worsened. We walked around the area and Tyson was afraid the place was haunted so we left.

Back at the farm, we met another one of Tyson's six cousins in the area. He is married and has a beautiful daughter. She has huge bright blue eyes and makes you melt when she smiles, which she does a lot. It took her a few minutes to warm up to us but when she did, it was worth the wait. We spent some time with her while the boys were outside doing silage. Twice a year, they have to cut, gather and pile up grass to save for the cows' winter feed. This is a big job that can take several workers several days. The weather has to be dry so when there is no rain, they work hard to get it done. This is what the men of the family were doing most of the time we were visiting, only coming in for little bits at a time for meals. They worked from the early morning until the middle of the nights everyday to get it done.

That night, Tyson's Aunty and Uncle came home from their vacation and we got to see them. Tyson's Aunty and I went out and she bought us chips and hawaian burgers for a later dinner. We ate back at the house and caught up until the middle of the night when we all passed out.

The next day we all ate "dinner" together. "Dinner" is what we would call lunch, and what we would call dinner is called "tea" so this was a bit confusing at first but we caught on. After we had eaten dinner, Tyson's cousin, her baby, Tyson's Aunty, Tyson and I went out for the day to Derry. It is a nearby city that is well known. We explored the old wall that is still intact, we walked over the peace bridge which is new and very impressive looking. We went into a small church where the greeter took one look at me and asked me if I wanted a Spanish pamphlet. We met two people impersonating old soldiers, at first we were not sure if they were really actors but by the end of the conversation we realized that they must be. One other lady who also met them was completely buying their stories about the war and such. We stopped at the tourism office to find out about transportation to Dublin to catch our flight but they were not terribly helpful. In Derry, there are also a lot of extremist religious people fighting with each other. There was a really bad time of bombs and bloodshed that seems to have gotten better with time but some people say it is getting bad again. We saw many young people loittering about and being annoying by muttering things to people or even throwing things as people passed. Boredom seemed to be a part of the problem there.

Back at the farm, we had our tea with one of Tyson's cousins before he ran back outside to continue with the silage. They continued their work throughout the day and night until three am. At around midnight we brought them out tea, sandwhiches and snacks for energy. They finished the bulk of the work that night. In the morning, we were did not do much but just read and hung out. We ate dinner with everybody including a lot of family who came by. Almost all the cousins, kids and in laws were present. After eating a lot of food and sweets, the boys (including Tyson) went outside to cover the huge pile of silage with a tarp and hundreds of old tires. This took a couple of hours and when they came back inside in the afternoon, Tyson's Aunty took us out to see some more of the beautiful country. In addition to seeing the stunning scenery of greens and blues on the way, we went to Malinhead which is the most Northernly point of the country. The wind was so strong there that it was pushing us around. The lookouts to the country were really breathtaking and there were many other people there enjoying it as well. Dozens of people had written their names with white stones along the mountain for others to see.

After some shopping and errands, we came back to the farm where Tyson and I drove the quad bike around for a while. At first Tyson drove and then when I figured it out a bit I took over. It was great fun and we even took it over to Tyson's cousin's place nearby for a visit. This is the same cousin who has the beautiful daughter. We visited with them for a while and got a tour around their lovely home. We ate tea with them which was chips and burgers from the local chip shop. It started to pour rain so we passed on driving the quad and got a ride back to the farm where we slept.

On our last day with the family, we went into Buncrana which is a nearby town for some grocery shopping. Shopping for that many people must be difficult, but Tyson's Aunty who has been doing it for years, makes it look easy. We changed some cash from Euros to Pounds for our upcoming currency transition at an apparently crappy rate and head home. Tyson's Aunty and one of his cousins were heading to Canada that night as well. Their plan was to drive to Belfast and then catch the bus down to Dublin from there. Since we were leaving from Dublin as well, we caught a ride with them to Belfast where it would be closer for us to take the bus to Dublin. They were not leaving until the next day so we got dropped off at the bus station in Belfast. I slept during the ride down but I am sure that it was gorgeous. We said good bye there and ran to catch our bus. By the time we bought our tickets to get on and organized ourselves a bit, we watched the nasty bus driver drive away while ushering to us that we would have to wait. So we got a chance to explore the most boring city in the world called Belfast. I walked around with a camera trying to look for something to take a photo of in an effort to remember the city but it was hopeless. So we caught the next bus for the three hour ride to Dublin. We had a great time with family in Ireland but it went by too fast. It was a perfect visit for us and we got to do everything that we wanted to.

As opposed to Belfast, Dublin is a super exciting and interesting city. We arrived very late at night and decided to walk to my friend's house. About nine years ago, I worked for a marketing company in Vancouver where I met some Irish friends. I became closer with one girl in particular and it was her that we stayed with for one night in Ireland. We asked about five people for directions and each one told us that we should not be walking around with all of our belongings at that time of night in a place like Dublin. Since Dublin did not look half as scary as many of the other places we had been, we decided to ignore their suggestions. We did try to walk fast however and it still took us about an hour to reach her place. We arrived around midnight and my friend greeted us warmly. She had been very ill for a few days prior to our visit and she had not improved by the time we arrived but she was still very gracious and offered us drinks and dinner which we drank and ate. We caught up about nine years of life in a couple of hours and then she insisted that we take her bed while she slept on a cot. Yes, she is a very hospitable friend.

The next morning after some cereal and coffee for breakfast, my friend helped us to print off and mark a map to plan our day. We walked back into the city which looked a lot different in the daylight. We visited nearly everything on our list including the Dublin castle, Christchurch cathedral among many other churches and cathedrals including one that has been in operation for 800 years. Each had similarities, differences and unique stories that made them stand out amongst their peers. We stopped at the Guiness brewery at St. James Gate for some photos but we did not go inside for many reasons including that we heard it sucks. We continued to the Jameson Distillery and then to the St. Michen's church and crypts. From there we walked to the main tourist shopping area called O'Connell street where I bought a new pair of jeans. We took photos with the extremely tall and pointy sphire monument. We arranged to meet my friend for dinner at a restaurant called Marco something or other restaurant (I cannot remember the name). A couple of young guys who we asked for directions from told us that it is the most famous restaurant in the country with a highly respected chef so we were in for a treat. We walked through Trinity University grounds where the book of kells is kept, before heading over to the restaurant. The whole city is architecurally beautiful, the people were very friendly, the shops were unique and interesting and we had a great time. One day was definitely not enough to explore the place.

Luckily we changed out of our grubby clothes before we got to the restaurant because it was a very fine one indeed. The chef is most famous for making chef Gordon Ramsay cry. We ate steaks and chips and cokes out of glass bottles which were all very delicious but the best part was the desserts. Between the three of us we had a strawberry, merangue and ice cream dish, a chocolate, white cream and rasberry set dessert, and a creme broullet. It was all very unforgettable. We had great conversations to continuous Madonna hits (her concert was that night in town). Following this fantastic meal, my friend drove us to the airport and sent us on our way. It was great to see her and she went above and beyond (while being very sick) to take care of us.

We caught our last Ryan Air flight to Edinburgh, Scotland which is our thirty seventh country thus far. Because Tyson's aunt had kindly taken a lot of our belongings with her to Canada, we did not have to put on all of our clothing or hide our weight so everything went rather smoothly. In an effort to spend the last of our euros, we bought a few candy bars and a big golden coin from Starbucks but I can safely say that it was definitely not money well spent.



