tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64475544431317386602024-03-13T02:13:42.820-07:00Modern Nomadic LifeChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767845513837124723noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-66929581142808400152011-10-06T00:59:00.000-07:002011-10-06T01:19:54.011-07:00Final Baekdu Daegan PhotosWe finished hiking the portion of the Baekdu Daegan in South Korea on Wednesday October 5th. It feels like an accomplishment to have completed it, but because the ridge as a geological feature continues on northward to its namesake, Baekdusan Mountain, in North Korea, it feels as if there is unfinished business. But, until North Korea opens its doors to the world, and the National Park Service in the South opens the closures that we didn't hike, we consider this project complete. <br /><br /><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ALUQSSUuXwtS-F-zD3E--w?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-SuVfEtVL98I/To1cDrbkDjI/AAAAAAAAGMo/Rn4JMkV9uGI/s400/IMG_2767.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a><br /><br />The final stretch of the trail takes the hiker through what we feel is South Korea's scenic and geologic jewel, Seoraksan National Park. The ridges and valleys are suddenly steep, jagged and dramatic. Granite spires tower above gushing waterfalls and deep valleys. Its a magical place, and we luckily timed our walking perfectly with the arrival of the peak autumn foliage. We also had the chance to visit the Bongjeongam hermitage, at the head of another gorgeous deep, stream-cut granite valley, set in one of the most beautiful alpine environments anywhere in Korea's mountains. <br /><br /><blockquote>Here are some photos from the last section</blockquote><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=https%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fchrismeder%2Falbumid%2F5660281463094946257%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26hl%3Den_US" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><br />At the moment, we're in Incheon visiting with Liz's family, eating and relaxing after a solid push of nineteen days of hiking. While we're here, we plan to do some rock climbing on a peak called Insubong in a national park just north of Seoul. The route is supposedly moderate, having been established by Yvon Chouinard in the 1960's. We'll see how it goes. <br /><br />Back in Seattle on the 14th of October.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767845513837124723noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-13724939960790774532011-09-27T02:43:00.001-07:002011-09-27T03:02:22.560-07:00We just started - and we're almost there!After rough start in the rain, the weather cleared and we've had a beautiful stretch of perfect fall hiking. We were so enthusiatic about nearing the end and the weather that we hiked for 11 days in a row. Our bodies finally told us we needed to take a break, which brings us to the quaint ski town of Hwoeingye, part of Pyeongchang county - a candidate city for the 2018 winter Olympics. We splurged and are spending two whole nights in a wonderful (as in not shady love motel) clean inn with a kitchenette. This morning involved sleeping as late as we wanted after an evening spent watching bad movies on tv and not doing any laundry or logistics planning!<br /><br />We've figured out we have about four or five days of acutal hiking left, with a couple of days needed to get around the various closures in the national parks. It's a weird feeling that we are actually nearing the end. This ridge holds suchs a huge place in mind my and continues to draw me back into Korean culture, the language and the food. I can easily see how our friend Roger Shepherd became so drawn into the Great Ridge and all of the subsidiary ridges. Something about not just Korea, but the trail itself pulls and continues to pull harder the more you explore it.<br /><br />There are so many things to describe about the past couple of weeks. A lot of the hiking has been in fairly remote areas, the northern part of the trail being higher and further away from habitation. We have encountered larger farms - especially cabbage farms, some so large we've seen backhoes being employed to till the poor soil up here - and a lot more industrial activity such as logging, a cement factory, numerous mines, a rock quarry, wind farms and a sprawling ranch that has converted the landscape into something more reminiscent of Scotland or Wales. It gets the mind going alot about the effect of economic growth, human population growth and the growth of consumerism has on the landscape. In a country that is still so closely connected to the landscape - we frequently meet foragers and see the effects of selective gathering on the understory of the forest - it is an interesting contrast on older and newer ways in which humans interact with and affect the landscape. It's also interesting to see how that plays out in another culture - to see their constant back and forth between conservation and economic growth - especially in a country so rapidly growing and moderninzing as Korea.<br /><br />There is lots to say, especially about all the amazing people we have met over the past week, but I think I will save that for later, perhaps once we are back in Seoul. For now I will leave you with some pictures - for those of you not on Facebook. Enjoy.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><embed height="267" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" width="400" src="https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=https%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Flizzyyung%2Falbumid%2F5656953311653451073%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26hl%3Den_US"></embed></div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16021470306385458735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-26100828234107993382011-09-27T02:02:00.000-07:002011-09-27T03:20:24.044-07:00Moving Onward - Taebaeksan to OdesanIts been eleven days since we left sedentary life at Hwabang Pass just north of Taebaeksan. After four days of rain, we recovered and dried out in the beautifully rugged Mureung Valley. Descending off the ridge from 1100 meters to essentially sea level wasn't ideal as far as the hiking goes, but it was necessary from a psychological perspective. Getting fully dry after a rain event usually requires going inside. It simply resets things.<br /><br /><blockquote>The Mureung Valley from Samhwasa Temple </blockquote><br /><table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/hjRgRH-1ItznscDUeyHcXg?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-W8U6mGU3R_4/ToF40HYFDbI/AAAAAAAAGIY/voBS8BJQtZA/s400/IMG_2003.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/chrismeder/BaekdudaeganTaebaeksanToOdesan?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">Baekdudaegan - Taebaeksan to Odesan</a></td></tr></table><br /><br />Returning to Mureung early in the morning, the sky promising a mostly sunny outlook, and with the sweat, dust and stick of the previous days having been washed away, we settled back into our routine. Samhwasa temple provided a wonderfully peaceful centerpiece around which the morning developed in the valley. We meandered around in the quiet calm, gazing up at the steep granite walls and the lush foliage of the valley. The trail back up to the ridge was steep and unrelenting, but not after offering up some raging waterfalls and bubbling granite bedrock bottom stream beds. It was a week day, but it remains a mystery why these little valley gems remain so desolate.<br /><br />Back on the ridge, the weather provided day after day of blue skies and cool breezes. In stark contrast to the first portion of our hike on the Baekdu Daegan in 2008, this season has been delightfully cool. We don synthetic puffy jackets every morning and eve at camp. It has not, however, been what a New Englander raised in the definition of Autumn would call "crisp". Every morning's a damp one; our camps ensconsed in fog flowing through the passes, dew dripping off the trees and covering the rain fly on the tent. Yet I'll take cool and damp over hot and sticky any day of the week and twice on Sunday. So, life on the trail has been great. As any hiker worth his weight in oatmeal knows, enjoyment is a delicate mixture of weather, companions, and attitude. Right now we seem to have above average numbers in all three categories.<br /><br /><blockquote>Here's a slideshow of some of the photos.</blockquote><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=https%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fchrismeder%2Falbumid%2F5656935374107740241%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26hl%3Den_US" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><br />One of the great joys of our journey along the Baekdu Daegan has been the opportunity to discover a country, her people and their culture through the backdoor, without the "go see this and do that" prodding of a guidebook. As we've written here before, it is not merely the mile after mile of footpath through the woods, the repeated roller coaster ups and downs of the topography, or the scenery that make the Baekdu Daegan what it has become for us. It is in the daily interactions and encounters with people we meet on the trail, in the towns and villages along the way and the temples, villages, streams and other little bits and pieces that combine in a mosaic to create a whole experience. These folks greet us in many ways; they're helpful, curious, inquisitive, excited, gracious. Hiking clubs share food on mountain tops, day hikers help with logistics, restaurant proprietors serve up smiles to accompany their dishes. <br /><br />One college student we met happened to be the only other backpacker -- as opposed to day hiking -- that we've seen in almost three months on this trail. He completed hiking the Baekdu Daegan from south to north with his team of five in 50 days. That's moving. Then, while the rest of his team climbed into the van and sped off to civilization, he turned around and started walking back along the trail, north to south. We met him 10 days into his southern journey. Unless someone passes him (it won't be us), he'll be the first person to walk the Baekdu Daegan continuously in both directions. And then he's going to write a book about it. The word dedication comes to mind.