The barge looks like the perfect size for this event. Big enough to get everyone in, but small enough to keep it feeling cozy. There’s plenty of plugs, they’re providing extra switches and ethernet cables, and lots of places to sit. So we’re all set.

Here’s a few snaps.

First, some random shoes on a wire in Eindhoven.

Then buildings rising into the mist in downtown Eindvhoven.

Eva poses by the brown river Dommel that runs through the heart of Eindhoven.

The spectacular Atomium just outside Brussels, seen at night. There are restaurants, hotels and other stuff inside each of the balls. It’s truly incredible to see.

Here’s the girls over the bin and over the spoils. Soraya on left, Talley on right.

At dinner on night two, once most of our group had left, we got a chance to chat with Frank, the Panamanian born, American brought up, owner of the resort. I talked a little about my vision to build a lodge and his eyes lit up. Then he told me that he has another property, 30 acres, a 10 minute boat ride away. He said he’s having problems with people stealing trees from the property. He wants to protect the wildlife there.

He offered me the use of his land, 30 acres of beach-front, untouched, incredibly beautiful Panamanian coast line. He said if we don’t cut down any trees and don’t build too many structures, he’s happy to let us use the land for free. He had a good feeling about me.

Amazing! The next morning we took a boat ride over to the property to take a look. We left to see the World Cup Final (not my idea!) and then back to Boquete. Now we’re heading back down there to spend a few days looking a the place. No internet there (yet!) so I’ll be offline for a little while. But here’s a few pictures to whet your appetite …

Sunday afternoon I had assembled a motorcycle gang. I’d invited a few locals to ride. Vicky took my passenger spot and Vasily brought Danni on his bike. Our gang of two motorcycles and four people was born!

We drove around the art gallery that Rocky famously runs up the steps to reach. We parked our bikes at the top of the steps soaked up the view. All the while the words to Bruce Springsteen’s Streets of Philadelphia were running through my head. Glorious!

From Philadelphia I cruised southwards to Alexandria to visit Margaret. Alexandria is a suburb of Washington DC. The District of Columbia itself is quite small, so the surrounding towns in Baltimore and Virginia are effectively suburbs of DC, albeit across state borders.

Margaret invited me to Alexandria about a year ago. I made a point to stop through on my trip south. I’m really glad I did. Margaret and Brett were wonderful hosts, I’m very grateful to them and their family, I had a wonderful time. Margaret is an incredible cook, I ate more homemade cookies and chocolate cake than I can remember. I perpetually stuffed myself with great food while I was visiting.

On Friday night I had my first Bhangra experience in Washington DC. Wow. I don’t think my words could possibly do justice to this traditional north Indian dance. Instead I’ll share this video I found on YouTube. Picture the upstairs room of a bar packed with maybe 100 people dancing something like this, with a little less somersaulting.

After 4 nights of creature comfort, family home cooking and general relaxation, I left Alexandria and began the 900 mile ride west to St Louis, Missouri. My friend Andrew Chant said I simply had to visit West Virginia. He’d looked at Google Earth and was blown away by extent of the forest. So off into West Virginia I went.

Just before I closed my laptop in Alexandria, I got an message from Kristina inviting me to stay in Elkins. I had sent a few messages asking for places to stay in Elkins and Charleston. Kristina was the first person to accept and she got back to me in perfect time. I set off with Elkins in mind.

Just before leaving New York, I had ordered a few things for the bike. My chain was making some seriously painful sounds, so one of the things I ordered was a new chain and sprockets. JD recommended I replace the chain as soon as possible. He didn’t think the chain would make it the 1’100 miles to St Louis. I was optimistic. He was right!

The chain was delivered to Alexandria so I set off with a replacement chain and sprockets in my luggage. Some 120 miles into the day I turned off the main highway onto the old road. The old road had looked smaller, more winding and potentially more interesting on the map. A mile or two off the highway, there was a loud grinding noise. I dumped the clutch, braked hard and pulled over. I looked down to see the chain dragging on the ground.

The chain was intact, but no longer riding on the rear sprocket. Ok, I thought, I can fix this. I have all the tools to tighten the chain, no big deal. After a bit of wrestling to get the bike on the side stand, then the centre stand, I got the tools out and tightened the chain. It was super loose, so I figured that had caused the derailment. After 20 minutes or so, I was back on the road, we were off.

Not so fast. About 2 miles further, I heard a much louder, much gnarlier grinding noise. I dropped the clutch, but the noise kept up. I slammed the brakes hard and stopped on a gentle hill. This time the chain was caught between the sprocket and the wheel. Not good. After some wrestling I worked the chain free.

Then I got the chain back on and tightened it even more. I started off slowly. I’d heard some unhealthy noises from the chain in New York. Now with the chain so tight the same noise was back. I was about 80 miles from my target for the night, it was almost 3pm, and I had no more than 3 hours of daylight left. The bike sounded really bad above 30 mph, so I spent the best part of 3 hours enjoying the scenery at a very leisurely pace.

I was riding through pretty hilly country. I took it easy on the uphills so as not to stress the chain. On the downhills I put the bike into neutral, turned the engine off, and let gravity do the work. There were points where I reached nearly 50 mph on the downhills.

Just a little after dark, around 6pm, I rolled into Elkins. We had made it. The chain was intact, still attached, and the bike kept moving forwards, albeit slowly. Happy days.

My t-mobile cell phone has no service in Elkins. I’d asked Kristina for her phone number so I could call when I got into town. I wasn’t sure when or if I’d be stopping. Expecting my cell phone to work was a flaw in my plan. No worries, I found a payphone and the $1 for a 3 minute call wasn’t too extortionate. A few minutes later I arrived the house, just in time to meet the housemates, most of whom were in the kitchen cooking dinner. Score.

West Virginia and Elkins have been interesting. Fairly typical of rural USA I think. I’m reminded of visits to Saranac Lake in upstate New York, or Cherryfield, Maine, the blueberry capital of the USA.

There seems to be a mix of people born here and people moved here. The incomers have chosen to come to this place for a reason. Usually people move to places like this for the natural setting, the rural country life and in some measure, I think, to change the world. It takes a special type of person to choose to live in a redneck rural town like this.

I haven’t delved very deeply into the culture here, but I expect I’d find the same uneducated ignorance I’ve seen in other rural north American settings. Those words sound harsher than I mean them to be. I mean uneducated and ignorant in the factual sense, limited access to education and lacking in knowledge.

As I write this, my fives hosts in Elkins are sitting in their living room playing traditional, local Appalachian music. I’m certainly not sure of this, but my guess is that this type of music is kept alive by a mixture of incomers and fairly small group of “intellectual” locals. It seems like a first-world-wide phenomenon. Local culture is given up by the majority of locals while a group of well meaning incomers struggles to keep it alive.

Personally, I feel grateful to be sitting in a house of five musicians listening to them play in their living room. There’s something I like about folk music. Particularly when it’s played live.

Tomorrow I’ll continue eastwards saying farewell to Elkins and passing from West Virginia into Kentucky. I’ve put a few requests out for places to stay in Lexington, I’m waiting to hear. Either way, I have camping gear. It’s pretty damn cold to be camping, but I’m confident I’ll survive.

I’ll sign off with a few pictures from this leg of the trip.

Note: I’m working on the gallery. I’m hoping to launch some improvements soon and make it easier for me to upload images. In the meantime, apologies for any hassles browsing the photos.

Here’s me dressed for cowboy laundry.

I cut a hole into the side with a peeler then poked down through the top with a screw driver. Very neat and it workd like a charm. Here’s me smoking an apple.