"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Legends, greenery and Manure

After our first night in Ireland, we woke up feeling refreshed and full of energy. We slept on what Tyson called "a cloud" which was obviously a very comfortable bed. We ate breakfast and then head out to see Giant's Causeway with Tyson's cousin and her child. It was a bit of a drive but there was lovely scenery of the country and coast along the way. We stopped for pictures a few times to try and capture some of the beauty in the especially scenic places. When we reached Giant's Causeway everything was a bit different from the last time Tyson had been there. They were now charging a hefty entrance fee which had always been free so we had to pull a fast one and sneak in the back. It was not too difficult because they had just created this pay structure two weeks prior to our visit and the staff were still trying to figure everything out. The three adults and the innocent child snuck by the guards who didn't know what hit them.

Giant's Causeway is not a big race track as I suspected but rather it is huge formations of volcanic rocks that have naturally formed into hexagon-shaped steps along the coast. There are over 40,000 interlocking basalt columns as a result of intense volcanic and geological activity at the Unesco world heritage site. The rocks are sixty million years old due to the cooling and shrinking of successive lava flows. The place is also the victim of many legends and stories that the locals here believe. We did not buy the audio guide so I cannot tell you more than it is about a Scottish giant, an Irish giant, a camel, a wishing rock, a grandma and a fight. We walked along the paths and took in the breathtaking views of jagged cliffs, thousands of smooth steps and beautiful blue waters crashing onto them. We climbed about and took many photos. The place was quite busy with tourists and the rain even held up for our whole visit. We snuck back out without being noticed and drove through the city of Bushmills. It is a small place but it has some famous sites including the whiskey distillery. We walked into the visitor's center of the well known branded building and read some of the information about the place. They offered guided tours that we did not have time to take but Tyson had taken in the past and enjoyed. We also stopped at an old castle a little outside of town and spent some time taking photos and exploring the oldness of it all.

After all of this acitivity we stopped for a very windy picnic lunch. Tyson's cousin had kindly prepared sandwhiches and snacks for us to feast on but the wind decided not to let us have it so easy. Drinks, napkins, saran wraps and even the blankets were each flying at certain points in time. We ate quickly and drove to the farm. I cannot say much about the drive because I slept most of the way but my guess is that the others had a pleasant time. I did wake up at one point to see a few gypsies riding their horse and carriages and their villiages of caravans. We learned that they are a community of people who steal from others and sell their stolen goods back to the farmers. Apparently they are a funny bunch who inbreed, do not pay taxes, like to burn and destroy the places they live in and are not afraid to become violent. We went to the farm of Tyson's Aunt and the family. There are six children in total including the cousin who we were staying with. She had to go to work for a few hours but I met two more of the younger cousins that live on the farm. They were running the place since their parents were out of town. I watched the baby and we followed Tyson and his other cousin to milk the cows. This happens twice a day everyday and it is a big job. There are hundreds of cows that have to be moved from one field to the milking area with the help of a Land Rover and a couple of border collies. They are led ten at a time into a big room where they recieve feed to keep them happy while sucking machines are attached to their nipples and they get drained of their milk. The milk goes into glass holding containers and then is transported into a large steel contraption where it is kept cool. The whole procedure was fascinating to watch and even got pretty entertaining when Tyson recieved a couple of golden showers and one brown one.

This took a couple of hours and by that time, Tyson`s cousin had returned and we all head back to their house about thirty minutes away for delicious fish and chips. The adults hung out and chatted over tea and desserts for a while before it was bagpipe time. Tyson`s cousin is a very talented musician and Tyson has always dreamed of playing the bagpipes so she set up her set for him to try on. He was supposed to use about six breaths to fill up the reserve and then keep breathing into it to keep it full while playing notes. He actually was not too bad and was able to make noises that resembled what the instrument is supposed to sound like. I not only could not make the correct sounds, but I couldn`t even hold the thing up right so apparently Tyson has the blood lines for this difficult instrument. We were treated to a real song from the professional in the group which was exciting.

The next morning Tyson and I woke up earlier and baby sat for a few hours while the baby`s mom and dad were at work. We managed to keep him entertained, fed and clothed the whole time but we cannot say we weren`t tired afterwards. When Tyson`s cousin got home we puttered around for a while chatting, doing laundry and organizing our things. We planned to go out after the baby`s nap.


"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Getting to Ireland

After our first night in Ireland, we woke up feeling refreshed and full of energy. We slept on what Tyson called "a cloud" which was obviously a very comfortable bed. We ate breakfast and then head out to see Giant's Causeway with Tyson's cousin and her child. It was a bit of a drive but there was lovely scenery of the country and coast along the way. We stopped for pictures a few times to try and capture some of the beauty in the especially scenic places. When we reached Giant's Causeway everything was a bit different from the last time Tyson had been there. They were now charging a hefty entrance fee which had always been free so we had to pull a fast one and sneak in the back. It was not too difficult because they had just created this pay structure two weeks prior to our visit and the staff were still trying to figure everything out. The three adults and the innocent child snuck by the guards who didn't know what hit them.

Giant's Causeway is not a big race track as I suspected but rather it is huge formations of volcanic rocks that have naturally formed into hexagon-shaped steps along the coast. There are over 40,000 interlocking basalt columns as a result of intense volcanic and geological activity at the Unesco world heritage site. The rocks are sixty million years old due to the cooling and shrinking of successive lava flows. The place is also the victim of many legends and stories that the locals here believe. We did not buy the audio guide so I cannot tell you more than it is about a Scottish giant, an Irish giant, a camel, a wishing rock, a grandma and a fight. We walked along the paths and took in the breathtaking views of jagged cliffs, thousands of smooth steps and beautiful blue waters crashing onto them. We climbed about and took many photos. The place was quite busy with tourists and the rain even held up for our whole visit. We snuck back out without being noticed and drove through the city of Bushmills. It is a small place but it has some famous sites including the whiskey distillery. We walked into the visitor's center of the well known branded building and read some of the information about the place. They offered guided tours that we did not have time to take but Tyson had taken in the past and enjoyed. We also stopped at an old castle a little outside of town and spent some time taking photos and exploring the oldness of it all.

After all of this acitivity we stopped for a very windy picnic lunch. Tyson's cousin had kindly prepared sandwhiches and snacks for us to feast on but the wind decided not to let us have it so easy. Drinks, napkins, saran wraps and even the blankets were each flying at certain points in time. We ate quickly and drove to the farm. I cannot say much about the drive because I slept most of the way but my guess is that the others had a pleasant time. I did wake up at one point to see a few gypsies riding their horse and carriages and their villiages of caravans. We learned that they are a community of people who steal from others and sell their stolen goods back to the farmers. Apparently they are a funny bunch who inbreed, do not pay taxes, like to burn and destroy the places they live in and are not afraid to become violent. We went to the farm of Tyson's Aunt and the family. There are six children in total including the cousin who we were staying with. She had to go to work for a few hours but I met two more of the younger cousins that live on the farm. They were running the place since their parents were out of town. I watched the baby and we followed Tyson and his other cousin to milk the cows. This happens twice a day everyday and it is a big job. There are hundreds of cows that have to be moved from one field to the milking area with the help of a Land Rover and a couple of border collies. They are led ten at a time into a big room where they recieve feed to keep them happy while sucking machines are attached to their nipples and they get drained of their milk. The milk goes into glass holding containers and then is transported into a large steel contraption where it is kept cool. The whole procedure was fascinating to watch and even got pretty entertaining when Tyson recieved a couple of golden showers and one brown one.