<br /><br /><br />Just yesterday, two Vestas engineers picked us up along side the road. We'd been walking down from the ridge after completing a section of the trail that runs through a 98 megawatt wind farm. Vestas is a Danish-owned wind turbine manufacturer. These guys work in the wind farm everyday and we were likely the only people they'd ever seen walking on this road since the introduction of the automobile to Korea. It really wasn't a great road to walk. We swapped stories and tried to figure each other out. They offered to drive us a ways out of town to get our bags, then back to town, dropping us at a nice hotel. The driver said he'd done it because someone had taken care of him when he was traveling in Seattle. We'll certainly pay it forward and return the favor, keep the wheel spinning. <br /><br />This morning we laid out the remaining maps, numbers 20 through 24 in the set, and plotted out the remainder of the trail, working the logistics. At present count, there are 5-6 days of hiking left, the final number dependent on our ability to rise to the occasion of three consecutive 12-mile days. Unfortunately, there are a number of trail closures along the way around which we'll be required to come down off the trail, transit, then climb back up to the ridge and continue. This is somewhat annoying but part of the challenge. Beyond the closure issue, there is excitement and that somewhat saddening end-of-vacation feeling starting to creep in that typically accompanies the completion of something. For now, its determination and resolve to enjoy and soak in the last stretch of this great cultural journey.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767845513837124723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-45452644399112864042011-09-20T05:06:00.000-07:002011-09-20T05:25:41.503-07:00Back on the BaekdudaeganAfter a rather trying flight in which Liz discovered that airplane food leads to airsickness, we arrived in Korea to the smiling face of Liz's Incheon emo. There is a new bridge that seems to span about 20 miles of ocean between the airport and our aunt's house cutting the drive time between the airport and her house more than in half. You would understand what a joyous discovery this was if you ever spent more than five minutes in the van with our aunt driving. We went straight to bed, got up early the next day, did a little grocery shopping, had a fun tour of Korea's back roads and in less than 24 hours of arriving in Korea we were back on the trail.<br /><br />Oddly - it's three years later, but it's like we never stepped off the trail. No more than one hundred yards after leaving the road, an overwhelming sensation of familiarity set in. The feeling of walking along a ridge with the terrain dropping off to either side of the narrow footpath at your feet becomes engrained while walking the Baekdudaegan. We only hiked a couple of hours that day, but everything felt like a familiar rhythm - the flora, the trail, the steady up then back down, looking for a campsite, and looking for water.<br /><br />We fell asleep to cool breezes and the sound of locusts (and this crazy ground bird that haunts us at night). We awoke the next morning to dense fog. The next four days of hiking are easily described as such: It rained. We hiked up. We hiked down. We put our tent up in the rain and hid. We took our tent down in the rain and hiked some more.<br /><br />Luckily we came down from the ridge and it stopped raining, although looking up at the ridge from town we think it might still be raining up there! Hot showers and hot Korean meals never felt so good. <br /><br />Back in the saddle! We'll post pictures next time we're back in town!Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16021470306385458735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-27118120023236640292010-02-01T19:11:00.000-08:002010-02-01T19:12:29.352-08:00A New Adventure BeginsIn a new chapter in our travels, I have launched <a href="http://www.greatpathadventures.com/">Great Path Adventures</a> - a hiking company that will take people to Korea to hike a distilled version of our hiking trip last fall. The Journey begins this October with an eleven day trip through Jirisan and Songnisan National Parks. Please check out the website and pass it along to any friends you think might be interested!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.greatpathadventures.com">www.greatpathadventures.com</a>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16021470306385458735noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-84257717507060684402009-11-30T12:35:00.000-08:002009-11-30T13:04:09.762-08:00Back to Work!<div>Well this post is long overdue - if anyone out there is still reading this blog! </div><br /><div></div><div>I promised I would write more, and I didn't. And now we are home and "done" travelling and there is nothing left to write about :). But because of my neurotic nature, things must have definitive endings for me. I need to be able to cross things off a list, to say, "that is complete." So it goes for this blog - which coincidentally has been on my to-do list as "post on blog" for a few months now. We've both been back in the country for several months now. I got to extend my travels to include the Western US and Chris spent another summer season guiding people up Mt. Rainier. We both went back to "work" in September, giving us a full three months to realize: </div><br /><div></div><div>We are ready to go travelling again. </div><br /><div></div><div>Well, we may be ready, but our pocketbook is not. So we will again save and scheme - Japan, Mongolia and Greenland are all places that frequently come up. And we will start another blog and keep you all posted when (because it is obviously inevitable) we take off again! Until that time I leave you with the picture on my desk top reminding me of free-er times and say </div><br /><div></div><br /><div align="center">THE END</div><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SxQzH_eYiBI/AAAAAAAAEGE/FoQjdfJRx9k/s1600/Jeffs+b-day+on+the+BDDG.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410005264769779730" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SxQzH_eYiBI/AAAAAAAAEGE/FoQjdfJRx9k/s400/Jeffs+b-day+on+the+BDDG.JPG" border="0" /></a>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16021470306385458735noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-33034634346500234382009-07-25T09:59:00.000-07:002009-07-31T23:01:27.679-07:00Rhode Island Clam Chowder<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SnOYF9d2swI/AAAAAAAAEC0/kjx4LyvkTXM/s1600-h/chrisandliz.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 268px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SnOYF9d2swI/AAAAAAAAEC0/kjx4LyvkTXM/s320/chrisandliz.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364798809294942978" border="0" /></a>Chris and I met up in Hartford for his brother Nicholas’s wedding a few weeks ago. As I haven’t been back to Seattle yet, I’m calling this all part of “my” trip. And since I’m still traveling I can cook up ridiculous ideas like, “Let’s drive to the Rhode Island coast to try clear clam chowder.”<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SnOJoP0OhJI/AAAAAAAAECk/3iP4AZqTOOY/s1600-h/meder_men.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 333px; height: 183px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SnOJoP0OhJI/AAAAAAAAECk/3iP4AZqTOOY/s320/meder_men.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364782905661752466" border="0" /></a><br />Apparently the idea didn’t seem too ridiculous, and that is how we found ourselves stuck in traffic at a dead standstill on State Hiway 4 joining what appeared to be all of Rhode Island and possibly part of Massachusetts in trying to get to any piece of land that touched the Atlantic Ocean. Our goal had been to drive to Point Judith, have a look around and then enjoy lunch at Champlins, a seafood restaurant on the water I had heard about on<span style="font-style: italic;"> The Splendid Table</span>. Now we were wondering if we were going to get Nicholas back to Quidnessett in time to get married. Note to self: don’t take groom on excursions on his wedding day, especially when Friday afternoon traffic and a beach could be involved.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SnOKMuyQQDI/AAAAAAAAECs/Ze3UFule8DM/s1600-h/champlins.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 182px; height: 272px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SnOKMuyQQDI/AAAAAAAAECs/Ze3UFule8DM/s320/champlins.