We arrived in Ashford around 4:30pm to visit Cuzin John. I met Cuzin Bob at a blueberry farm in Maine last week. Cuzin Bob suggested I’d enjoy meeting Cuzin John and told me a little about his place. John lives on 30 acres of land in north eastern Connecticut. They’re almost totally “off the grid” here. Solar and wind power, on-site sewage, well water. Most of their food is grown here on the land. It’s an amazing place.

I’ve learned lots about solar power, batteries, the pros and cons of wires, and more. I’m grateful to Cuzin Bob for the introduction and Cuzin John for his hospitality. I’ll write more on these topics in the future.

This afternoon we’re heading for Boston to stay with Emma and her merry band of roommates. We’ll probably head back towards New York City on Friday.

I just stepped outside and snapped some pics. Here’s a shot of the house nestling in the trees.

Tthe solar array that powers the whole house year round, with a minimal assistance from a wind turbine.

Now the front of the house with Lucy reading on the deck. On the right hand side of this picture you can see the solar water heating that provides all the hot water in summer and pre-heats the water in the darker months. To the left of that is a small gate with an outdoor shower where I washed this morning. Then the left most part of the house is a screen room, see the last picture below.

Here’s the view from behind Lucy looking out at the garden over the deck. The vegetable garden is the first enclosure and the second is the vineyard.

Here’s the inside of the screen room. The windows are insect screens rather than glass, so the breeze blows gently through the whole room. It feels like it would be a wonderful place to sit in the summertime.

To start with here’s a few scenic shots on the route from Quebec City to Baie Ste Catherine.

The fourth photo in the set was taken from the bike while in motion.

At Baie Ste Catherine the road runs right onto the ferry dock. There is no bridge across the water to Tadoussac, so 3 boats operate in constant rotation ferrying vehicles back and forth. The crossing is free and takes about 10 minutes. Here’s a shot looking at the oncoming boat as we cross the water.

From Tadoussac it was a short 45 minute ride to Les Escoumins to catch a boat across the river to Trois Pistoles on the other side. Pierre-Yves told me the west side of the river is a lot more beautiful, so I rode up that side to Les Escoumins before crossing over to continue on the east side of the river. It was a beautiful ride, thanks for the advice PY. Here’s a shot of Bessy tied down on the ferry across the river.

I landed in Trois Pistoles around 4:30pm. I had made an early start from Quebec after a short night’s sleep so I was pretty tired on the boat. I rode an hour or two further north looking for places to camp. The coastline north of Trois Pistoles is quite densely populated. There was a house, a town, a shop or some other building every few kilometres. In search of a quiet spot to camp, I turned off the main road into the forest on a dirt road. After another couple of turns on logging roads, I found a clearing where I set up camp for the night.

The next morning I decided to head out of the forest on a different road from the one I came in on. I figured I would find my way out eventually! After riding for a while I realised I’d better be careful of how much fuel I had. I stopped to ask directions at some houses in the middle of nowhere. Nobody was home.

Here’s a shot looking at the bike from between the houses. We were very much in the middle of the forest!

Following the road to the right in the picture above I came to a stop sign. Are those bullet holes? Why yes it appears they are!

At this cross roads, I noticed signs marking quad bike trail 30 trans-Quebec. I figured that would be fun to follow, so I set off on the trail eastwards. As I turned left from the stop sign above, this was the view. I thought it was striking just how deep in the forest I seemed to be.

This is the trail I was following.

After following the trail eastwards for a while, I came upon a road. I decided to check my GPS and follow the roads again. Then I also realised that I had been heading eastwards, which was taking me away from the coast, not towards it. It had lead me back onto the road and so then I turned northwards and set off back on the tarmac heading for the coastal road again.

Further north I was amazed to see a whole field of stopped windmills. All of them were stationary. There seemed to be a wind blowing where I was standing, but not one blade turning. It was quite an enchanting sight.

A little further up the road I saw a couple of people trying to push a car onto the road. They had missed the corner coming out of a lay by and the rear right wheel had dropped into a ditch. I stopped to lend a hand. They’d built up a pile of rocks under the wheel. We piled a few more onto the pile and the car came out like a charm. Looked like there was no damage. They were from Ottawa heading up to Gaspe camping. Here’s the view from the spot where they got stuck with them in the foreground. I forget their names.

Random lighthouse, I had James in mind when I stopped to take this picture.

Here’s a couple of scenic shots somewhere on the west side from Gaspe down to PEI. I’m not sure if these are in Quebec or New Brunswick.

Here’s Confederation Bridge that links mainland Canada with Prince Edward Island. It’s an amazing structure, 13 km long. As I rode towards the bridge, it seemed to stretch all the way to the horizon. I took several photos from the bike as I crossed the bridge, but none of them captured the sensation of driving across. The bridge seemed to stretch out endlessly in front of me. At $17 for a motorcycle, I think the bridge is worth a drive. You only pay to leave PEI, either by ferry or bridge. The ferry is $39 to leave, the bridge $17. If I had arrived by ferry and left by bridge I’d have saved $22! I’ll catch the ferry off the island tomorrow morning for Pictou, Nova Scotia.

On the island I took one of my hosts, Megan, out for her first ride on a motorcycle. She was nervous at first but having a blast by the end of the afternoon. We went to New Glasgow. I had seen New Glasgow on the map in Nova Scotia, apparently there is also a New Glasgow on Prince Edward Island. I was curious to compare it to the original.

We stopped for a bite to eat at the Prince Edward Island Preserve Company, New Glasgow. The tea room is in a wonderful spot. We got a great seat looking at this amazing river view.

Megan ordered a cup of tea which I thought was quite spectacular.

From the window I had seem a man in a kilt driving people around in a golf cart. As we left, I spotted the cart again and stopped to take a picture. The driver is Bruce MacNaughton, owner and host. I mentioned (as the good brotherly salesman) that my brother sells kilts, and Bruce said customers regularly ask where they can buy a kilt. I smelled some business to be done. Bruce gave me a card and I made an email introduction to my bro at BuyAKilt.com.

Then Bruce emailed me back to ask if I’d spend some time with him talking about social networking. I’m heading back to New Glasgow as soon as I finish this post to meet with Bruce.

On the way back to Charlottetown from New Glasgow I snappd this picture of the PEI coastline. I’ve been taken by how similar in landscape this part of Canada is to Scotland. I’m looking forward to visiting Nova Scotia tomorrow.

It all started at Ness Creek. I arrived the day before the festival started looking to volunteer in exchange for my entrance fee. Volunteering really made the festival what it was. I had a great time, met amazing people, and took away wonderful memories. A friend once told me that going to Burning Man every year is like going home to see the familiy for xmas. I really got a sense of that at Ness Creek. For the week I was there, I was part of a family. A familiy that meets every year in the same place at the same time to create something together. I experienced a wonderful sense of belonging and participation.

The whole experience was made more intense by the fact that I was in the height of a recent spell of depression. I didn’t realise it at the time, but afterwards, after the depression suddenly lifted, I now see it more clearly. The intense emtional experience followed by the harsh solitude of the open road was a very tough transition. I decided not to go to Burning Man this year because I think the transition would be even more intense.

After Ness Creek I ended up at the Forget Summer Arts Festival. These were two very different festivals. Ness Creek is 4’000 young party goers gathering in the forest in a drug fuelled party that goes on well through 6am. At Forget (pronounced in French, like forjay), the main stage finished at 11pm on Saturday night. Forget was a small festival, a few hundred people, put on by members of the local community. It was really fascinating to get an inside view of how the event was produced.

I caught the last year at Forget, the festival has become too much work for the organisers. I really felt that during my time there. People seemed to be straining to keep up with all the tasks they had set themselves. It was an admirable effort and a great event. I also believe it could also have been half as much work, but that’s a post for another day.