This took a couple of hours and by that time, Tyson`s cousin had returned and we all head back to their house about thirty minutes away for delicious fish and chips. The adults hung out and chatted over tea and desserts for a while before it was bagpipe time. Tyson`s cousin is a very talented musician and Tyson has always dreamed of playing the bagpipes so she set up her set for him to try on. He was supposed to use about six breaths to fill up the reserve and then keep breathing into it to keep it full while playing notes. He actually was not too bad and was able to make noises that resembled what the instrument is supposed to sound like. I not only could not make the correct sounds, but I couldn`t even hold the thing up right so apparently Tyson has the blood lines for this difficult instrument. We were treated to a real song from the professional in the group which was exciting.

The next morning Tyson and I woke up earlier and baby sat for a few hours while the baby`s mom and dad were at work. We managed to keep him entertained, fed and clothed the whole time but we cannot say we weren`t tired afterwards. When Tyson`s cousin got home we puttered around for a while chatting, doing laundry and organizing our things. We planned to go out after the baby`s nap.


"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Frankfurt

Near Frankfurt we couchsurfed with a lady in a place called Laangan. She lived in a beautiful one bedroom apartment and she gave us her bedroom to sleep in because she was an early bird who wanted to work from home early in the morning. The stores were closed by the time we got near her home so we cooked some pasta we had from before and our host provided the sauce. She loved to cook so she prepared a nice dinner and we ate and got to know each other before calling it a night.

The next morning we wanted to visit the Bahai House of Worship near Frankfurt and our host wanted to accompany us. She prepared a delicious breakfast with scrambled eggs, bacon and peppers which we enjoyed. After several cups of coffee, the three of us drove about half an hour through the beautiful country. The temple is located on a hill in the countryside. It is an architectural masterpiece and a peaceful place to pray and meditate. We were greeted in the information center by a very kind and elderly man. He was of German, Protestant decent and had been serving in there for the last ten years with his wife. He was very knowledgable about the Bahai Faith and after showing us a very informative and well created video on the basis of the religion, we all discussed its contents. Our host was Protestant so the conversation was very interesting and I believe we all learned a great deal about each other and a few of the major religions of the world. The topics varied from life after death, to the fact that there is one creator that some people call God, to the need for spiritual and moral education for the betterment of society, to praying and other such things. Some things we agreed on such as the equality of men and women and some things we disaggreed on such as independant investigation for the truth without the need for preachers. The conversation went on for several hours which was much longer than any of us thought we would be there. Nevertheless it was necessary and after we were finished, the three of us walked to the temple. As an architect, our host was amazed by the design and the building of the structure. We walked through the colourful gardens and each prayed independently for a while.

Our host drove us into the center of Frankfurt and we got the one on two private tour of the place from the point of view of an architect which was a unique and refreshing take on the city. She taught us that after everything was destroyed in the bombings of world war two, some things we rebuilt to look modern and others were repaired to their original old look. Thus the effect is a mixture of very old brick buildings with modern white high rises. There are also very impressive gigantic funny shaped buildings that make the city look a bit space aged. There is something for everyone in the small town. There are, of course, many cathedrals. Some Protestant and some Catholic but all very breautiful. There is a bridge near the center of town that was apparently built by the local residents so that they could get from one side of the river to the other without having to travel a long distance. It is a unique place because it is a story of the citizens taking matters into their own hands and creating what they wanted. On one side of this bridge are dozens of museams and on the other is everything else. We saw a lot of street musicians and performers including one extremely intoxicated older woman who was dancing in the middle of a crowd of people who gathered to laugh at her. She was trying to be provacative but it was a rather horendous display of the effects of alcohol. We tried not to watch as we passed. We also passed by many gypsy ladies, some of whom had young children and puppies, we were instructed to ignore them. We went into a couple of the cathedrals which were very big and in line with all the others we had seen up until this point.

We stopped by a Thai store where we bought all the ingredients our host needed to make us some Thai food. Since she loved to cook, she offered to make us a few Thai dishes and while the ingredients proved to be more expensive than what we had expected to spend, the food was very good. At the house we ate a cold pasta salad with seafood to start. During the first of the two movies we watched on her comfy couches that night, we ate a big bucket of sweet popcorn between the three of us. Following that snack, we devoured all of the coconut cream chicken curry and jasmine rice she prepared. After this gluttonous evening, we slept well.

The next morning we had a slow start which we blamed on the gloomy weather, it rained on and off with beautiful rainbow breaks in between. We drank coffee and watched movies before finally dragging ourselves out of the house. We got dropped off at the train station near our host's house and decided to hitchhike from there. We were not familiar with directions to the city so we asked people to guide us. The first lady drove us to a more appropriate spot to catch a ride to the city and after about thirty minutes a friendly Turkish guy took us out of his way into the city. Another very generous gesture from a complete stranger that we will not soon forget. We noticed that, for the most part, their seemed to be trends in the people who were picking us up. They seem to be young, male, single Turks in Volkswagons. While this has not been every time, it has been enough that we took notice. In town, we walked along the waterfront and stopped at a near by playground to use the teeter-totter. While we were playing, a lady walked by and asked if she could take our picture because, "you are really in love". Further down the waterfront, we decided to walk along the bridge that our host had pointed out the day before. It was a small simple foot bridge but there were many people enjoying their time on it. There were thousands of small locks attached to the structure as symbols of the love of the couples who put them there. Some of them had initials engraved or quotes written and this gesture also takes place in other European cities such as Venice and Paris. We did not have a lock but Tyson carved a very sweet message on the bridge in pen. We also heard that when couples break up, they return to their lock with bolt cutters and take their anger out on the metal representation of what used to be.

We spent the majority of the afternoon shopping and people watching. We went to a mall that had an observation deck at the top and took in a panoramic view of the city with all its cathedrals and high rises. We made lunch out of meat and potato chips with a side of McDonalds french fries. We had also bought a small square of what we thought was butter but turned out to be a foul smelling mystry food. We never discovered what it was but Tyson got our money back for it. We checked out the sites some more and somehow we were late to meet up with our host (as planned) to watch a classical music performance at one of the churches we visited the day before. There were two female opera style singers and a piano player who performed for over an hour. Opera is not generally the music we like but these women had beautiful voices and we really appreciated the quality of the music. I cannot say I didn't fall asleep for part of it but the part I was awake for was a wonderful experience. The acoustics in the church and the atmosphere added to the performance to make the evening even better. After the show we decided to head back home for dinner of pasta (again) and have an early night because we were all so drained from the day.