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364783532450267186" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Traffic cleared up enough that we figured we could have lunch at Champlins. It was one of those rough-around-the-edges-but-with-a-sweet-deck-overlooking-the-water joint a la Ivars of Seattle. All this effort was to try their clear clam chowder. Think the ocean, only tasty, in a clear broth chock full of clams and potatoes. They also had scallops, gigantic and perfectly cooked (rare and still sticky in the middle) and fried clam strips, served on a hoagie. This was something new to me-the "<seafood><seafood> roll". Like a hotdog, only waaaay better. The best roll I had was a lobster roll at the Lobster Landing near Nicholas's house in Clinton, CT. Oh 1/4 lb of lemony, buttery peeled lobstery goodness.<br /></seafood><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SnOYoxu0bHI/AAAAAAAAEC8/6rgbqpBfpxA/s1600-h/ri_ship.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SnOYoxu0bHI/AAAAAAAAEC8/6rgbqpBfpxA/s320/ri_ship.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364799407440292978" border="0" /></a><br /><seafood>Chris grew up in storybook New England – dense green forest, quaint main streets with a town green, old colonial houses and lots of streams and hollows and mountains that people will plan their year’s vacation to visit – and it was all in his backyard. Chris and Nicholas took an afternoon to drive me and a friend from California around to all their old childhood haunts. I think having out of towners marvel at all this gave them a real sense what a magical place the two of them grew up in. Still being in travel mode has me marveling at the diversity of cultures, language, climates, geography and cuisines all within the borders of the US. Our New England trip again reinforced my belief that there are so many diverse cultures and landscapes to experience without having to leave the US. I'm really looking forward to seeing what this new perspective opens up in Washington state. I'm also looking forward my road trip back to Seattle taking me through the South, Southwest and the Rockies. I'll keep ya'll posted on food, sights and experiences all the way back to Seattle.<br /></seafood></seafood>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16021470306385458735noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-79073878861473280622009-07-06T20:51:00.000-07:002009-07-06T21:53:11.924-07:00OmahaOne of the things Chris and I frequently remarked on while we were travelling, especially when in New Zealand, is that we wondered how many of these cool funky little towns and off-the-beaten-path parks and hikes were in our own backyard. How many of them do we miss because we were so busy travelling around to "bigger and better" places in the US and around the world? The oft repeated question made us soon resolve to take our "traveller's eyes" back to Washington and try to experience our own home turf the way tourists like us experience the Puget Sound. And by like us I do no mean the ones who flock to the Space Needle and buy T-shirts with the skyline emblazoned on it down at the shops on the waterfront. We've even toyed with the idea of limiting ourselves to Washington and perhaps southern B.C. for a year. A move in part necessitated by our now decimated pocketbook and perhaps a desire to balance our monstrous flying footprint this year. But it is also a challenge to really discover the gems of Washington, many of which we are well aware of but never make the time to experience.<br /><br />So I'm trying out my new "traveller's eyes" on Omaha, Nebraska. My hometown was another casualty of my desire to always go someplace "bigger and better." I came home my first summer after college, but after that I was always going someplace else. Even holidays succumbed. More than once I had a Thanksgiving meal in Omaha and then would drive overnight for a weekend sailing regatta in Chicago. Now distance and the cost of a flight means I see Omaha once, maybe twice a year. And now, every time I go home, I find myself thinking, "This is a pretty cool place." So driven by a desire to spend more time with my parents and to reacquaint myself with my hometown, I've chosen to spend a month here before I work my way back to Seattle.<br /><br />I have to say I have been blown away by what I have experienced so far. I beginning to gain an appreciation for the sense of place I have here. And for just how much this flat, hot and at times oppressively humid bit of prairie is such an engrained part of me. I think no matter how long I live in the Northwest, there is always going to be a part of me that sees an open expanse of cornfield, and the slow green undulation of the land along the Missouri and will breathe a long sigh of, "I'm home." It's the part that has an endless fascination with grass. The part that prefers grasslands and deciduous trees (especially cottonwoods), small towns and grain elevators, to dense evergreen forests and clear mountain streams. Don't get me wrong, there is another vocal part of me that is pretty ticked I haven't been skiing for 368 days, but for now that part will just have to let the Nebraska part have her due.<br /><br />I have lots of "travel thoughts" I would like to post, but for now, in interest of keeping this post a reasonable length, I will save them for another time. Omaha, a travel destination. Who knew?Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16021470306385458735noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-3263099423203496192009-06-14T04:15:00.000-07:002009-06-22T12:29:18.525-07:00Back in KoreaIt was a strange feeling saying goodbye to Chris in the Bangkok airport. After nine months of being together everyday 24/7, we thought we would be be ready for a break from each other. But I had gotten used to having someone there to turn to comment on whatever strange sight or amazing view I happened to see that day. Now I would be travelling around with my mom and two of her sisters. And while Korea is starting to feel like a second home, everything here is still strange enough that I miss having someone to turn to and say, "Seriously is every stranger here going to ask me why I'm not married?!?"<br /><br />I had a great time hiking in Korea and people we met in other places frequently commented on that portion of our trip saying that is sounded like a lot of fun but daunting, or that they had never considered going to Korea but were really intrigued by the hiking possibilities. In response to that interest, I've decided to start a trekking company that will lead a two-week hiking trip in Korea in the fall of each year. I chose to end my trip by spending three weeks in Korea in order to do some research and take care of logistics. So my mom, two of her older sisters and I set off on a tour or Korea revisiting many of the places we hiked through last fall.<br /><br />In some ways ending the trip in Korea is a good slow easing back into the "regular" world. The hyper-consumer capital Seoul feels just foreign enough that I still feel like I'm travelling, but at the same time eases me (well throws me off the deep end) back into a world of modern conveniences and capitalism.<br /><br />So here is my three week trip in Korea, summed up in pictures - because that's more fun than reading through a long blog post!<br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/P1e5vPzzLPNFIe3bzrP5RQ?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjTYlMHEmqI/AAAAAAAADAA/7ciiPGp4-kk/s400/DSC_0014.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>Kongbiji: Oddly I had been daydreaming about eating this for almost two months while hiking in Nepal. It is a stew made from ground soybeans. You add a healthy dose of soy sauce usually mixed with chili pepper, sesame seeds and green scallions and enjoy this bubbly boiling dish. All the other dishes on the table are <em>panchan</em>, or side dishes. They are lovely and fresh in June when there are lots of random vegetables - my mom vaguely calls them edible vegetables, the only way she can think to translate the word <em>namul </em>- that have come into season</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/QdMxMXWN16LeY09_q29Oug?feat=embedwebsite"><img style="WIDTH: 270px; HEIGHT: 403px" height="403" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-jI0DY0I/AAAAAAAADAI/m5oWdpm8vms/s400/DSC_0005x.JPG" width="270" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/yEnfVJqfDPYJy7nB88zx8A?feat=embedwebsite"><img style="WIDTH: 270px; HEIGHT: 403px" height="403" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-jh47tDI/AAAAAAAADAQ/LjxiwLRULb8/s400/DSC_0014.JPG" width="270" /></a></p><blockquote>Incheon emo (so named because she lives in Incheon) has a garden on the edge of the city. We went one day to help her weed and pick some greens. She thanked us by cooking up a storm of bacon to eat with the fresh greens we picked.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/zvGq7Sq_77iXtAAK45dsaQ?feat=embedwebsite"><img style="WIDTH: 198px; HEIGHT: 124px" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-kRDw9tI/AAAAAAAAC9Y/EM-HwHQBL0U/s400/DSC_0020.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/FAPnFjM0Iwz83F_zUuWmFQ?feat=embedwebsite"><img style="WIDTH: 198px; HEIGHT: 124px" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-kHmbagI/AAAAAAAAC9U/dhrZPzXVbDE/s400/DSC_0015.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/cK3caG1rLY0ihYo-jpBupQ?feat=embedwebsite"><img style="WIDTH: 198px; HEIGHT: 124px" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-k6GNK3I/AAAAAAAAC9c/0Xho_WYg81E/s400/DSC_0022.