Here’s a few snaps and some tales from Ness Creek. I didn’t take any pictures at Forget. To start with, here’s the view of the creek from the bridge. Ness Creek really is a beautiful spot.

That picture was taken from this bridge.

I spent a lot of time with Mark and Amy, father and daughter. Amy is very proud of having built this jeep out of several other jeeps for her dad. Girl power!

This photo gives you a bit of a feel for the festival during daylight hours. This is the main stage.

Here’s my friend Malika on stage.

Here’s me earning my keep as a volunteer.

I heard a Scottish fiddle onstage. Given my volunteering status, I had a backstage pass. So I went backstage afterwards to meet the girls from Pacific Curls, two Kiwis and a Scot. Lo and behold, Sarah Beattie, the Scottish fiddler, went to school with my cousins in a small Scottish town called Inverurie. Here I was at a festival in the Canadian wilderness, some 3’681 miles from Inverurie, and I meet someone who went to school with my cousins, amazing.

Here’s Sarah and the gals on stage.

Finally, here’s a picture of the sun setting (or was it rising?) over the car park. This relays a little of the magic that I felt at Ness Creek.

Welcome to Fergus…

Lots of exciting things to do with Fergus…

There’s even a whole market where all you can buy are Ferguses:

There’s also a whole legion of Ferguses apparently:

Fergus has his very own library.

Plus his own branch of the Ontario Provincial Police, just in case he gets out of hand.

There’s awhole Scottish festival and highland games dedicated to Fergus.

Even a show of antique and classic Ferguses.

I’d guess the newspaper dedicated to Fergus and Elora (I’m assuming she’s a girl) is the place to keep up to date with Fergusly happenings.

The newspaper will no doubt tell of happenings at the Fergus Grand Theatre, very grand it is indeed!

If you spot something you’d like to see at the theatre I’m sure the Fergus travel service will help you get there.

If travelling in the area you might want to read a little about the history of our good man Fergus.

I found a shop where one can purchase one’s very own pet Fergus. How exciting!

If you would like to dine on a little Fergus, I hear this place does an excellent grilled Fergus Tandoori style.

If you plan to eat Fergus at home, be sure to get a Fergus dining card first.

If, having eaten him, you mourn the loss of your Fergus, never fear, Fergus Memorials are readily available!

Finally, remember, Fergus is for you!

In the afternoon I spotted what I suspected was a Google street view car. I was correct. I snapped a few pics.

Turns out the driver was in the shop talking motorbikes. The car is about $16k he said, the cameras and computer equipment $80k! Quite the setup. There are 9 cameras on the vehicle. Four pointing forward / back / left / right, four diagonally and one upwards. Here’s a close up.

Rick is the mechanic at Dual Sport Plus. He’s also a fine fellow and was very helpful today. He talked me thorugh the doohickey upgrade. That’s the technical term! Here’s Rick reading the manual.

In addition to the doohickey upgrade I also changed the oil, switched to a re-usable oil filter, replaced the brake and clutch levers, upgraded the gear shifter pedal and gave the bike a bit of a clean. Here’s a photo once we’ve got the side of the engine off.

The pieces that we’ve taken off are lying on rags on the floor.

Once we got the engine side open, we discovered the piece we were replacing had split into two. The spring that is supposed to hold tension on the chain had completely vanished. It’s probably buried inside the engine somewhere. Now that I’ve got the upgrade installed, the bike sounds much healthier. It almost purrs now. Accelerating no longer sounds like the engine is destroying itself. Happy days.

Big thanks to Rick and Les. If you find yourself in Toronto needing motorbike assitance I highly recommend Dual Sport Plus.

Riding with the Bondslave members was my first group riding experience. As a motorcycle club they have a protocol as to how they ride. They ride in formation, side by side in pairs, in tight rows. Road captain, officers, members, probates, guests. At first I was a little nervous of riding so close to other bikes, but after a while I got used to it settled into the formation. As a guest I was usually riding at the back. It’s a very different experience to ride so closely behind another bike.

Usually while riding I’m pushing my awareness of the road as far as I reasonably can. I’m looking to anticipate turns, vehicles, people, animals, road hazards, and so on. Anything that might require me to take action. Riding in tight formation my attention was more closely focused on the bike in front. I placed a great deal of trust in the rider in front of me, trusting him to see the road for me. I would still look ahead somewhat, but most of my attention was on the rider in front and the road between me and their bike.

The riders use hand and foot signals to communicate. For example, if the rider in front’s left leg floats outwards from his bike, he’s warning you of something on the road. A pat on the head means police. A single finger pointed upwards (singalling 1) and touching his helmet means fall into single file.

The formation and signals seem to be an integral part of the spirit of a motorcycle club. The club has a structure, a purpose, a way in which things are done. There are formal and informal rules about how men conduct themselves within the club. There is a protocol to govern riding with other club members. Protocols about colours (the badges that show club membership) and so on.

I was told that the Bondslave club was founded by a man in prison and that many of the members are recovering alcoholics, recovering drug addicts, ex outlaws, and so on. (I believe an outlaw, in this sense, is a person living a lifestyle outside of the law.) These men have found Jesus and have been saved. One of the men told me he had come face to face with death through a drug induced heart attack. He had lost his wife, his children, his family and his health to alcohol and drug addiction. His journey to find Jesus and the resulting faith had saved his life and returned him to his loved ones.

These words might sound light and airy. These men and their stories are not so. When these men tell me they had been saved, I truly believe them. They told me they had made radical changes in their lives that brought their familys, their health, and much more, back to them. I felt honoured and humbled to hear their stories and share in their journeys.

I met 6 Bondslave members Gerry “Shot Put”, Bill “William Tell”, Barry “2 Speed”, Alf “Petra”, Kerry “Salt” and Mike “Lucky”. Each of these men was kind, generous, friendly and only warm towards me. Gerry and Bill stopped to help me without any request. They went above and beyond offering to ride with me to Thunder Bay. They went to  Thunder Bay to visit their brothers there. Alf, local to Thunder Bay, arranged accommodation for us in their club house. He showed us the sights of Thunder Bay. He told fantastic stories of his family and his daughters adventures in Sweden and Finland. He offered the use of his garage where we changed my rear inner tube. Later the same day he noticed my tail light was out. Within a couple of hours he had given me a replacement bulb and a spare to carry.

The members said grace before eating each meal. I couldn’t seem to remember that, so mostly grace was said after I had started! A few years ago I would have felt resistance to the idea of saying grace. Now, it felt meaningful to give reverence before eating. The members also shared a number of prayers with me. Again, I would have strongly resisted this in the past. Today, I feel privileged to have shared in these men’s prayers.

I have a slightly different view of divinity and spirituality than the Bondslave members. However, we share a great deal of common belief. I perceive that Jesus is the vehicle Bondslave members use to embody their spirituality and divinity. My own perception is different in appearance, but remarkably similar in fundamentals.

I would like to thank the 6 Bondslave members I met and rode with for sharing with me. Sharing their company, their stories, their prayers. This is a brotherhood of men that I found to be only positive, only kind and generous beyond compare. Thank you.

Now I’ll share some pictures.

Here’s Gerry, me and Bill, bikes in the background, getting coffee at Tim Hortons as we arrive in Thunder Bay.

Bill posing by the shore!

Bessy parked between some of the Bondslave bikes at the Thunder Bay clubhouse. Barry “2 Speed” sitting on the far bike.

A view over Thunder Bay.

A few of the guys showing their colours.

Now their faces and badges. From left to right Kerry “Salt”, Alf “Petra” (our Thunder Bay host), Bill “William Tell”, Mike “Lucky”, Gerry “Shot Put”.