In the morning, our host took us to a rest stop on the highway that she suggested would be a good place to hitchhike to our friend's place in the Netherlands. Yes, we decided to hitch through Germany and into Holland. We had tried to use public transit or carpooling websites but nothing worked out and we still wanted to see our friend. We realized that we were not experienced after only two prior experiences but we felt confident that it would be okay. With zero preperation or knowledge of the route, we took the advice of our host and started our journey. We ended up going in a huge circle around the entire country in the wrong direction. We were picked up by at least a dozen people that we trusted to get us closer bit by bit. Since we did not have a single set destination, we went all over the map. We had a list of places that were near my friend's home so each driver took us toward a different one until we had been close to every place but had not actually reached any of them. Finally, from about forty five minutes to our friends house a nice young couple drove us the rest of the way (out of their way) to my friend's exact address. Actually we did not even flag these people down, Tyson had asked them a question as they were pumping fuel and they offered to take us. The driver of the VOLKSWAGON was TURKISH.... just saying. They gave us a dozen cans of pop to drink on the way and promised to visit us in Vancouver. The total journey took over nine hours when we were only three hours away to begin with. We withstood rain, wind, embarrasment, honking, taunting, laughing, joking and cold thumbs throughout the adventure. Tyson even raised his pant leg to show a little skin but for some reason it did not exactly work.

We knocked on the door and were greeted by familiar smiling faces. It was so nice to see our friends with their super adorable kids. We got there on a Saturday afternoon and soon learned that the grocery store would be closed on Sunday so we walked with my friend's two year old to the store. It was a short walk and he is at an age where he likes to stop and look at everything and try to pronounce their names. Half way through our shop, the staff shut the lights out to inform us they were closing. We grabbed what we could and rushed through the till. On our way back to the house we ran into my friend who was walking with the baby in a sling towards us. She made us spaghetti with meat and spinach sauce which was yummy and filling and we spent the night talking and catching up. Tyson and my friend's husband spent the night talking hockey and wandering the town gathering air matresses and sleeping bags for our sleeping arrangements.

We slept in the baby's bedroom which has dark curtains making it look like night all the time. This is our excuse for sleeping in until eleven thirty the next morning. We woke up to rainy weather that made it okay to have slept in. We spent the day playing with the kids, hanging out, drinking pots of coffee and catching up some more. It was exactly what we had come there to do. During a break in the rain, Tyson took the three year old to the park so he could burn off some energy. For dinner my friend prepared macaroni which we ate all together and then we quizzed each other about movie quotes and hockey trivia. We ate bags of candy until our mouths hurt and watched a classic Will Ferrell movie that was kinda funny and kinda not.

We spent our last morning there drinking coffee and getting ready to go out. As we learned, getting two kids up, fed, packed up and presentable enough to go out is quite the task. My friend is a pro and managed on her own while we watched and learned. We all walked to the grocery store to shop a bit and then continued into town. The town was dead because nothing opens on mondays before one pm but it was still a nice quaint place full of friendy-ish people. Once we got back to the house, we packed up and got a generous lift to the border of the Netherlands and Germany where we could begin another series of hitching rides from strangers. Although it was a short visit, we were happy we got the chance to see them and we had a great time together.

Luckily the rain held up as we held up our poorly written sign and stuck out our thumbs to the traffic. We always start off with fresh energy and an optimistic attitude which slowly fades away to pessimistic behavior which eventually turns into anger at the singly occupied vehicles driving in the direction we want to go without a glance. Normally we do not get to this stage between rides but when it happens I usually give up and sit down while Tyson forges on baring his legs, waving and performing other stunts that don't work but make us laugh. The experience of hitching with a known path and a knowledge of the area we want to go to makes a world of difference. We looked up and wrote down the way to the airport from my friend's house so we knew exactly where we wanted to go. We made signs and got to our destination two hundred and fifty kilometers away in only four vehicles. After being dropped off at the border by my friend, the first pick up was a lively Turkish guy who was ever so interested in our trip, the second was a young German guy with a new baby on his way home from work, the third was a middle aged truck driver who did not speak English in a huge semi truck, the last one who drove us completely out of his way was a young German guy who also wanted to hear stories of our travels. We got to the airport around seven pm for our eleven am flight to Ireland. We spent the time organizing our bags to not exceed the permitted ten kilograms by setting aside huge piles of clothes we had to put on the next morning. We watched movies, ate all of our food, watched people hugging their loved ones in arrivals and blogged. We slept along with dozens of other poor backpackers on the floor in the airport and it was a great time.

In the morning, we woke up in front of a huge crowd of people in line to check into their flight. When we checked the clock it was five am so we grabbed our stuff, found a quieter corner and went back to sleep until after nine. We waited in the unorganized line up to get our passports checked, scarfed down some pudding and rice cakes with peanut butter, squeezed into every piece of clothing we could and went to get our bags tested. After a thorough examination of the size and wieght of our bags, they passed and we were allowed to cross through security. Tyson set off the alarm because there were so many buttons on his several layer of pants and shorts so they checked each layer of clothing to make sure he was not hiding anything in his drawers. We continued to the waiting room which is not the nicest we've seen but it suited its purpose and we did not complain. We waddled our sweaty selves onto the plane and out the other side into our thirty fifth country.

We watched a movie on the flight while attendants constantly tried to tempt us to buy overpriced cigarettes and booze from their duty free options. When we finally got to Knock West Ireland Airport, it was pouring rain and windy. We had to wait just under two hours for our bus to take us to LetteryKenny but the covered waiting area was full so we stood just outside of it. In some countries, people would have squished together to give us spots out of the rain but in this one, people stoof a comfortable distance apart and did not seem to mind that we were under a downpour. We drank several cups of hot tea and rode the three and a half hour bus through the country. It rained throughout but we did not mind as much from inside the comfortable (but higher priced) bus. We watched the scenery of small towns, hundreds of churches, cute little shops and more green than one can imagine. Small hills of green, pastures of tall green grass and green trees along with acres of cattle and sheep passed by as we watched and waited to get to our destination. We called Tyson's cousin and planned to meet an hour later in front of some nearby shops. We spent the time trying on clothes and checking out our new environment. We got picked up and drove ten minutes to their very large, very beautiful house among acres of green grass, cattle and sheep. Twenty eight hours after leaving my friend's place in the Netherlands, we finally made it to our intended destination in Ireland. We met their baby


"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

A break in China

Tyson and I split up at the airport in Bangkok for our seperate flights to Hong Kong. I took a 6:30am Air Asia flight and waited for Tyson in Hong Kong until he arrived at 5pm. It was a long wait but the airport was beautiful and offered free wifi and nice washrooms so I was ok. Tyson arrived safe and sound and his cousin Grant met us at the airport. We took an express train ride back to central Hong Kong where he lives at the Four Seasons Place. Yes he lives there, so as one could imagine our few days in China were quite comfortable. He kindly sarificed his bedroom for us so we slept in a bed again which was fancy. Not to mention the bed got made for us everyday, the dishes got washed in addition to the fresh towels and toilet paper. The room was up on the 30th floor so the view of the city was unreal. Overall the experience was a fabulous break from our humble backpacking.

Hong Kong is exactly as one may imagine and reminds me a lot of New York city. Everyone is dressed in black suits (male and female), there are very few children and many foreigners. The prices are expensive and high end retail stores rule the area. There are huge screens everywhere you turn and there's no such thing as personal space. Just like New York everyone takes cabs or trains, stares at their IPhone as they walk and walk as if they are already late. I read in the paper that one in every five people living in Hong Kong has over a million dollars cash in the bank. This is not hard to believe because the energy of the place seems to revolve around money, fashion and looks. I have to admit that my view may be a bit distorted because the place we stayed is not for the weak walleted. All of the cars parked in the hotel parking lot are worth more than an average Canadian's income for four years and money seems to be no object in that world.