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>Mom demonstrates how to put a lettuce wrap together: lettuce, <em>sukkat</em> (a chrysanthemum relative), sauce and the bacon. To eat: shove it all in your mouth.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/67p0Q00EsTaPe4Z_YJ4KTw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-lYW1H_I/AAAAAAAAC9g/_jzjPGKGLlc/s400/DSC_0029.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>Recycling in Seoul is done indirectly. Someone pays enough for cardboard, so this old woman pushes her cart around picking it up off the street where people leave it outside their house or business. She will then take it to the recycling center in effect to receive her pay for picking up trash.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/9iU_ZnZA0J-x1Ol0GR3ytA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-l3HZNaI/AAAAAAAADAg/6Y1E93emXw0/s400/DSC_0047.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/8zrbmjKNaHp-t0iGCNpUGQ?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-mTDHClI/AAAAAAAADAo/sViOVRv4ih4/s400/DSC_0054.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>My aunt runs a <em>pojang macha</em> - basically a food stand . Each day she goes to a distributor where she picks up all the food she will sell - corn, dumplings, steamed bread and pigs feet. Really until travelling this much I didn't realize so many parts of an animal could be eaten, let alone taste, well, good. We didn't hang around for the finished product, but after the meat cooks for several hours it practically falls off the bone, which is a good thing as I'm not sure anyone would eat it other wise. It's long day of hard work. We left the house at 8 am and returned around 11:30 that night. </blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/8UdFizPShpa3DJBnERp6ZA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-mxd3uXI/AAAAAAAAC9w/NMYpAEiufIQ/s400/DSC_0007.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>The Incheon Port fish market. This was the start of our road trip. We bought several pounds of fish and miscellaneous seafood for a special dinner at another aunt's house that night and to take with us. That fish would make up a spicy seafood soup that was breakfast, lunch and dinner for about the next four days. Wonderful.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/5er4J9s7jeS4Nzm-WUHmFw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-nXU_DkI/AAAAAAAAC90/DT8iw_ES6_Q/s400/DSC_0021.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>All the fish are kept in tanks here, so it's the freshest place to enjoy <em>hwoe</em>-Korean sushi (basically chopped up raw fish). These three guys are enjoying a Sunday afternoon with some fish and soju.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/iljWKKiuyZ3hq5JE-QLKKQ?feat=embedwebsite"><img height="183" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-n404VMI/AAAAAAAAC94/4K6ZMxvs294/s400/DSC_0001.JPG" width="274" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/egiLQ3_ZjaFT1BlBzYoPPw?feat=embedwebsite"><img height="183" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-oxdmpGI/AAAAAAAAC98/XRQRFakv1Mc/s400/DSC_0005.JPG" width="274" /></a></p><blockquote>On a stop for lunch we met the woman who helped us get a cab from the middle of nowhere to the middle of nowhere. She remembered us from last fall, so we hung out at her rest area and made lunch for her.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/brgFS0-M28vY37RUX8GZmg?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-pettfhI/AAAAAAAAC-A/-XE-szyj6Dk/s400/DSC_0008.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>My mom, her oldest sister (Seoul Emo) and her third oldest sister (Incheon Emo) in front of a waterfall made famous by being in a popular television drama. Chris, Jeff and I remember it as being a place we came upon after the sun had set. We gave up trying to find a good place to camp and just camped in the stream bed and cooked eggplant parmesan (well a camp approximation of it).</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/Hyq2C1yP2hYqhmxzGJD5Qg?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-qObWCCI/AAAAAAAAC-E/76YMRjo2glo/s400/DSC_0016.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>It's garlic harvest time, we found it in every market and on many street corners through out our trip. Korean food uses A LOT of garlic. A household would probably go through at least two, possibly three of these bunches in a year.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/GwIOkO4BBNF3a-S6NILFGg?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-q28Q8dI/AAAAAAAAC-I/UyB8ZlcO5tw/s400/DSC_0028.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>This cat was yelling at everyone on the street to buy his <em>ddok</em> (Korean glutenous rice cake) and come try free samples. If after trying his "free" sample, you didn't buy any, he would run after you and grab you buy the arm back to his bowl asking, "Why don't you buy any, didn't it taste good?" and pretty much hound you until you bought some. Pushers come from all walks of like. Luckily the stuff was tasty and we bought a bunch for our hike.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/uhwa7e5ZiCk3cl_1BSSAHg?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-r3CZZUI/AAAAAAAAC-Q/hLjtcCFr6E8/s400/DSC_0057.JPG" /></a></p><br /><br /><blockquote>The real <em>ajuma</em>. You may have had to been to Korea to fully appreciate this picture. Yes I am actually related to these women, god help me when I buy a visor and start perming my hair.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/RiBP06MdElZ3Gps5cWIz_w?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-tQeJ9KI/AAAAAAAAC-c/1IKtDuxguuI/s400/DSC_0017.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote><em>Maeshil. </em>A sour plum, I think it's the same as as the Japanese Ume plum. It was in season while we were travelling around. Incheon emo, in addition to the 5 kilos she bought right before we left, bought another 5 kilos (for you Americans, that's 22 pounds of nearly inedible plums). She will turn them into some kind of potent alcohol drink and soak a lot of them in salt and sugar to become some type of long lasting <em>panchan</em> (side dish). Buying and preparing too much food obviously comes from my moms side of the family.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/JluEPRNsqin399kHtwkPbw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-vIFaWXI/AAAAAAAAC-o/xzvVxk4h2Y8/s400/DSC_0045.JPG" /></a></p><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/j9m_KZxohQim0E3MPuqzHg?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-wc1W2RI/AAAAAAAAC-w/dBtXIPAIXow/s400/DSC_0063.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>Scenes from a folk village in southern Korea. Typical Korean style houses (<em>hanok</em>), are making a come back as Korean nationalism grows and Koreans take an interest in traditional Korean arts.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/mfG3Ubfcj1N9yNacWB71PQ?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-vv9FQfI/AAAAAAAAC-s/MI4EnmC01kY/s400/DSC_0052.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>Grains drying on a wall, a bird shares in the harvest.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/Ov784V8qQImxpuu_R2cf9g?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-w4iNHHI/AAAAAAAAC-4/baYImlPOKRE/s400/DSC_0086.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>Wouldn't be a post about Korea without some pictures of flowers!</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/aGRTpxu2Xp1BREj8h0RI2A?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-xFEV-lI/AAAAAAAADA4/f0lDoXGLMpk/s400/DSC_0009.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/aL7BUfLk4gf8vxg4W9WrWg?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-xrqYlPI/AAAAAAAADBA/P-hcmm4ox5g/s400/DSC_0019.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>Suncheon Bay. When I lived in Suncheon there was this picture of the Bay that I could never find where it was taken from. Every time I went looking for it, all I found was an inaccessible muddy wetland. Seven years later, after Suncheon Bay became a "wetland of international importance" under the Ramsar Convention (it's like the Kyoto protocol for wetlands), the town of Suncheon created a boardwalk trail through the wetland to connect to another trail up a mountain that yields the famous view of the Bay I had spent so much time looking for. The boardwalk is great, giving you up close views and sounds of frogs, crabs, salamanders, and so many birds. Wetlands are like the liver of our planet and highly under appreciated. If you ever get the opportunity go spend some time in one.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/vmM7ZL5Zs0CM-5i9HJhJeQ?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-yLqhtMI/AAAAAAAAC_E/PW2jItj4f9g/s400/DSC_0034.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>My "second" mother (I lived with her and her family for a year when in Korea), Seoul Emo, my mom and Incheon emo.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/oC8eGodOwuovZ1S7LR-qZw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-yipEA-I/AAAAAAAADBI/d60J7Ip-DBo/s400/DSC_0036.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>After eating far too many large restaurant meals (which was still a nice change from nine straight meals of spicy seafood soup), we protested saying we just wanted to eat in, something simple and small. So my host mother "just" whipped up this amazing broiled duck concoction, served lettuce wrap style. It was absolutely amazing.