Before Bill and Gerry left for Winnipeg we had breakfast at Kakabeka falls. It’s a beautiful spot.

Looking back upon this adventure, I’m glad to have had a puncture and not had the tools to fix it. The whole experience turned out to be overwhelmingly positive.

I joined the boys for the stag the following evening. Most of the night was spent in Showgirls, the local strip bar. I’ve never seen so much cash thrown at women in my life. I reckon the guys spent at least $150 each that night. It was quite an experience. The girls have magnets they use to collect the coins after their show. I was quite impressed, I haven’t seen anything like that in Bangkok.

Tara and Josey were married on Sunday. It was a beautiful day. Sunshine from morning till night, light rain in the small hours. The ceremony and reception was beautiful. Here’s a photo the bride and groom cutting the cake.

After the wedding we spent one night in Grande Prairie then parted company. Alethia and Elizabeth went back to Vancouver and I headed east to Edmonton. It rained, rained and rained some more on my ride to Edmonton. I spent a day in Edmonton with Chris and Jess, thanks guys. Jess was off work sick so we hung out in the house most of the day. I went out to try and buy some gloves, otherwise I spent the whole day in front on the laptop, avoiding the rain.

My road trip really began when I left Grande Prairie. I was on the road alone, with no-one to see and nowhere to be. I started to feel the freedom of the open road. I started taking my time, riding more slowly, stopping more frequently. Aside from the hammering rain, the riding was very pleasant.

From Edmonton my next stop was Saskatoon. Here’s a Bessy against the Saskatchewan horizon.

A self portrait of me suited and booted.

In Saskatoon I stayed with Gina for a couple of nights. We had some fascinating conversations. Gina is the gardener at a hotel in Saskatoon. Here she is tending to her flock.

After staying at Gina’s I was invited to spend the weekend with Thomas and his family at their cabin. Laura, Thomas’s mother, throws one fantastic party. There were 8 of us in total and Laura had brought and prepared enough food for a small army. We were very well fed, I had a wonderful weekend.It was at the cabin I found out about the Ness Creek festival. More on the festivals later.

I took Laura for a ride on the motorcycle. She said on her 50th birthday she decided to try 50 new things, and having done that, she was well into her second 50. It was her first time on a motorcycle and we hit 100km/h, one more for her list.

Here’s the sun setting over the garden at the cabin.

There was a magnificent rainbow over the neighbouring cabins.

While riding in Saskatchewan I saw a sign that said “Point of Interest 1km”. In keeping with my new leisurely pace, I stopped to check it out. I was expecting something of natural beauty, or a building perhaps. No, this is the point of interest.

If you look closely, it’s not just a parking space, there is also a plaque.

I forget that modern Canadian history is somewhat shorter than Scottish history. It seems Canadians are interested in any type of history, no matter how trivial. The plaque says something along the lines of “a buffalo crossed the road here in 1806″. Fascinating point of interest!

It was clear at the wedding in northern Alberta that this was oil country. Young men, big trucks, lots of cash, not much to do. This scene is typical of the Alberta and southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba landscape.

My route across Canada followed the Yellowhead highway to Saskatoon. Most of the way the highway is flanked by a train line. Occassionally I saw seemingly endless trains of one sort or another. Every so often the train line would be punctuated by a towering grain elevator. These serve as the local hubs of the rural grain industry. Farmers deliver and sell their grain to the elevators to be slowly hauled to the sea for export.

I saw this train from a distance and stopped to catch a picture. I tried pacing a train and it seemed to be travelling around 50km/h. A little too fast to run and jump aboard I think.

After leaving Saskatchewan my next stop was Brandon, Manitoba. I was in Brandon to meet family. I knew their names from Christmas cards containing Canadian calendars. It was great to meet them in person. Here’s Mary, Kathy, Andy and I at Clear Lake.

Young Andy lives on a farm outside Brandon. I’m told he was excited about a younger cousin arriving from Scotland. Their last Scottish visitor was in his seventies! He was kind enough to share his trampoline.

I took both Mary and Andy for rides on the bike. Andy seemed to have a blast, he told his parents he wants his own motorbike.

After Brandon I went back to Saskatchewan for a couple of weeks and two festivals. I’ll post more on them later. Now I’ve been back in Brandon for a week hanging out with family and doing various bits of motorcycle maintenance. I’m very grateful to Kathy and Mary for their wonderful hospitality and to Mary’s husband Dan for the use of his workshop. I think I’ll leave Brandon tomorrow continuing eastwards. I’ve been invited to Prince Edward Island, so I might make it all the way to Nova Scotia. I’ll be interested to compare the so-called new Scotland with the original.

I feel like I’m on the road now. I still have one client to maintain during July and August, but otherwise I’m not working. I look forward to the complete freedom to drop off the grid for weeks at a time come September. Bring on full retirement.

Firstly, the hairy me.

The shearing begins.

Trimming the face.

Finally, a skin head is reborn!

In honour of Bess’s birthday I’m naming my motorcycle Bessy. She might be a few years old (in motorbike years) but she’s in cracking shape and good for another decade at least. Bessy and I are all set to ride this continent north to south and back!

Here’s me in my new orange riding jacket looking suitably lop sided.

Getting into the gear is no mean feat. You start with the shin pads, which cover from the shin to just above the knee. They go on over your socks. Then come the riding pants which are designed to fit the sitting / standing position on a bike. Then over the pants and shin pads come the boots. Mammoth boots that look like something out of a science fiction movie. They have snazzy plastic clip over buckles and a velcro top section. They feel almost solid once your foot is locked inside.

Put on the jersey. Then the chest protector, slip it over your head and put your arms through the loops to keep the shoulder pieces in place. Now pull on the elbow protectors. Add the dirt bike style helmet with a sun visor and open face section. Over the helmet put on goggles to protect your eyes from all the crap that might collide with them. Finally, put on the gloves, and then you’re ready to ride.

I started on a small, 125cc bike called Lucy. She’s a spirited little beast. Certainly quick enough to get started, and she feels very light when you’re mounted. After flying over the handlebars and nose diving into the dirt, Lucy doesn’t seem so light any more. Trying to get her back upright was not as easy as it looked. But onwards we soldier, it’s not how often you fall down, it’s how quickly you get back up!

The day started with an introduction to dirt biking from Kevin. He talked me through the basics of how to sit and stand on the bike. Stand over bumps and jumps, sit back on the bike in the straights and forward in the corners. Keep your knees in and your elbows out. Stay close to the bars so you’re not pushed around if the wheel turns without your permission.

Then I mounted Lucy and started with circuits round the flat track. Nothing too dramatic, just riding in a circle to get the hang of cornering, accelerating, braking, and so on. After getting a feel for it, Kevin jumps on a bike and says “follow me”. And so it begins…

We start with some fairly gentle corners, lean over, keep your leg out and forwards. That leg really helps if the bike slips in the corners, as it invariably does. Then up and over one or two mounds and round some tighter bends.

As I learned on my basic riding course, the trick to turning a motorcycle is to turn your head. It really is that simple. Look where you want to go and the bike will follow. I’ve had a few panic moments on the highway where I look at the wall, exactly where I don’t want to go, and then harshly remind myself to look down the road. Every time, the bike pulls through. Turn your head. It’s the same on a dirt bike.

Alas, I missed that principle around one ferociously tight turn and somehow managed to leave the bike, face first, over the bars and into the dirt. Thanks to all the various gear it was a non event. I got up, struggled with Lucy until I got her back on her wheels, and fired her up again.