Coming from Cambodia, where the average person makes less than $1000 per year. the injustice and imbalance of the world is all the more clear and harsh. From a world where $1 can feed a family and boney children beg for food, to a place where thousand dollar purses are bought in every color, it seems unfair.

The first day we came back to the hotel and relaxed before heading out for dinner to a Chinese place. Grant did all the ordering and we shared the food which seemed to work really well since he knew the menu. The food was great with noodles, prawns, fried rice, shrimp and veggies. The dessert was heavily buttered buns covered with condensed milk so I appologize to my heart. We walked around on the Monday night down narrow alleys that reminded me of Europe. The alleys were lined with shops and tons of bars and small clubs pumping loud music and serving what would be a Saturday night crowd anywhere else.

We enjoyed the hot water showers more than ever and washed our stinky laundry. Coming from sleeping on a tile balcony in Cambodia, the third class seats on the train and the airport floor in Bangkok, the fluffy cushioned six star bed seemed all the more heavenly. So we spent the next few days sleeping in, eating, relaxing in the outdoor hot tub on the 60th floor, and leisurely walking through the city. Most of the tourist "activities" in Hong Kong revolve around shopping. So we took a double decker ding ding accross town and a ferry accross the water but everywhere we went the main event was always high end shopping. The weather was hazy the whole time we were there and I was freezing cold in the 12 degree temperature. We pulled out all our pants and coats that were hidden deep at the bottom of our bags by now.

Even though I am not a shopper, I still got sucked in to trying on clothes and window shopping huge diamond rings. Other than food however, we did not buy much and even unloaded a bag of stuff with Grant who kindly offered to take it home to Vancouver for us next time he goes out there (he's a pilot).

The second night we went to a Southern style restaurant that was packed with English speaking foreigners (even the staff). We had deep fried BBQ wings, BBQ ribs, wedge salad with fried onions and blue cheese and sweet potato fries. I'm not sure if it was all fat free but I think it was. We finished off with hot fudge sundaes every single night and sometimes even a tube of pringles. No further comments.

On our last day we did some work online, threw in our last load of laundry and went out for Thai food where we had pork satay, spring rolls, tom yum soup with seafood and chicken wings. After this we ran to catch our flight and we were last on the place during the final boarding call. Good thing we skipped dessert. This was when I lost my last dreading tool and now I have none left so it will be downhill for my hair.


"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Family time in Oman

The next morning we set the alarm for seven, got up at nine and finally left for Muscat around ten. I got blamed for this tardiness but I refuse to accept it. It was not my fault that I over ate at breakfast and have dread locks that will not be tamed. Anyhow we drove the 150 kilometers to the capital and it was beautiful. The buildings were gleaming in the bright sunshine, we passed multi million dollar palace style homes and finally got to the second cleanest city on earth. We went to a huge mosque which refused us entry because we were not Muslim and it was not within public visiting hours. We did, however, get to enjoy it from afar and saw the largest carpet on earth, it was a hand woven Persian carpet. The cost of this mosque (which was a gift from the Sultan to the people) was about 50 million dollars and it looked it. Next we went to the old city to see the fort and the market. They were selling a lot of pashmina scarves, spices, toys and middle eastern clothing. We also went to see the sea. It reminded us of the blue of the ocean in Australia down the great ocean road. The sandy mountains provided a beautiful contrast with the lighter blue sky and the effect was picturesque. We did not expect to see these beautiful beaches in Oman. We stopped for lunch at good old Subway where I ate a foot of sub and two pops and then regretted it immediately afterwards.

We then went to see one of the dozens of the Sultan's palaces. It was huge and elegant and extravagant, exactly how one would expect an Arabian King's property to look like. He has many palaces and the people of Oman love him. Apparently he is a very good King who is generous and careful of his people, this is nice and different to hear of any world leader.

We stopped at a cafe by the beach and chatted for hours with my uncle while enjoying the breeze and scenery. Even though I was the butt of most of the jokes I still enjoyed my time. We drove back to Nizwa where we ate more and relaxed for a bit. Tyson and my uncle went to his restaurant for some time before we all went to my aunt's parent's home for dinner. After visiting with the family we had to rush home because there was a very important football match on that we couldn't miss. Before the second half of the game even started we were all falling asleep so we called it a night.

The next day after our usual awesome sleep in, hot shower and breakfast, my uncle came home from work and we went out for a while. We went to the market and shopped for crafts, vegetables and fish. We then stopped at the restaurant for cold drinks and Omani dates. After a few other stops we had fresh barbequed fish at home with the family. After watching a scary movie during rest time, we played backgammon and went out again for drinks and a stop at the office. We tried Avacado shakes and chicken shwarmas from the restaurant.

The next day, after breakfast, we drove to about 10,000n above sea level to the mountains and milder weather. This means 25 degreed instead of the 45 degrees on the mainland. It was a very touristy area and for good reason. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. We had to rent a four by four vehicle to get up the mountains and rocky roads, there were times where I thought I would die, but we were ok. We stopped for drinks on the way to waterfalls, small lakes, farming areas and small villages. In the villages we met some local people who showed us some of the garlic, roses and onions that were growing. One man showed us the irrigation system which was very interesting. There was a drought this year though and he said the plants are not doing well. In the small ponds we saw thousands of tadpoles, frogs and small fish. When we stopped to see some of the views, a local family welcomed us to Oman and then invited us to join them for lunch. They were very friendly people.

We ate lunch with my family back home and then watched movies and snacked during "rest time" in the afternoon. Tyson and I used the full gym and games room on the third level of the house to play fooseball and table tennis. Although Tyson may claim to have won, this would be untrue. We then went out for some shopping with my uncle in the evening where we bought more junk food than anyone should consume in a life time. On the way home my uncle felt it was necessary to pour a water bottle full of water all over me. This entertains him.

The next day we continued the eating frenzy at breakfast time and then we went to the "Friday market". This is a very old market held in downtown Nizwa. There are sections where locals sell fruit, fish, clothing, used vehicles, toys and even live animals. Live animals can be bought right out or during an auction. The owners lead the cows and goats in a circle and people make offers. The highest offer wins! There are also pigeons, budgies, chickens and other animals for sale. My uncle almost bought a baby goat as a pet and was rightly convinced not to by my aunt.

We then drove in the four by four truck to the highest point in the Arabian Gulf. We stopped at a lot of scenic points including an ice cream joint, of course. It was beautiful and we have a lot of pictures to prove it. We were overlooking the second largest canyon in the world. The view of the mountains from so high up was exhilerating. We came home for lunch with the family and Tyson and I slept for part of the day in the afternoon. In the evening we went out for drinks and hung out with my uncle's friend for a while. At this time my uncle again threw water at me. Payback time is coming! After a delicious dinner we continued to eat desserts and watch movies through the night. Our time here has been very relaxing and enjoyable thus far!