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/pSUZZ8FnNcPNwK176G1H9w?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-zIV8jbI/AAAAAAAAC_M/QcN5z5qMD9w/s400/DSC_0006.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>Fishing boats at Maryeong, a port in the southwestern part of the country, on our whirlwind day tour or the islands of the southwest province.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/jMVW46Lvuv5eddgsm28pQg?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-0K-ct3I/AAAAAAAAC_U/CFU4L3-CVNQ/s400/DSC_0023.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>Taking a ferry out to Pyeong-il island. Kind of felt like home.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/2HmQ3t1bEkjCeslT1YMSAQ?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-0iVNvaI/AAAAAAAADBQ/2YNJ3NtSfZI/s400/DSC_0034x.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>My mom and aunts enjoying the cool sea breezes on the ferry.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/25nlWtGFoeCXaOQYHirENA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-1AzbGbI/AAAAAAAAC_c/uZ1imoJO_QA/s400/DSC_0038.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>Note that I finally have hair again.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/qCtkSmiZ-L35Dc8XUzWG9A?feat=embedwebsite"><img height="204" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-1mzy95I/AAAAAAAAC_g/_kg-odX1pNc/s400/DSC_0039.JPG" width="302" /></a><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/BbIaxjYJNs3OC_OmFTBN7A?feat=embedwebsite"><img height="204" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/Sj_IiJEi8QI/AAAAAAAADCo/YyQnnpYOtjc/s400/DSC_0011.JPG" width="302" /></a></p><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/BbIaxjYJNs3OC_OmFTBN7A?feat=embedwebsite"></a></p><blockquote>Buoys as far as the eye can see (top). They're all seaweed "farms." The lines are hauled in once the seaweed is the desired size and then laid out all over the island under fishing nets (bottomw) to dry in the sun.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.kr/lh/photo/8EqRekZJcGvEkPhR9jdHFg?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SjG-10ir00I/AAAAAAAADBY/0YDk_xxavf4/s400/DSC_0049.JPG" /></a></p><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ViRremuXm4jKTKV4u08Waw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/Sj_IixQ7HXI/AAAAAAAADCs/SVXDHPF45yQ/s400/DSC_0006.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>A family spends their Sunday afternoon digging for crabs. It's amazing how connected Koreans are to their food. You always see people gathering wild food while hiking, or old ladies collecting ginkgo nuts in the city. Equally amazing is how fast that knowledge is disappearing - in less than two generations. </blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/6wJe3hsYxwa7SfrFcQ6Vgw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/Sj_IkK7x3SI/AAAAAAAADCw/Qyt0AdPl8-I/s400/DSC_0001.JPG" /></a></p><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/m2mWTKG22EokcRv1ik6_8A?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/Sj_Iklv1t2I/AAAAAAAADC0/Zw1vg1ceTwo/s400/CSC_0029.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>Signs of fishing livelihood all over the island.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"></p><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/M0Tk8cTtnsjumCVfafKNVw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/Sj_InxpyrhI/AAAAAAAADDQ/ejvIPo_kk78/s400/DSC_0071.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>Back in Incheon, this is a large cemetery near my aunt's house. Cemeteries like this are not common. Usually graves are up on a hillside, each hill belonging to a certain clan. I thought the cross of Korean tomb styles and Arlington National Cemetery was interesting.</blockquote><br /><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/gjGKMSGahA5fEwPbkzaZDQ?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/Sj_ImpgapXI/AAAAAAAADDE/xxuLXJDhRBI/s400/DSC_0013.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>Cats aren't very common in Korea - even stray ones. I think there's some superstition around them. My mom, besides being very allergic to them, claims "they can't be trusted." This cat earns it's keep by catching mice around this food stand.</blockquote><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/UvThxEVOmu_3uijbZ9_Myg?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/Sj_Io15SvVI/AAAAAAAADDY/GYNt9UN-0zg/s400/DSC_0090.JPG" /></a></p><blockquote>Last night in Korea: Jogye Gui (grilled clams). Clams fresh from a tank are grilled over a charcoal fire. You eat them straight out of the shell with a generous dash of hot pepper sauce, washed down with soju or in this case Cheongha, soju's less potent, smoother cousin.</blockquote>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16021470306385458735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-11329224493191064492009-05-29T23:42:00.000-07:002009-05-30T18:35:18.127-07:00Walk to the bottom of the world's highest peak<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F3wN8tlRqBM/SiDW0QcgW0I/AAAAAAAADiA/Fn-25QFDecc/s1600-h/3576471731_80477aef25_o.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341505351317478210" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F3wN8tlRqBM/SiDW0QcgW0I/AAAAAAAADiA/Fn-25QFDecc/s400/3576471731_80477aef25_o.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><blockquote>The 2009 IMG Sherpa Trek team above Namche. Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse are in the background, a bit washed out. </blockquote><br />Our trek to Everest Base Camp is complete, and we've left Nepal. The trek was an incredible experience, and quite different from what we had been doing traveling simply as a couple. The <a href="http://www.mountainguides.com/everest-trek-nepal.shtml">Sherpa Trek</a> to Everest Base Camp with IMG had a decidedly different flavor than our circuit around Annapurna for many reasons, and it made a great compliment to our time in the Annapurna region.<br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/BaZBwqjt9vhkPKx8xFXdQA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/Sh4vmhTN1RI/AAAAAAAAC54/tevhS_JxtLk/s400/DSC_0106.JPG" /></a></p><table style="WIDTH: auto"><tbody><tr><td><p align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/BaZBwqjt9vhkPKx8xFXdQA?feat=embedwebsite"></a></p></td></tr></tbody></table><blockquote>The goal of the Khumbu trek: views of Mt. Everest</blockquote><br /><br />First, we were traveling in a group of 15: 10 trekkers including Liz and me, and 5 Sherpa guides. Several porters and yaks carried our stuff (it makes a big difference when you're not carrying 15 kilos at altitude), but we rarely saw them. During the rest of our trip when it was just the two of us, we had the freedom to decide what to do as the days came. In our professional lives, we're both detailed planners and organizers. You make a plan and execute it -- its what makes us decent engineers. But traveling lends itself to a more open agenda, throwing designs to the wind, keeping options in mind and following your nose wherever it takes you. Sometimes, simply the act of <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">not</span> planning was the best plan of action, and we fell into some of our most memorable experiences this way. I hadn't realized how much we'd actually let go of our controlling minds until I jumped into executing the Sherpa Trek itinerary in early May. It went smoothly, but certainly demanded efforts I hadn't been required to put forth for months.<br /><br /><br /><table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/bM-02xxqSbRuZVJKxhVang?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/Sh4vnpe-yTI/AAAAAAAAC58/Ao-udhz5qV8/s400/DSC_0153.JPG" /></a></td></tr></table><blockquote>The largest "city in the Khumbu: Everest Base Camp</blockquote><br /><br /><table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/t4jtDS1wJENx0KNLHYMSEQ?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/Sh4vlounjnI/AAAAAAAAC6w/rxlHeVuposo/s400/DSC_0026.JPG" /></a></td></table><blockquote>IMG's basecamp puja, a place where Bhuddist Sherpa make morning offerings, with the Khumbu Icefall in the background </blockquote><br /><br />The number of people in the group meant that something was always going on, with many personal highs and lows as people grappelled with the challenges of the trip and supported one another. I'd like to do some justice to the group's efforts given their experience levels coming into this trip. Half had never even <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">hiked</span> before, let alone for 18 days at altitude. Its not just a hike. Its not even just a hike to the bottom of the world's highest peak, which is a strenuous undertaking in itself. Its a whole experience, a journey of the senses and the mind, as well as the body. Many factors in the environment contribute to a trekker's experience, and someone who might have no problems hiking 12 miles a day at home can find themselves unexpectedly drained and depleted on a trip in Nepal. Sleeping in rustic accommodations and trying to find something appealing to a finicky stomach from the limited lodge menus, along with the inevitability of gastrointestinal illness and the potential for altitude sickness conspire against the body. The mind is often caught off guard by the cultural differences -- some strange, fascinating, and thought-provoking, others confusing and heart wrenching -- presented in the plights of Nepalis one sees on the trail at every turn, and in every village. These are people living lives very different in many ways from our own, and their situations are often written clearly on their face. By day's end, the trekker may have been pondering (consciously or unconsciously) one such face for hours, and feel complete mental fatigue in addition to the physical exhaustion.