After my quick recovery we were back on the track, following Kevin once more. Now we started over some bigger mounds, and mounds in quick succession, one after another. Pretty soon I realised that Kevin’s bike is actually leaving the ground as he goes over these humps. As we repeat the circuit we’re getting faster and faster, and pretty soon I can feel my bike getting very light at the top of the hills. So feeling fairly confident in my riding thus far, I push the throttle harder and harder.

Yes, I start jumping. The bike is getting some air, as the saying goes. Harder on each of the successive jumps until, on the third jump, my feet fly completely off the pegs. I land half on the pegs, smash down onto the seat of the bike, my feet hit the dirt, and we carry on. That’s the fear Kevin was talking about!

The trick, I’m told, is to hold onto the bike, for dear life in my case. Grip the bike between your knees, toes and heels. Grab onto it and do not let go while aireborne.

After my first mid-air departure from the bike, I took it considerably easier on future circuits. I think my days of adrenaline chasing fearlessness are behind me. No, I lie, I was never even close to fearless. Besides, I decided it was highly unlikely that I would meet any situations on my travels where jumping my motorcycle would be required.

After about two and a half hours of riding, I was exhausted. That and it was 3:30pm, I had 3 hours road riding to get to my destination for the evening, and about 4 hours of daylight remaining. So I took one quick shot on the bigger 250cc bike, closer to my own bike in terms of weight and size, and that was me finished.

Overall, a great experience. I’m definitely a lot less intimidated by the thought of taking my bike off-road now. Lower the tyre pressure, take it slow, and a motorbike will go a lot of places that a car simply will not. Will I be returning to a dirt bike school any time soon? I doubt it. I might pursue some trail riding training, but flying through the air holding onto a motorcycle for dear life is not my vocation. I shall leave it to men better suited to the job than I.

Here’s me lubed and loaded for departure.

I left San Francisco a little later than expected at noon. My first big day’s motorcycling. I took route 1 south, the coastal road. The road twists and turns following the California coastline. I’ve read that the views are better while driving northwards. They’re pretty spectacular on the way south also.

Not long into the ride I looked down to see the right fairing flapping against my knee. This is what the left side looks like. Notice the green part with the KL on it.

Now the right side with the fairing removed.

So instead of being attached to the bike, the fairing was attached to my luggage!

It’s remarkably cold on a motorcycle at 60+ mph. Even through three layers plus a jacket, it’s remarkably cold. Somehow when I’m sitting on the bike my jeans ride up above my boots, so the wind just manages to chill my legs. Longer socks required I think.

Early in the day I passed another motorcycle going in the opposite direction. The rider slipped his hand from the handlebar and gave me a half wave, half salute. It seems to be a biker code of the road. Almost all the other bikers I passed today did the same. After the first one or two I started doing it myself.

On our motorcycle training course they told us that by learning to ride a motorcycle we were joining a club. I understood that today.

The trail continues tomorrow…

Started out easy, rode around town a little. Still getting completely comfortable with the clutch on a motorbike. Heading down to Los Angeles on the bike at the weekend so planning to get lots of practice before that.

The giant silver boxes will be my new backpack. I am now a motorcycling backpacker!

Elena had reviewed the suggestions and chosen Death Valley. I’m happy to drive if somebody else is willing to make decisions. We plugged Death Valley National park into the GPS system and we were off. After 8 hours of almost continuous driving we finally rolled into Beatty and checked into Motel 6.

Saturday morning began with driving lessons. My travelling companion does not hold a driving license, so she drove slowly around the parking lot. Driving an automatic really is easy, it’s as easy as a go kart, albeit a bit bigger.

Then we were off to explore Death Valley. Our fist stop was a ghost town called Rhyolite. Rhyolite was a short lived gold rush town. Gold was found in 1904 and by 1910 there were only 611 residents left in the town, from a high of over 10’000. A real life example of American boom and bust history!

One of the talking points of the town is a house built from 32’000 bottles. The house was constructed in 1906 by Tom Kelly. He sold 400 raffle tickets at $5 each and raffled the house upon completion. Today the house is owned by a public body and volunteers give tours of the house and tell the stories of Rhyolite.

Enter Betty, the current tour guide at the bottle house. Betty met Fred some 55 years ago. She sent him out on dates with her girlfriends at the time because she had a boyfriend herself. 6 months later, her then boyfriend chose a poker game over a date with Betty. Betty sent word to Fred that he should call on her sometime. Two weeks and three dates later they were married. They’ve been married for 54 years and Betty says they’re still on their honeymoon!

Here’s Betty and Elena at the bottle house.

Elena got some more driving practice around Rhyolite.

From the bottle house we set sail for Scotty’s Castle. En-route we spotted what I think is a salt flat. Naturally we took the car onto it.

Driving practice continued out here. Elena got the car up to 101 mph according to the GPS.

Then followed some photographic tom foolery on the car. It’s not obvious from this picture but I’m standing on the boot (trunk) of the car.

Observant readers might notice that I’m sporting three new items in this photo. The t-shirt was a gift from Rob, our host in Lawrence, Kansas, thanks Rob. The hat and sleeping bag were purchases in preparation for my motorcycling adventure.

I took this shot just after we left the salt flat.

We made it to Scotty’s Castle, a rather odd looking place in the Death Valley National Park. Here’s a shot from the top of a hill that I’m not sure if we were supposed to climb or not.

Just as we left we spotted this cheeky fella.

Then from Scotty’s Castle our next stop was Ubehebe Crater. This was unlike anything I have ever seen before.

A sign said half a mile to the little crater. We trotted off up the hill.

The view was worth the hike.

Then we saw some people down in the crater. We had to check that out.

The crater floor looked like chocolate flakes. I was tempted to taste it, but I was able to resist.

It sure is one big hole.

Climbing back up was considerably more work than getting down!

It was worth it. We were two tired bunnies that night. Then back to Los Angeles on Sunday night. A lot of driving, a great weekend.

We spotted windmills in middle America from the train.

I spotted a great photo opportunity as the train snaked right in front of the setting sun. Alas, my camera wasn’t there in time, I missed it. Here’s the sunset from the other side of the train as we turned.

Erika’s step-brother Rob very kindly met us at the train station at half past midnight. We stayed with him in Lawrence. Thanks Rob. There was snow in Lawrence when we arrived.

Inside Rob’s house we were greeted by the largest television I have ever seen. This thing is huge!

Rob’s friend Sean (aka Cletus L Bigsby) very kindly drove us to Wells Overlook. Thanks Sean. The sky was particularly striking.

From the top of the tower we were able to look out over big flat Kansas.

I don’t want to mislead you though, Kansas is not entirely flat.

Here’s the back of Erika’s head set against the striking sky.

We were duly warned, although we only noticed when leaving the park, that vandals will be prostituted!

After the lookout and a tour of Lawrence we hit the local grocery store. Literally, a local store. Many products listed the precise distance they had travelled to reach the store. The organic selection was wonderful. There were some very green bananas.

There were also some not quite so red bananas. I was impressed by the selection of multi-coloured bananas!

This final shot I took this evening while walking home.

That concludes this latest installment of pictures from the road. I’ll soon be in Arizona learning to ride a motorcycle which will signal the next major chapter in my nomadic adventures. Pictures to follow…

Here’s the car after we finally got it parked.

Here’s a shot of the house, Osborne Farm.

I had a great time. It was a welcome change to see a bit of snow. It’s a completely different way of life in places like this. Visiting rural America is an interesting experience. However, as much fun as the snow was, I’m glad to be back in rainy New Jersey.

My meal of lightly steamed organic vegetables, steamed / fried organic chicken and organic side salad was most delicious.