"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Ankor WHAT

Our first night in Cambodia went pretty smoothly. The only blip was that the bus company dropped us off several km outside of town where they had a deal with the tuk tuk drivers to exthort the tourists. We resisted, of course, and decided to walk into town. The problem was that we had no idea where we were going, we were exhausted, dirty and hungrey. That was when a middle aged man with a kind smile pulled over in an SUV and asked us if we wanted a ride. We immediately declined like we would decline any offer for a ride from a local . This is because they are not cheap and usually they just bring tourists to a guesthouse that they deal with for a commision. This man was different however and he insisted that he would take us exactly where we wanted to go and that he was just trying to help us out. We wearily accepted and he was the sweetest man ever who really just wanted to help. He drove us to the guesthouse, completely out of his way and even helped us with our bags for nothing. This was our first such experience in SE Asia and though it may sound like a small gesture, it was deeply appreciated.

We checked into a guesthouse that we had originally chosen because it was inexpensive but it turns out their only available bed was double what we expected , a whopping $4 USD. We were tired and it was late so we took it. The room had no roof and it was one of the poorest looking places we have stayed but coming from two nights at train stations and travelling for several days it would do just fine. The environment of the guesthouse was very relaxed and friendly and and we ended up staying there for four nights although we changed rooms.

We organized ourselves a bit and head out to eat. Although they did not have pad thai, we ate Khmer style fried noodles with vegetables and beef/pork which was just as good. Each meal cost $1 USD. We tried to buy some groceries for snacks and breakfast the next day but it is so cheap to eat out that we didn't bother except for a loaf of bread for the morning. We finished off our night with mango smoothies and showers. On our way back to the guesthouse a very young girl who appeared about four years old or younger gently put her hand on my arm and begged me for money to pay for her baby sister's milk. She said she didn't want to bother me but she really needed to feed her sister. I couldn't even look at her and I didn't know what to do. I looked to Tyson for help but he was as useless as me and I didn't end up giving her money but she hurt my heart just the same. I know that we are in for some more of the same in the coming days and it will likely be my least favorite part. I know that they are poor but this very young girl should not have to beg for food while her mother looks on. I cannot begin to understand their life but I'm sorry that she cannot have the basics that a child deserves.

Later in the trip after we left Siem Riep I learned that many of these children are either forced to beg by their parents and families or even worse (but very commonly) they are sold to other adults who abuse them and force them to work all day and night selling things or just plain begging for money. We dealt with it by ignoring the item they were selling and trying to meet the real child behind the poverty. We asked their names and ages and joked with them. Although this is not the best way and it does not help their situation, it was one option that we chose.

During the next three days the stories of poor children piled up and overflowed to the point where I am detirmined to return to Cambodia one day and volunteer at an orphanage or with an honest foundation to make a difference and if anyone is looking for volunteer opportunites, Cambodia has lots!

The next morning we had planned to wake up at 5am and spend the day wandering and exploring the great temples. Unfortunately as we pressed the snooze button for the hundreth time around 11am, we realized it wasn't happening. So we gave in and took a chill day. We walked around Siem Reap, talked to locals, did some reasearch and ate cheap food. We were told that we could buy our Ankor tickets at 4:45pm for the next day but still get into Ankor Wat to see the sunset. So we walked to the ticket booth, a good 6km away, and sat with some local temple staff. We helped them with English and they taught us about Cambodia. We tried a snack food that was some sort of meat balls on a stick over salad. The price the vendor quoted us was double what our new friend told us it should cost. When we asked why, we were told that foreigners pay more. We were hurt by this but it is was nothing new to us. We walked away even though the "foreigner price" was still ok. She then agreed to give us the local price after a few minutes and we grudgingly accepted. The taste was horrid and it was all I could do not to spit it out. Tyson however, finished the food without complaint.

Finally it was time to buy our tickets and we bought a three day package for $80 USD, we got official looking passes with our photos on them. We then walked to Ankor Wat, in total about 10km from where we were staying in town. It will be impossible for me to describe the biggest religious structure in the world. It is grand, it demands attention, it leaves you breathless, it exudes mystery and takes you into another world. Watching the sunset there was magnificent and hundreds of people had joined us. We made friends with a Chinese guy and two monk children. When Tyson and I went to take pictures with the monk kids, I knew not to touch them but they were still terrified. As soon as I was in their viscinity their eyes opened wide with terror and one whispered "d-d-don't touch me". I laughed, but I didn't touch. Later on in our travels, I spoke to and was able to shake hands with or contact many monks. Each monk is an individual and usually the younger ones are much more strict about their rules. One monk in Phnom Penh even helped me fix my dreads but he wouldn't let me photograph it. We walked back from Ankor Wat which is extremely difficult to do because every 2-3 seconds a tuk tuk drives by and begs you to get in while commenting on how far our destination is.

We switched from the private room to a dorm setting for the second night and it was much better., For $1 USD per person we shared a huge bed outdoors under a mosquito net. We spent three more nights here and it was one of my favorite accomodations yet.

The next three days had many common themes. For example we ate the same thing everyday. We ate a baguette with jam for breakfast, raw noodles for brunch, street food (like BBQ pork and rice) for lunch, mangos and pinapples for snack and stir fried meat and noodles with a cheese omlette and baguette for dinner from the same restaurant every night followed by two smoothies of various flavors. Besides the food, we also hired pedal bikes everyday from our guesthouse and rode over 300 km in total through the temples. We also had to turn down extremely aggressive (but good natured) street vendor women and children who would follow us (and every other tourist) from the second we arrived to a temple until we could get far enough on our bike that they couldn't catch us. They were selling anything from transport and toys to food and drinks to books and artwork. The children sometimes were not selling anything, they were just asking for money or candy.

The people here are very friendly and genuine. Every single person waves and says hello with a big grin. We have now had numerous positive experiences with Cambodian locals helping us out or engaging us in positive conversations. Of all of South East Asia, the people here stand out to us as super kind, happy and wonderful. The weather was hot and dry everyday and the sunsets were all beautiful with a fiery orange sun setting behind huge glorious temples.

After watching the sunset in Ankor Watt and walking back to town, we ate at our regular place: one noodles with pork, one noodles with beef and one cheese omlette with baguette. Then picked up smoothies for a sugar kick before bed. Some nights we splurged and Tyson would sneak out for second smoothies, it was our guilty pleasure.

The next morning we got up at 5am and biked to Ankor Wat to watch the sunrise which was fantastic and we have some lovely photos to prove it. The sun rose up behind the temple and seeing all the colours in the sky cast light on the amazing temple was priceless. We spent more than six hours on this one temple our first morning. It is huge and even with that much time we could not see everything. One could easily spend a full day or more just at the one temple. We played with the monkeys behind the temple which are not nearly as aggressive as the ones in Bali. For lunch we stopped at some stands and bought two big skewers of pork and two servings of white rice with $1.50. The little girl who managed to get our business was so excited and her mother seemed very proud and even handed her 500 riels (12.5 cents) as a prize. It was very cute.

The average income here is 600-1000 dollars a YEAR. Women usually work guesthouse reception or something similar and make about $50 a month. Unbelievable to our standards. While the products here are much cheaper and they don't pay the obscene taxes and other BS bills we have, it is still impossible to travel for leisure or save for anything big.

We rode on to the next temples and completed the whole small tour by bike which took about 12 hours. It is hard to imagine how many temples there are even from looking at a map. They are everywhere in the city of ruins and religious structures. It would take several weeks or longer to explore them all. We returned home exhausted, dirty from the dust and hungry as ever but satisfied. We had our normal dinner and passed out rather quickly.