<br /><br /><table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/GFsZE6mrAwo0i6PYrdifMA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/Sh4vmM2L7VI/AAAAAAAAC50/LnJ4-j07L5s/s400/DSC_0004.JPG" /></a></td></tr></table><blockquote>View of Everest and Nuptse at dawn from Kala Pathar</blockquote><br /><br />These folks performed admirably, and were duly rewarded for their efforts with a genuine experience, accompanied by the satisfaction of having achieved something big. It was a life goal for some.<br /><br />Second, the Khumbu valley and its prominence in mountaineering history is well known, as are its native Sherpa people. The Annapurna region is home to as many Himalayan giants, but Mt Everest gets most of the press.<br /><br /><table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/dwXN6QNvGftRLYVhom8jPA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/Sh4vlN1UgYI/AAAAAAAAC5s/uwn8p8HQba0/s400/DSC_0041.JPG" /></a></td></tr></table><blockquote>Our Sirdar (head guide) Phu Tashi Sherpa with Chris and Liz at Basecamp</blockquote><br /><br />While Liz is still out of the country, we've come to the end of our travels together. Liz is in Korea revisiting some of our Baekdu Daegan travels for a to-be-announced future purpose, road tripping with her mother, and visiting family. I am home in Seattle trying to get life going again, absorbing our Nepal experiences and settling as gently as possible back into American life. It won't be a simple process, and I hope we can bring our experiences back into our everyday lives.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767845513837124723noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-64164213797445034122009-04-29T23:47:00.000-07:002009-05-02T00:24:36.795-07:00Annapurna Circuit Complete, Leaving for Everest Base Camp<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F3wN8tlRqBM/Sfvyt2nqxeI/AAAAAAAADgw/6sYzCpXffVk/s1600-h/SSC_0001.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F3wN8tlRqBM/Sfvyt2nqxeI/AAAAAAAADgw/6sYzCpXffVk/s400/SSC_0001.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331121453493044706" /></a><br /><blockquote>The view from Thorung La pass (5416 m / 17800 ft), the high point on the Annapurna Circuit.</blockquote><br />After 23 days of trekking, we completed our walk around the Annapurna massif and up to Annapurna Base Camp. It was an incredible adventure and one that neither of us has the energy to translate into words at the current moment. I think our minds are still absorbing the whole experience. The mountain scenery is astonishing, and the experience of the people and life in the villages in the lowland valleys and the changes higher up were fascinating. <br /><br />We spent a day in Pokhara after completing the trek, then headed back to Kathmandu to prepare for our next trip to Everest Base Camp. All of the IMG Sherpa Trek team has now arrived in Kathmandu, and we're taking off for Lukla--the start of the trek for us--on a small airplane tomorrow morning. It looks to be a good group ready for a great experience. We'll be accompanied by 4 Sherpa guides, all natives of the famous Khumbu valley and 5 porters (No carrying our heavy packs on this trip--what a treat!). The trek to base camp takes about 10 days, and we'll be arriving just around the time the Everest climbing teams are starting to make summit bids. It will be an exciting time to be there.<br /><br />IMG is keeping a blog of the 2009 Everest expedition. It obviously follows more of the progress of the climbers, but I think there will be some information on our progress up to Base Camp. In addition, the Discovery Channel is filming with IMG for this season's installment of their Everest show, so there's probably a lot of interesting photos, video and postings up there. You can also sign up for e-mail updates:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.mountainguides.com/everest-south09.shtml">http://www.mountainguides.com/everest-south09.shtml</a><br /><br />We'll have intermittent access to email during that time if you want to say hello. We'll be back to Kathmandu around May 21st.Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16021470306385458735noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-83131005240012859312009-04-01T05:11:00.000-07:002009-04-01T05:35:28.107-07:00KathmanduThree flights, three time changes, one industrial action (labour strike), a ten hour overnight layover on a very cold airport floor and six in-flight movies later (oh the joy!!!) we arrived in Kathmandu - GMT+5:45 - yep somehow 15 minutes off from the rest of the world. Our bags unfortunately got a free trip to London on our Sydney to Bangkok flight that continued on to London. We hope to receive them tomorrow. <br /><br />Kathmandu is a warren of dirt roads, cows in the middle of the street, construction materials lying around like we're in a war zone and cars, trucks, motorbikes, bicycles and pedestrians all sharing the narrow lanes without much regard to any traffic rules including which side of the road to drive on (the drivers side is on the right of the car). But everyone is smiling and amazingly has all of their limbs intact. And even though everyone seems to be trying to selling us something, everyone feels very sincere and friendly. <br /><br />A nice Australian befriended us while waiting for bags and offered to share his taxi. He had a really lovely hotel outside of all the fray, so we are somewhat comfortably easing into Nepal. We hope to get our bags tomorrow and then leave for the start of the Annapurna Circuit Trek the next day. We aren't expecting there to be internet access (although who knows, millions of travelers visiting a place brings surprising amenities) so we will next be posting and responding to e-mail when we return to Kathmandu at the end of April. So for Liz's friends, there shouldn't be a change in frequency of response! But for Chris's friends and family you may hear a little less from him.Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16021470306385458735noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-85811078962284695592009-03-27T01:37:00.000-07:002009-03-29T02:56:08.117-07:00Last Days in New ZealandIts hard to look back and think that almost three months have passed since we landed in New Zealand, but its true. Our last month here has been somewhat of a blur, not just because its gone quickly, but because its been far more disjointed than February, where all we did was cruise from one overnight hike to another. <br /><br />After an epic 6 day circuit covering two grand river valleys in Nelson Lakes National Park, we left the South Island with a bit of saddness in early March. We spent a couple evenings in Wellington again with <a href="http://baekdudaegan.blogspot.com">Baekdu Daegan</a> guidebook author Roger Shepard, and had a look around New Zealand's capital city. The cultural highlight was the magnificent Te Papa museum, but we also found culinary delights in a small bagel shop run by a New York native, trained in the art of bagelry by an old Jewish baker. For a soul deprived of crusty hard on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside bagels for 7 months, this was indeed a welcome treat.<br /><br />All but too soon we headed north out of Wellington, making our way to Tongiraro National Park. The park consists of 3 volcanoes which we intended to walk around in 3 days, but the weather gods of Tongiraro decided that this wasn't the time, and we decided to move on rather than wait for a clear spell.<br /><br />Rotorua was our next stop, and it proved a nice change from the continual and almost overwhelming immersion in incredible scenery that characterized our travels around the south island. Stunning natural settings is certainly what I dreamed of when planning our trip, but after a solid month of it, we both felt we couldn't absorb much more without just sitting in one place for a long while. Rotorua was still natural scenery, but different enough to break the streak. <br /><br />Rotorua is an area of extreme and pervasive thermal activity, just another manifestation of the huge natural forces at work that have created and are still shaping New Zealand. There are hot springs, geysers, and boiling mud holes boasting colors so rich, so bright and magnificent that the mind can't quite grasp that the visual information its receiving is natural. We went for a relaxing dip in Kerosene Creek, so named for its slight smell. The entire stream was the temperature of a typical hot tub, and the sandy bottom got warmer the deeper you dug your feet. A little waterfall into a large bathing pool nestled in the trees provided a massage and the final touch on this unique little gem. Later that evening, we experimented with the Maori method of cooking using the steam vents of the area, slow-cooking our dinner using the "Hangi" at our camp ground. <br /><br />With time winding down for us in mid March, we reluctantly returned to Auckland and spent a somewhat hectic