Yesterday I was delighted to discover that the hotel has laundry facilities. I was able to wash my clothes and then hang them up to dry without using the tumble dryer. Without a washing line I had to improvise a little…

I’m pretty impressed with Chase Suites thus far. Breakfast is served on disposable, styrofoam plates with plastic cutlery, which is a real shame. There’s wired internet but no wifi in the rooms. Could be seen as a benefit or not. Personally, I’ve borrowed a wireless router so I’m wirefree. The suite itself is huge. I have a separate bedroom and living / dining room, full kitchen, two flat screen TVs, sofa, and a gigantic bed!

Five of us caught the bus to Puerto Viejo. We’re staying at Rocking J’s, a hammock hostel. We each have our own tent complete with mattress, under cover of a roof, for $6 a night. Wireless is $2 for 7 days. These are the kind of prices I can work with.

As I write this, I’m sitting in a rocking chair looking out over the garden. The ocean is just 20m to my right while the rain falls orchestrally on the tin roof overhead.

Timing worked well this morning. I woke up startled at 6am. Deciding to make the most of the day, I strolled over to the beach. After a brief explore I settled down to meditate on the sea shore. This morning I decided to meditate untimed, without a clock. Just as I finished my meditation, the rain started falling softly. Once I was back under covers the skies burst into a percussive downpour upon the roof. Splendid.

Here’s the spot where I’m sitting, having turned a rocking chair to face to the left of this picture.

If I look slightly to my right, this is my view:

Meanwhile the sound of early morning backpacker conversation floats up from the tables underneath me. It must be time for breakfast soon…

I’m not quite sure how or why I got upgraded, but I’m grateful all the same. I didn’t sleep well the night before so I was a little less than my usually happy self at the checkin desk. Maybe the girl thought I needed a little present.

The meal on the plane was fantastic. I had to snap a quick photo to show you. A real fabric tablecloth, a real cloth napkin, proper metal cutlery. Wow.

I’ll fly Taca again if they’re competitively priced.

Here’s Nataly.

Then we hit the central square.

Everything can be purchased on the streets of Guatemala City!

Then Nataly took me way up to a great little cafe overlooking the whole city. The view was tremendous, this picture does it little justice.

Not as many as Thailand or Vietnam, but there are lots of motorbikes on the roads of Guatemala.

It seems that bus seats are at something of a premium during peak times in Guatemala City. These poor chaps couldn’t even find standing room on the bus, it was holding on only room!

We went to a Taco restaurant for dinner. They have solved the problem of trying to catch the waiter’s eye. The table top menu display includes three buttons. I believe one summons the waiter, one requests the bill, and the third cancels the last request. I’ve thought this would be a great idea, but never seen it before today. Absolutely fantastic!

toil

The toilet in the restaurant had me a little confused. I went to wash my hands but I couldn’t find the sink. Then I realised, this was not a table or a display, it’s a sink! [I turned the tap on for the photo, it was off when I was looking for the sink!]

Then we hit a rather trendy electronic music bar called The Box. Two girls, two jackets, two giant bags and two beers were take into the toilet. Why these two girls were visiting the toilet so frequently, and together, I will leave up to your imagination. The shorter of the two, Gabby, asked me if Chrissy was my girlfriend. After clearing that up, she asked me to dance. I was quite flattered. Here’s Chrissy and Gabby bonding!

From Guatemala’s well dressed beautiful people (aka pretentious) we relocated to the bohemian side of town. Cien Puertas (100 doors I think) is a wonderful pedestrian space flanked by 6 different bars. There were quite a few quirkily interesting characters. The black and white witches summed up the group most easiliy in a single photograph I decided.

While waiting for the toilet to become vacant I spotted this notice. Israel / Palestine politics are an issue even in Guatemala.

When I made it into the toilet I snapped a shot of this graffitii for the sole reason that it was signed Sam, which made me think of Sam! [Anyone know what it says?]

Talking of Sam, it has been decided, I’m going to New York. While the exact timing of my arrival is still being somewhat debated, I am going. Next week I’ll be in Costa Rica, the following week in California with a client, and then onwards to New York.

Thanks to Nataly and Chrissy for an awesome afternoon and evening in Guatemala City. I feel like I saw more of Guatemala in these 12 hours than in my previous 11 days in the country. Guatemala City seems like both a dangerous yet colourfully vibrant city. The upscale side no longer holds much appeal to me, but the bohemian atmosphere, if a little hedonistic, does seem like fun.

Caught a Chivas football game in Guadalajara. They are the only team in Mexico to have a team of only Mexican players. The game was interesting, 3-3 the final score. The crowd went absolutely nutso!

Sam and I stayed on Lake Atitlan in San Marcos for a couple of nights. This was the view from our bungalow on the first night.

This morning we rose at 5:25am to catch the sunrise over the mangroves. Hard work this travelling lark!

Here’s a couple of shots of other tourists on another boat.

Our captain, tour guide and local connection, Sender, seen here standing majestically at the helm of his vessel.

The volcanoes around Lake Atitlan were visible in the distance.

We stopped for a look inside the mangroves.

Then back into our merry craft.

There were lots of local fishermen out at sunrise.

We got back to the hotel and ran into our friend Felix, wearing only a towel and carrying a one-eyed parrot!

Then over breakfast I heard a strange sounding “Hola” from behind the next table. Turned out there was a chatty little parrot in town!

That concludes this edition of MacNews. Check back soon for more exciting action!

There was a little dancing!

Tomorrow I’m booked on Mexicana flight MX565 from Guadalajara to Mexico City, then MX385 from Mexico City to Guatemala City. I’ll stop in Guatemala for probably just over a week. I’ll book a flight from Guatemala City to San Jose, Costa Rica for the middle of next week.

My house and flatmates here in Guadalajara are awesome. One of the best houses I’ve lived in. I’ll have fond memories of this place.

Firstly, you need a companion for this journey. It’s a little harder to get almost married alone. Here’s my co conspirator:

Step 2, rent a car. A little internet research will tell you that you can’t easily get almost married in San Ignacio, so you need to travel to Belmopan. I recommend car rental as the most expedient method of transport in Belize. That is, of course, assuming you’re in a hurry to get almost married!

Now that you have transport, you need to find the Ministry of the Attorney General in Belmopan. This is not as easy as it sounds. I recommend parking in the central market and walking. You’ll eventually find a library with a sign on the door that says “Marriage Licence”. The vaguely unfriendly lady should give you the application form and explain the process.

You need to find a justice of the peace and complete the form in front of them.

Here’s the victory pose, we’ve completed and signed the application for a licence to almost marry.

Finally, the most important step in getting almost married is to destroy the paperwork. If you don’t follow this step then you might actually end up married!

So there you have it, how to get almost married in Belize in 5 easy steps!

We met Luis and Meredith, a couple from New York, when they arrived around 4pm. The four of us headed downtown to check out this bustling metropolis (population ~70’000). Several people have told me recently that the city is dangerous. Our first taxi driver said it’s no more dangerous than wherever we come from. Given that he didn’t know where I was from at that point, I took his advice with a little salt.

We caught the bus into town, wandered around for a bit. The place was deserted. There really was nothing going on in the downtown area. We ate some excellent pub food for next to nothing (around $5 USD each) then caught a cab to a recommended bar. It was empty at 7:30pm on a Friday night, we were the only customers.

From there we picked up some drinks and caught a cab back home for a night cap. Our new found friends had the most insanely awesome party bag I’ve ever seen. It’s called the LifePod and not only is it a flourescent pink cool bag, it has an iPod / radio speaker system built into the front pocket. Music and cold drinks in one bright pink package. I gotta get me some of that!

D’nest was a great place to stay for the night. I’d happily recommend it and definitely stay here again. It’s not cheap for Belize at $60 USD (plus 9% tax), but it’s very comfortable, has internet and feels very laid back. Ideal before / after a flight.