The next day we had planned to hire a tuk tuk for the grand tour and to Bantei Shrei which is over 100km distance plus walking within the temples. We couldn't agree with a driver so we decided to skip the far temple (Bantei Shrei) and do the grand tour for only 50km. It was hot as ever but we forged on and at the temple nearest Bantei Shrei we decided to inquire into a tuk tuk again for the one temple. The price was going to cost equal to or more than the full day price for some unknown reason so we declined. We decided to bike about 21km out of the way to see the land mine museam though. This museam is life changing for anyone who walks into it.

Cambodia has been under the rule of awful murderers for many years and lost over 3 million people (1 in 4) in about three years. Imagine in your country if one in every four people was brutally tortured and murdered and everyone else forced to slave under a viscious dictator. This happened less than 30 years ago in Cambodia and it is obvious when you look around. The country is behind in many ways and through our time here we noticed that nearly everyone is young. There are very few elderly people, most of the population is children and young adults. They have a terrible heart breaking history of being "carpet bombed" by the USA because of the Vietnamese fleeing into Cambodia. Then they were ruled by the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot who gathered intellectuals and educated people (anyone who had a degree, whiter skin, soft hands or wore glasses) and executed them. Everyone from the cities as well as Muslims were all beaten to death and everyone else was forced to work in exploitive situations for the regime.

The people who were not killed were tortured and starved to death by the Pol Pot regime. He wanted the country to become self sufficient and so the rice growth had to increase by triple, an impossible goal. Those who complained or even asked questions were killed. They were given a few spoonfuls of a very thin rice soup twice a day and allowed very little sleep. I beg everyone to look up the horrors that the Cambodians have endured and it becomes a wonder that they are so kind and optimistic still. The stories are both heart breaking and infuriating. Cambodia is the fourth most heavily mined country in the world and mines can blow up to 150 years after they are set. So 20-30 year old mines are blowing up all the time now on family farms. The museam raises funds to support the dozens of handicapped kids who have lost limbs or more due to mines. The children live on the museam property and the organizer is one of CNN's top 10 heros. We bought two t-shirts to support the foundation but if anyone wants to donate please contact me and I will give you more information.

The stories of these children are difficult to read about. One boy who is now 19 and in grade 8 had two of his best friends die in the explosion, one friend lost an arm and he lost a leg. He is still trying to finish high school and due to his parents poverty he had to move to this orphanage at the age of 12 and only sees his family on holidays. His story is much more touching when read in his own words and there are dozens more like his. Stories of children losing life or limbs due to mines that were set before they were born or even thought of. The war was not too long ago (within my lifetime) and the destruction can still be seen. I will be writing a bit more about the war when I talk about our time in Phnom Penh.

After the museam we decided that since we had come so far, we may as well ride the 9 more kilometers to Bantei Shrei Temple. Well this was difficult and by the time we reached there I was ready to pass out. We bought three pre-cut mangos and stuffed them down our throats for sugar and energy. It seemed to work because we made it the 40km back to town. On our ride home however it was pitch black with no street lights. We were literally riding in the dark and could not see anything in front of us. It was a very scary experience for me and one time I slipped off the road, down into the dirt! We were stopped several times by concerned locals who gave us advice and told us to hurry along. One guy on a motorcycle even lit the way for a little while. Another usual meal at our regular restaurant was had and we chugged smoothies before passing out.

By our third morning an early start was impossible but we did manage to drag our sore buts out of bed and left around 8am. We started off going back to the grand tour to see two of the temples we missed the day before. Then we head to the Rolous group about 25 km away and viewed the three most famous temples there before agreeing that we could head back to the guesthouse satisfied with the amount we had seen. At one of the temples in the Rolous Group we made friends with three 8 year old girls who were begging for candy. Although we had nothing to give them, we chatted with them and hung out for a while. One girl was so skinny that I could count her ribs and all of their teeth were rotton.

Some of the kids at one temple were trying to sell a package of 10 postcards and had learned to count to ten in over ten different languages. They would start counting till 10 in all the languages hoping to make a sale. All the kids are barefoot and many of the younger ones are butt naked. In fact I saw more naked ones than dressed, especially when they were running around in the neighborhoods as we rode through. Riding our bike through the neighborhood was a unique and rewarding experience. Every single child we saw waved and said hello or bye bye. Some who knew more English would ask how we were, where we were from or where we were going. We stopped to buy some cane sugar candies from a family street stand and even though we got a good deal (ish) they were so happy and thanked us several times. The woman even gave us more candy than we had negotiated for free after the sale was completed and she had our money. This was an eye opening experience in SE Asia.

So as we drove through the country side for km after km we smiled and waved so much that my face hurt. We saw hudreds of cows and chickens, a few horses and pigs and lots of naked children. We repeatedly saw huge dead pigs strapped on to motor bikes upside down with their legs bouncing to the pot holes as they were transferred. We saw truck after truck piled with dozens of people squished in and on top of each other. We smelled the mix of baking breads, sugar cane, rotton fish and hot garbage through our travels. It is mostly dirt roads in the country and locals wear rags or medical masks to cover their faces from the dust. We did not catch on so we ate it instead. By the way people looked at us and spoke with us, it was clear that they are used to foreigners flying by on their tuk tuks to the temples. They appeared pleased to see us passing through slowly and taking the time to see the country in a different way.

We saw dozens of temples and although none were as awe inspiring in an obvious sense as Ankor Wat, each and every temple had its own unique characteristics and history that make it special. We have hundreds of pictures including Ta Prohm (where Tomb Raider was filmed) and the Ankor Thom temples.

At the end of the third day we caught a 6pm bus to Phnom Penh. We returned from our temple tour with enough time to relax for a bit, eat, shower and check our wifi. However, the power was out and the water was out so we were stuck with eating the whole time. We bought four noodle and beef dishes, banana chips, 10 baguettes with butter, cane sugar candies, coke and other unnessary goodies that cancelled out the excercize we had done. We caught the bus and travelled for 7 hours to Phnom Penh where we spent about four days.

"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Home before the holidays

After spending the night at LAX without any sleep whatsoever, we stood in line at the Air Canada booth. I have now flown several airlines and this particular one has stood out in a negative way. The tickets were not cheap by any means. I am aware that with cheaper airlines, passengers have to pay additional fees for checking bags, food/drink etc. This airline however, does not offer cheap tickets. So I asked for the fee to be waived since we did not know about the new rule (that started a few days prior to our purchase). They said no and I called their head office. I spoke with the agent for over one hour and they gave me a huge run around before they said they would not waive the fee. I again tried to speak with the agent in the airport who was extremely rude and degrading. She caused a lot of problems for us and we felt harrassed and angry. We even asked if they would just take our one pound bag (with our few liquids in it) for a reduced rate. The lady refused saying that it would be $25 per bag regardless of the size of it. So we ended up throwing out two huge cans of OFF that were brand new and a bottle of shampoo and we carried our bags on the airplane. They also charged for all refreshments as well as the ear phones to hear their movies. 

After the crappy Air Canada treatment, we were pulled aside at YVR for extra security measures where we were treated like criminals. They sent us to another section where Tyson was the only caucasian person. I tried to escape to go to the bathroom for one minute but I was sent back and had to be excorted. It was an all around strange, demoralizing and annoying experience. After the hold up we finally got to arrivals where we were greeted by our warm and loving parents as well our our twin baby niece and nephew. Everyone was happy until we stepped out into the minus four outrageously cold weather in our summer clothes.  We all drove home and had a lovely weekend visiting with friends and family.