five days selling our beloved Toyota campervan. Its an oldie, and a car that's older than many of its potential buyers looking for a sound vehicle to carry them around New Zealand can be a bit of a scare. We had the same sentiments before we bought it. As fate would have it, a mechanic bought the van on the spot without even getting inside it. His wife had wanted one for years and he knew he could work with this classic. It felt like a fitting exchange, since we knew the buyer would take care of it, keep it touring NZ. It served us very well and, now that I don't have to worry about selling it anymore, I can look back on it fondly for all the comfort and memories it provided us. <br /><br />For the last 10 days, we chose to explore Northland, north of Auckland. Quaint towns, dramatic coastal views and remote beaches was what Northland was about for us. We camped on beaches almost every night, falling asleep to the waves and waking to sunrises with our feet in the sands. Further north, we kayaked in the iconic subtropical Bay of Islands in perfect late summer weather. One afternoon, we hiked up and across massive sand dunes, and boarded down them, cruising at high speeds and covering ourselves in sand. It was everywhere. Beyond civilization and at the tip of the north island, the experience of sitting in silence with the land and the seas at sacred Cape Reinga was something the pictures won't show. <br /><br />Finally, we settled into the cosy <a href="http://www.endlesssummer.co.nz/">Endless Summer Lodge</a>, our first sense of home in many months. Spending a few nights in an actual house instead of the van, our tent, or a dorm-style hostel was restorative, and brought a glimpse of home just a few months away now. From the comfort of the Endless Summer Lodge, we explored our blooming surfing interests in Ahipara Bay. Well, to be honest we mostly got pounded by waves, but we did catch and ride a few! The beaches of New Zealand, and particularly those of the north island, were an unexpected surprise that filled out our final leg here, and once again demonstrated NZ's wide variety of landscapes. Northland was a spectacular way to go out. <br /><br />On our last full day in Auckland, we walked to the top of Mt Eden, a small hill overlooking the city. From this vantage, the maze of suburban streets we'd been navigating seemed to make a bit more sense, helping me wrap my head around Auckland a bit before departing. But the prize of the afternoon was realizing that the whole city is dotted with small, dormant volcanoes, including the one on which we were standing. They're everywhere, and looking out across the land their shapes were unmistakeable. We had a picnic lunch and reflected on 3 months--a whole summer's worth--of traveling around this small little island nation of natural beauty. Liz commented on how strange it is that the gateway to a country where you've come to see the natural world is usually a city, thereby making up your first and last impressions of the place. I sat back and imagined the landscape we were looking out upon without all the buildings. In my mind's eye, it was no less stunning than the rest of what we'd experienced. I think this was New Zealand's spirit, shining through in the landscape and bidding us farewell.<br /> <br />Here are a couple photo sets from the last couple weeks. Click on the slideshow to see them in full size.<br /><br /><strong>Nelson Lakes National Park</strong><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fchrismeder%2Falbumid%2F5309608708141791649%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><br /><strong>Rotorua and Northland</strong><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fchrismeder%2Falbumid%2F5317775568057669841%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><br />On Monday, March 30th, we fly to Bangkok, spend an undesireable night in the airport, and then fly on to Kathmandu, Nepal. We'll spend April trekking around Annapurna, and during May we'll join IMG's Sherpa Trek to Everest Base Camp. Nepal was a must for both of us, and we're looking forward to it, even it means we have to leave New Zealand.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767845513837124723noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-28101069504614508812009-03-04T23:28:00.000-08:002009-03-06T23:39:45.377-08:00Popaw Riggs<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SbIkOjo5A2I/AAAAAAAAC2o/Y9-d_JG4HLk/s1600-h/DSC_0007%5B1%5D.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310346743126754146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 266px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SbIkOjo5A2I/AAAAAAAAC2o/Y9-d_JG4HLk/s400/DSC_0007%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="center"><br /><a href="http://www.nwanews.com/story.php?paper=nwat&section=obits&storyid=74510">Marion "Mac" McKay Riggs<br />October 16, 1924 - March 2, 2009</a></div><br /><br /><br /><div align="left">My grandfather could wiggle his ears. It's something I would look forward to witnessing every time we went to their house for a visit. I would wait until after dinner, while the plates were being cleared and coffee was being made, and beg him to wiggle them. He would hem and haw and then finally give in and sternly instruct me to pay close attention. Then to my delight, those massive ears would wiggle up and down. He could also pull the tip of his thumb off in a magic trick that flummoxed my young mind for many years. Grandfathers can do the most amazing things.</div><br /><br /><br /><div align="left">My grandfather was a stern and rather imposing figure that I only saw a couple of times of year. I can't say I was particularly close with him, but I will dearly miss his strong presence that was a key ingredient in the tight-knit mix of our small Riggs family. He had this uncanny ability to nurse a single shot of Bourbon on ice for what seemed like hours. He would gently swirl the ice around in the tumbler, occasionally tapping the ring finger of his right hand holding the glass, the massive ring on the finger adding a more staccato "tink" to the tinkle of the ice. This sound was an integral part of the presence of my grandfather - like the sound of his voice. His voice was a deep gravelly sound that liked to instruct the "Yankee" portion of our family and later my very "Yankee" fiance on the proper pronunciation of "bayou" and more importantly "pecan." He could tell the longest stories; the sound of his voice and the tinkling of the ice the tell-tale sign of a Riggs gathering.</div><br /><br /><br /><div align="left">Popaw hated commercials, a quality I absolutely love now, but didn't understand when I was younger. Each commercial break during Jeopardy! he would hit the mute button. Commercials were for talking, but woe to the person who talked during the television show. Once the mute button was flipped, talking was to cease. Yet he put up with, even encouraged and chuckled at, the elaborate horse jumping courses my cousin, sister and I would set up and for hours pretend we were horses, running circuits around the house, regardless of the state of the mute button.</div><br /><br /><br /><div align="left">Popaw had papery hands just like his mother, my great-grandmother. He does not have what I have dubbed "Riggs hands" which are in reality "Breit hands" a trait my grandmother seems to have passed on to all of us - huge wrinkled knuckles with skinny fingers in between. Popaw's fingers were thick and even. He would spread his hands on the table while waiting for coffee after dinner and use all his fingers to play a little roll off - like the drum cadence at the beginning of movies. He would fold those papery hands in front of his face while listening to Benny Goodman (another quality I could not appreciate until I was much older), occasionally tapping the tips of his fingers together in time with the music. Or those solid hands would rest on each arm of his easy chair, tapping occasionally in time to the music. He had the other uncanny ability to doze with his legs crossed, still always holding his drink up, occasionally tapping those thick fingers in time to music.</div><br /><br /><br /><div align="left">My grandfather also hated the saxophone and I absolutely love that about him.</div><br /><br /><br /><div align="left">My impressions and memories of him, even as an adult, are still that of a child remembering a loving grandfather. I often think of some of my baby pictures, me on Popaw's lap, usually dumping something in his morning coffee, and him just smiling, happy with his first grandchild.<br />I never knew my grandfather in a professional sense or in any adult way that most people in the world knew him. But I do remember staring at the wall of the guestroom/office my sister and I would stay in when spending summers at my grandparents. It was filled with plaques from various civic clubs, Rotary, the many square dance clubs and federations he served in various offices for and engineering degrees and distinctions. I remember being filled with awe by a person so active and so seemingly important. To this day it inspires me just how involved he was with his community, not to be today's super-mom or dad, but just because it was the right thing to do. </div><br /><br /><div align="left">Eighty-four is a good long life; I'm very fortunate to be 29 and still have grandparents in my life. But his passing still makes the time seem too short. I will miss him dearly.