From here, we’re heading to San Ignacio today. Following Mike, Tara, Kelly and Noel’s footsteps. They’re moving at a slightly faster pace, I’m all about taking it easy!

Otherwise, I’m on Caye Caulker, a Belizean island, for New Year. This is my first time in the Caribbean, it’s damned close to Paradise by my reckoning. Here’s a couple of photo as I’m short on internet time.

Here’s the boat we hired from San Pedro to Caye Caulker:

Here’s me on the front of the boat smoking a cigarette:

1) Be sure to fasten your seatbelt while on the plane. Your seatbelt is fastened like this:

Your seatbelt is not fastened like this:

Your seatbelt is not unfastened like this, teeth are not required:

2) Toilet use while on the plane.

Using the toilet in an aeroplane can be a challenging activity. Follow these simple steps and you’ll have trouble free toileting in the sky.

Be sure to wipe down the baSSin after use:

Then after making a deposit in the toilet bank, be sure to commit it to interment with this handy button:

Then in order to exit from the toilet cubicle there is no need to headbut or otherwise attempt to destroy the door. This sliding handle will require much less force:

3) When returning to your seat from the toilet, this is not how you sit in your seat:

4) Disembarking from the aeroplane, it is best to approach this task with the maximum possible enthusiasm, as Mike here demonstrates:

5) Luggage retrieval

When awaiting the arrival of your luggage, the conveyor belt is not for standing upon:

Your bags can be safely collected from the conveyor like thus:

6) When leaving the airport, be mindful of the timeshare vultures attempting to lure you into their lair of deviance:

7) Outside the airport

Be careful, this man has a baton, and this is not a taxi:

Avoid the taxis, the taxi desks, the taxi dispatchers or anyone else who approaches you offering transportation services. You have been warned. Instead, look out for white vans, and enquire around them for transportation to Puerto Juarez. You should be able to pay 250 pesos for a van trip directly to the port.

At this point we should tell you, outside the airport you can have one of two things, money or beer, but not both. You have been warned!

The boat from Puerto Juarez is yellow. If you’re taken to another port, the boat may be another colour.

Our penultimate tip, here Mike models how not to sit on the boat:

9) Finally, should you spot santa on the island, he should be mounted as such:

That concludes our guide on how to reach Isla Mujeres from Cancun airport. Should you have any difficulty during the trip, Michael can be reached at +52 33 1007 6070 (dialled 045 33 1007 6070 from a local phone). Rumour has it that Callum may be available on +52 33 1356 9553, but this can neither be confirmed nor denied by the author.

Mexico City Subway

The Mexico City subway costs only 2 pesos (15c USD / 10p GBP). It’s subsidised by the government I’m told. So at peak times, it gets just a little crowded!

Here’s a couple of videos to fully convey the madness…

Mexico City Taxi

The classic beetle taxi…

Lucha Libre

Mexico has something similar to WWE in the form of Lucha Libre. It’s equally as ridiculous and apparently ferociously popular. I was (un)lucky enough to see some up close in Mexico City.

It turned out to be a publicity stunt to raise awareness for…

Yep, condoms!

I think it may have inspired my travelling companion as a few hours later a small fortune was spent upon the acquisition of his very own El Santo silver mask!

Food

My flatmates made sushi, how awesome!

We ate sushi.

Then Lluis was cooking an octopus, although I didn’t actually see it being eaten!

Tacos are hard to beat on your way home at 4am!

Finally, I couldn’t resist breakfast in a cup of these proportions.

Mexican Toilets

I was struck by two scenes in Mexican toilets. The first was in a mall toilet.

This second shot was on my phone so the quality is pretty poor. The green circles are slices of lime placed at the bottom of the urinal. Very eye catching I thought!

Mexican Wedding Afterparty

One last picture to conclude this session. This was taken in a nightclub at about 4am after a Mexican wedding.

I’ll try to publish photos a little more frequently in smaller batches.

Alas, Mexico lost 0-1 to Honduras. The defeat was taken in remarkably good spirits by the Mexicans. Apparently the local team lost just a few days ago, so perhaps they were emotionally prepared.

I left my camera at home, but I grabbed this (rather poor quality) snap from my phone. It was a great welcome to Mexico, a perfect first night.

Now I’m searching for an apartment in Guadalajara. Any tips / suggestions / pointers / etc would be greatly appreciated.

The final tally came to less than $130 AUD. I got a pair of smart(ish) pants, two great t-shirts, a red/black striped polo shirt, three pairs of socks and a free hemp oil facewash. Yay. As promised, here’s the long awaited picture of me wearing almost entirely hemp. Even my shoes are hemp!

I caught a bus downtown to catch up with a couple of locals for dinner last night. Wow, what an experience. Now I understand why most Los Angelians drive! There is no advertised bus schedule, only a frequency. At peak times it’s every 6-10 minutes. Off-peak, every 20-60 minutes. You just gotta turn up and wait.

After dinner, I went back to where I’d gotten off the bus to find it was a one-way street, going the wrong way. So I wandered around downtown LA, alone, at midnight, looking for a bus stop. I did not feel safe. Eventually I ended up outside a dodgy looking “hostess dancing” establishment. I called my cotel asking for directions, they were little use. So I called a taxi, caught it around the block and managed to find a bus stop.

After a short 20 minutes, the bus arrived. There was a mildly dodgy looking character moving in my direction across the street, so the bus’s arrival was perfectly timed! Then just an hour long bus ride back to Venice Beach and home by at about 1am. Happy days.

Here’s a random photo of Bondi BBQ across the street from my cotel to remind me of Aus.

Bangkok is my home away from home. My base in Asia. I have friends here. Places I can stay. I know the city reasonably well. I can order food, get around, get online, etc. If I transit through Asia, I typically stop in Bangkok.

To keep the pics flowing, here’s the view from the 17th floor where I’m staying.

We left Sydney heading north. Our first night we pulled off the road onto a track through a forest and camped for the night.

Second day we made it to Nambucca Heads and awoke to this view.

As my two travelling companions are both non-drivers, it was agreed that I would drive and they would cook. So, inspired by this view, Ross whipped up a storm on the stove on our second morning.

We offered Fio a cup of tea, and in return she gave us the low down on the local area, and took this snap of us enjoying our first cooked meal on the trip.

On Tuesday (third day) we made it to Pottsville to visit Sharyn and Dennis. Sharyn is a long-standing friend of my mum’s. It was great to finally meet her after having met her kids and heard so much about her. When we arrived there was a freshly baked chicken pie in the kitchen of which we made short work! Here’s Sharyn on the phone in her kitchen.

After staying overnight at Sharyn’s (thanks again Sharyn) we drove to Brisbane to pick up our third hombre. On the way we met some tree girls. Good times.

Then we collected Ahmed from the airport.

After picking up Ahmed we were heading north to meet Fergus and Trijntje in Maleny. We got pretty close and pulled off the road to find somewhere to camp for the night. Eventually we pulled off the road and stopped. We were awoken to the sound of something banging against the van…

Once our bedmates were chased away, we realised we’d chosen a splendid spot to camp.

After a very late night and an equally late start, we made it to Maleny to stay with Fergus and Trijntje for a night. They live in a truly amazing house built from rammed earth. Here’s a shot from the gardens showing just how lush and tropical this part of the world is.

After two fantastic days with Fergus and Trijntje, we set off for a night out in Brisbane. We ran into one of our tree climbing friends again, and they invited us to stay at their place. In the morning we bore witness to the Australian man and his barbecue in action! Quite a feast it was. Thanks again Chris and Jasmine.

Then we cruised a little further down to the travellers mecca of Byron Bay. We proceeded to get outrageously stoned on our first night. Here’s some small token of our adventures.