On Friday we ran some errands and swapped out some of our things. Tyson and I split up for the night and each stayed with our respective families. We cuddled our parents and slept well in clean comfy beds after clean hot showers. We ate too much of all our favorite foods and drove around the city. Throughout the weekend we visited Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles came to see us.  We had a perfect appy night get-together with all our friends and families at Tyson's parents house on Saturday night. It was neat to see everyone and catch up. We collected more currencies for the new countries we are going to and bought some extra supplies for our travels. We watched Christmas movies and I went to a Bahai feast and caught up with the community activities.

It was very difficult to say good bye once again. This time for much longer than the first.
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Buzios

We finally got to sleep at the same hostel, we chose the hostel that I was at because the staff were friendlier and it was a better location. While Tyson went to the bank and I cooked dinner (kind of) I was speaking with a guy from Brazil who stays at the hostel three days a week because it is closer to his school. He is almost finished his PHD in astronomy. Anyhow later that night I was upstairs on the computor while Tyson chatted with the same guy and overheard him skyping with a friend about junior youth classes and children's classes. These are all Bahai events so upon asking, Tyson discovered that he is a Bahai. It was pretty neat to meet him and talk about the Bahai activities happening in Brazil, with Rio in particular. He had also completed one year of service in Israel in the security department recently so we had lots to talk about. He invited Tyson and I over to his town for the weekend.
The next morning we woke up early and took the public bus to the main bus station where we caught another bus to Buzios. As soon as we arrived after a three hour trip we knew this was the Brazil we were looking for. It is more than postcard perfect. Blue water and beaches with fine white sand all the way around. The sun was shining and everyone seems so relaxed with no where to go. It's absolutely gorgeous. Apparently many movies have been filmed here which makes us famous through association. We found a couple of hostels here and chose the one which is a bit costlier but is located near the beaches. It has a banana tree, hammocks and a pool so I am in heaven here. We spent the day wandering from beach to beach, sunbathing and loving life. The food here is delicous, although overpriced. We tried coconut deserts that are bathed in sweet milk and caramel and ate Mr. noodles with eggs for dinner. We tried to go grocery shopping but it was a bit of a disaster because we cannot speak Portugese and English speakers are few here. We ended up buying dough instead of cheese and butter instead of cream cheese.
The next day we toured all the beaches of Buzios. There are beaches with huge waves famous with surfers, beautiful beaches with black rocks, ones with amazing views, areas with tropical fish and turtles good for scuba diving, areas where the water is warmer and beaches with breathtaking sunsets. We spent the day sleeping on the various beaches. We ate tropical food and I`m pretty sure we are now both convinced that moving here would be a great idea. Everyone is very friendly and the universal hello is the thumbs up. Every time we got lost there was someone around who noticed and was more than willing to help out, as an added bonus none of our stuff was stolen as people promised us would happen in Brazil. We made friends with a cute puppy who followed us around all day and I named him Buttons Sophia McLellan. I cried when he left us for another couple,

"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Legends, greenery and Manure

After our first night in Ireland, we woke up feeling refreshed and full of energy. We slept on what Tyson called "a cloud" which was obviously a very comfortable bed. We ate breakfast and then head out to see Giant's Causeway with Tyson's cousin and her child. It was a bit of a drive but there was lovely scenery of the country and coast along the way. We stopped for pictures a few times to try and capture some of the beauty in the especially scenic places. When we reached Giant's Causeway everything was a bit different from the last time Tyson had been there. They were now charging a hefty entrance fee which had always been free so we had to pull a fast one and sneak in the back. It was not too difficult because they had just created this pay structure two weeks prior to our visit and the staff were still trying to figure everything out. The three adults and the innocent child snuck by the guards who didn't know what hit them.

Giant's Causeway is not a big race track as I suspected but rather it is huge formations of volcanic rocks that have naturally formed into hexagon-shaped steps along the coast. There are over 40,000 interlocking basalt columns as a result of intense volcanic and geological activity at the Unesco world heritage site. The rocks are sixty million years old due to the cooling and shrinking of successive lava flows. The place is also the victim of many legends and stories that the locals here believe. We did not buy the audio guide so I cannot tell you more than it is about a Scottish giant, an Irish giant, a camel, a wishing rock, a grandma and a fight. We walked along the paths and took in the breathtaking views of jagged cliffs, thousands of smooth steps and beautiful blue waters crashing onto them. We climbed about and took many photos. The place was quite busy with tourists and the rain even held up for our whole visit. We snuck back out without being noticed and drove through the city of Bushmills. It is a small place but it has some famous sites including the whiskey distillery. We walked into the visitor's center of the well known branded building and read some of the information about the place. They offered guided tours that we did not have time to take but Tyson had taken in the past and enjoyed. We also stopped at an old castle a little outside of town and spent some time taking photos and exploring the oldness of it all.

After all of this acitivity we stopped for a very windy picnic lunch. Tyson's cousin had kindly prepared sandwhiches and snacks for us to feast on but the wind decided not to let us have it so easy. Drinks, napkins, saran wraps and even the blankets were each flying at certain points in time. We ate quickly and drove to the farm. I cannot say much about the drive because I slept most of the way but my guess is that the others had a pleasant time. I did wake up at one point to see a few gypsies riding their horse and carriages and their villiages of caravans. We learned that they are a community of people who steal from others and sell their stolen goods back to the farmers. Apparently they are a funny bunch who inbreed, do not pay taxes, like to burn and destroy the places they live in and are not afraid to become violent. We went to the farm of Tyson's Aunt and the family. There are six children in total including the cousin who we were staying with. She had to go to work for a few hours but I met two more of the younger cousins that live on the farm. They were running the place since their parents were out of town. I watched the baby and we followed Tyson and his other cousin to milk the cows. This happens twice a day everyday and it is a big job. There are hundreds of cows that have to be moved from one field to the milking area with the help of a Land Rover and a couple of border collies. They are led ten at a time into a big room where they recieve feed to keep them happy while sucking machines are attached to their nipples and they get drained of their milk. The milk goes into glass holding containers and then is transported into a large steel contraption where it is kept cool. The whole procedure was fascinating to watch and even got pretty entertaining when Tyson recieved a couple of golden showers and one brown one.

This took a couple of hours and by that time, Tyson`s cousin had returned and we all head back to their house about thirty minutes away for delicious fish and chips. The adults hung out and chatted over tea and desserts for a while before it was bagpipe time. Tyson`s cousin is a very talented musician and Tyson has always dreamed of playing the bagpipes so she set up her set for him to try on. He was supposed to use about six breaths to fill up the reserve and then keep breathing into it to keep it full while playing notes. He actually was not too bad and was able to make noises that resembled what the instrument is supposed to sound like. I not only could not make the correct sounds, but I couldn`t even hold the thing up right so apparently Tyson has the blood lines for this difficult instrument. We were treated to a real song from the professional in the group which was exciting.

The next morning Tyson and I woke up earlier and baby sat for a few hours while the baby`s mom and dad were at work. We managed to keep him entertained, fed and clothed the whole time but we cannot say we weren`t tired afterwards. When Tyson`s cousin got home we puttered around for a while chatting, doing laundry and organizing our things. We planned to go out after the baby`s nap.


"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"