Naturally, severe munchies ensued, and the chocolate cake was rapidly devoured.

After a couple of days of Byron Bay, we cruised on southwards in the direction of home. On the way we spotted a couple of signs for Fredo’s Pies. 50 varities of pies. We just couldn’t resist. Ahmed devoured the crocodile meat pie. He was fairly impressed. We had to snap a shot with Marilyn.

It’s quite common to see surfers strolling through the streets of Sydney. In fairness, this was just across the road from the beach though!

The first picture was just across the road from this, Bondi Beach.

Ross, master of the ocean.

The white ladies. This was taken at the Primo Italiano Italian Festival.

While leaving Agata’s place I couldn’t help but laugh at this sign. Otis, the lift company, are located at 5-9 Ricketty Street. Oh dear, that was an unfortunate choice!

I spotted Tunnocks Caramel Wafers in a speciality sweet shop in Pitt St Mall. I just couldn’t resist.

Here’s my first flickr photo…

It was an interesting evening. Pizza was generously provided by Butler’s Pizza. If I’m not mistaken their delivery staff arrive wearing a tuxedo shirt (whatever it’s called) and a bow tie! Fantastic. Drinks were supplied by Joyent (I think I got the link right).

There were a few interesting presentations.  Jacques Marneweck spoke about memcache. He looked pretty nervous, but had some interesting things to say. He talked about starling, a memcache based queue server developed by Twitter and some other highly techy stuff. His slides were missing due to a format issue. I think the slides would really have helped the presentation, maybe he’ll post them online.

I’m meeting a few of the same people at most of the tech events in Cape Town. There seems to be a few interesting businesses going on down here. It feels like a small tech community, with a few “big fish”. Reminds me of Edinburgh.

Yesterday, Ismael Lo was playing. The concert set a new Kirstenbosch record selling out all 6’000 tickets in 6 hours. Ismael Lo is a Senegalese singer, songwriter, guitarist and harmonicist.

He really is a great performer. The whole band were excellent. They worked the audience well. By the third song people were already standing and dancing in the garden. By the end the whole audience was upright. It was a great afternoon.

They made an announcement at the beginning of the concert asking for no videos or photos. So the following are brought to you illicitly.

Here’s a shot of the stage early in the concert:

Now here’s a shot of the crowd later in the concert:

Then a shot of the stage again nearing the end of the concert:

Finally, a short video of the closing seconds of the whole concert, after the 3rd encore, when the crowd were at their most excited:

I was told there’s always a good feast on a Sunday in the townships and some friends invited me to head out there with them. Being the proud Scotsman I am, I accepted so long as I could wear my kilt. It was set to be quite an adventure!

We left Cape Town a little after noon and caught a minibus taxi out towards Guguletu. It didn’t quite take us all the way, so we walked the last mile or so. It was obvious that we had left the “white” South Africa behind. For example, the hairdressers were in shipping containers.

We arrived in good time to get a table. Later in the afternoon it’s next to impossible to find a seat. The place sells meat and ice, but no drinks. So you head to the local liquor store to stock up on beer, which we promptly did. Here’s a shot of Zim behind our bucket of beers.

Here’s a picture of me while I’m still (fairly) sober!

Zim ordered the meat, and some hours later, a tray of chicken wings arrived. I forget the name of the white stuff, but it’s made of maze meal I believe. Despite the fact it looks terrible, it actually wasn’t bad!

It was hard to capture the essence of the afternoon with a still photo, particularly the pounding music (I had my earplugs!). So I shot a few videos, and I think this one sums it up best.

There was dancing, I think our table led the charge on the front actually. There was eating, drinking and much merriment. More than a few people asked me what was under my kilt and I gave my standard response to all of them. “To answer that question involves a woman and a blindfold.” Alas, no takers on this occasion.

These girls did pose for a photo though. It seems to be the only picture of the day which actually shows I was wearing my kilt!

Thanks to the kind Unathi, our friend with a car, we were able to stay out past the last taxi at 5pm. We got back into town around 11pm after stopping at a house in another township. Then three of us came back to my place and I think I finally crashed out somewhere between 1am and 4am. It was quite a Sunday!

It was really interesting to see a real South African party. The townships have a reputation as being dangerous, mainly because they’re poor areas. My experience was entirely positive. Everyone I met was friendly and welcoming. Several people had to be sharply corrected for confusing the words kilt and skirt, but everyone took it in good spirits.

Overall, it was a great day out. I’m sure it won’t be my last visit to the townships.

Naturally, a little celebration was in order on Friday night, after a little sleeping. It turned out to be rather a lot of celebration actually, as we chased the party into the wee small hours of the morning.

Saturday night saw a little poker tournament at a friend’s place. The Scottish charm worked a treat and I walked away as the champion of the evening. Viva Scotland!

Then Sunday morning I watched while some friends took a morning swim in the ocean. It was a pretty beautiful spot.

Safety in South Africa

I’d heard stories that Cape Town was dangerous, although not as dangerous as Johannesburg. Every house I’ve been in has bars on the windows, and tall, locked gates. There are signs on many houses advertising that they are protected by an armed response service.

So it’s clear that crime is a problem here, or at least a perceived problem. However, I haven’t felt unsafe on the streets at any point. I’ve spoken to people in lots of different places, on the local minibuses, on the train, on the streets, in bars, and I haven’t felt unsafe with anyone I’ve met.

I have heard stories of muggings and robbery though, so it’s clear that there is a danger. I’ve been told, and I believe, that if you keep your wits about you, use common sense, and avoid certain dangerous situations, Cape Town can be enjoyed in safety.

Weather

It’s nice to be back in a warm country. The weather is very pleasant indeed. Warm sunshine, a cooling breeze, and cooler at night without being desperately cold. A light jacket and a tshirt is enough at night, so long as you have something to break the wind.

Then we pressed on to a small fishing village called Puerto Nuevo. Most of the prices were in US dollars and there were men outside almost every restaurant encouraging us to park and dine. It reminded me of Thailand. Hassle the foreigners with a passion! We found a hotel and headed back to Rosarito for the Friday night celebrations, as there wasn’t much happening in Puerto Nuevo.

It was Zanna’s birthday so we hit the town in style. We spent an absolute fortune, but it was worth it. It all started with margaritas on the beach. We were treated to our very own bonfire.

It turned into a pretty long night. I think we got home around 4am, then continued on till the sun was well up. In an outstanding burst of foresight I realised about 9am that we’d better check into the hotel for another night in order to avoid being rudely awoken and booted out at the rather brutal 11am check-out time. I had horrible memories of awaking to the screaming of maids in Bangkok.

We took it easy on Sunday, it was a late start. Then on Monday we hit the Mexican countryside. We were trying to avoid having to go back through Rosarito on our way north. We ended up in some pretty sparse mountains and I felt I had to snap a shot for el blogo.

We spotted this outrageously bright building and I felt compelled to stop the car and brandish the camera. It turns out it’s both a garage and a computer repair shop. How very industrious!

We stopped for lunch in Tijuana on the way back, at a trendy, European style coffee shop. Zanna was desperate for the loo and it was the first place we came across with a carpark!

Then the epic ordeal of getting back into the US began. Most of the roads we found signposted for San Diego were taped off with Mexican police officers directing traffic in other directions. Eventually we found a lane where we could get round the tape, and spent at least 2 hours waiting in line.

We finally reached the border. The officer glanced briefly at my passport. He asked what we were bringing back into the US, a few beers. They didn’t even look at Zanna’s driving licence and then we were waved on through.

So, that was Mexico. I certainly won’t hurry back to Tijuana, but I hope to explore more of Mexico, further south and further from the American border!

Viva Las Vegas!