<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div align="center">* * *</div><br /><br /><br /><div align="left">My biggest nightmare when travelling is the death of someone back home and not being able to get back. My grandfather died on March 2, 2009. I was sitting in a hut in Nelson Lakes National Park waiting out the rain in order to have a clear day to hike the alpine section. We were hiking for six days and it had been well over a week since I had checked my e-mail. In that time my grandfather was admitted to the hospital with a blockage in one of his bypass arteries from his previous heart attack. He also had pneumonia at the time. Early Monday morning he went into cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated leaving him on life support. The fortunate thing was that the whole family was in Fayetteville, AR (where my grandparents now live) to see my grandmother who just got out of the hospital for hip replacement surgery. My grandfather did not wish to be artificially kept alive on life support, so later that morning they took him off and surrounded by his family he died shortly after. I did not find out about all of this until two days later - 16 hours before the memorial service. It would be physically impossible for me to get back home in time.</div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><br /><div align="left">My family is very practical and even if I could get home, I think we would all feel it would financially be an unwise thing to do. So it leaves me here in a small town in New Zealand feeling a little lost. Normally I would be with my family, I would meet other people who had been in Popaw's life. I could hug my grandmother. But instead I'm sitting in an internet cafe debating if I should send flowers. How weird to send flowers to your own family?</div><br /><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">So I'm writing this tribute to my grandfather. I'm sure he's a like a lot of other grandfathers out there, uniquely wonderful in the way only grandfather's can. I hope I can do justice to the truly wonderful person he was.</div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><br /><div align="left">Goodbye Popaw. I love you and will miss you.</div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16021470306385458735noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-71599852153562364392009-03-04T23:22:00.000-08:002009-03-04T23:25:30.696-08:00Routeburn Track, Mt. Aspiring and Arthur's PassMore to write soon, for now here are some pictures to enjoy. We are currently in the Golden Bay area and it's raining again! We'll cross the Cook Strait to the North Island in a few days and start touring up there.<br /><br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2FElizabethYung%2Falbumid%2F5309528392138149985%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss%26authkey%3DGv1sRgCI_Xo5OR7MPHxQE" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16021470306385458735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-75695213468067907432009-02-22T14:41:00.001-08:002009-02-22T15:01:36.288-08:00More Fiordland and Mt Aspiring NP Photos, onto West CoastFiordland...<br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2FElizabethYung%2Falbumid%2F5305752795096809393%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><br />Mt Aspiring National Park...<br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fchrismeder%2Falbumid%2F5303513561121952209%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><br />Here are a few more pictures to enjoy from our time in Fiordland. We've now been working our way north and after a day of ridculously amazing weather in Aspiring NP where we hiked up to Cascade Saddle, we've had to pay the piper and it has been raining for four days straight. This means we've skipped up the west coast, missing all the glaciers (but really, we can climb on these at home right?) and experiencing first hand, just a little bit of the 7 meters of rain that falls on Westland annualy - it has to fall some time right?<br /><br />We're past the halfway point of our trip and thoughts have been turning towards home lately. We just purchased our final plane tickets. We will be in Nepal in April and May to hike the Annapurna Circuit and trek up to Everest Base Camp. Then Chris heads back to Seattle, while I will head back to Korea for three weeks to do a little research for a Korean trekking tour I'm trying to put together, and to make what will surely be an epic road trip with my mom! Then it's off to Omaha for a while and a western US road trip for about a month, putting me back in Seattle around August. So far and yet so close!<br /><br />We've both been talking about what it will be like to be back at home. A lot of historic changes and turbulent events have taken place since we left. When we left Barack Obama had just recieved the Democratic Party nomination. Now he is President of the United States, unemployement is at 7% and we are in what all the newspapers have dubbed a global recession. And yet here we are jobless (and really homeless) traipsing around the world in an old van. It's hard to stay in touch with that every day reality. I'm sure there will be a lot of reverse culture shock when we return! For now we'll just keep up with the hard task of seeing as many amazing sights as we can see and enjoying as much good food and wine as we can!Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16021470306385458735noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-46607315815628394322009-02-11T20:24:00.000-08:002009-02-11T21:30:04.403-08:00Southland and Fiordland National ParkAfter leaving Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park, we made a coastal circuit from the town of Oamaru on New Zealand's east coast, down through the funky college town of Dunedin and along the Southern Scenic Route up to Te Anau, the gateway to Fiordland National Park.<br /><br />Dunedin was a great college town full of good restaurants, two excellent (and free!) museums and--like any college town worth it's salt--a few breweries. We toured the Speight's brewery which we've dubbed the New Belgium of New Zealand. Not quite as good nor extensive in their offerings, but it's a solid drinkable ale with a few very good craft beer offerings. Such a welcome relief after the tasteless lagers of Asia and even a lot of the more common Budweiser-type offerings here. Interesting little tidbit: Speight's bottles their beer in Christchurch, a few hours north of Dunedin so all the beer leaves their brewery in tanker trucks most bound for the bottling plant. However a few local taverns take deliveries directly from these tankers (think gas station delivery trucks) into their 5000 liter tanks. This unpasteurized beer only has a shelf life of a couple of weeks, but the thirsty students of Dunedin have no problem finishing it off well before it's expiry date!<br /><br />We've mostly been trying new wines. New Zealand produces an impressive number of varietals, but by far the best has been Sauvingnon Blanc from Marlborough and Pinot Noir from Central Otago. Once we started buying in the appropriate price bracket (about 25 NZ$) they have all been excellent!<br /><br />On the Otago Peninsula we saw all sorts of marine wildlife - yellow eyed penguins, albatross, sea gulls, scags (cormorants) and NZ fur seals. We also enjoyed nice walks in the rural countryside filled with sheep grazing right next to the ocean. It's hard not to look around and ponder how all of this would be filled with second (third or fourth) vacation homes in the US, all the good views blocked by 5000 sq. ft. "cottages." But here, it's just some sheep working frantically to keep the grass short.<br /><br />The coastal route was beautiful indeed, and we took our sweet old time, cruising at the van's moderate pace, and pausing along the way wherever our interests dictated. Lots of wind, rugged coastline, more penguins and even some Hector's dolphins. We've been having some great luck seeing wildlife on this trip.<br /><br />After a few days of lounging around in our personal "beachside cottage" (re: our van), we headed inland to Fiordland National Park which together with Mt. Cook and Westland National Park make up the Southwest New Zealand World Heritage Conservation Area (a UNESCO World Heritage site). These national parks make up 10% of New Zealand's land mass...pretty impressive. We hiked the Kepler Track, dubbed one of New Zealand's "Great Walks." The Kepler was created to take some pressure off the immensely popular Milford and Routeburn tracks. It's a wonderfully designed track, built in a loop (unlike most tracks here) with a low grade and long switch backs. In the forest it was almost like being on I-80 - the track was straight and flat, Chris and I could walk two abreast and gape at the forest without running into each other. The forest is similar to the northwest in that it is a temperate rainforest ergo it is wall to wall green moss shag carpeting. But the trees are mostly deciduous - these very small-leafed and gigantic beech, and their ferns are so big they're trees! The alpine views from the Kepler were amazing--impossibly steep mountains falling right into a deep narrow lake. You kind of have to stop and pinch yourself every so often because the scenery is so much to take in.<br /><br />The day after getting off the Kepler track, we headed up to the infamous Milford Sound. Words can't do this justice, so I will let our pictures do the talking. We took a cruise around the fiord and out to the Tasman Sea. There, dolphins greeted us like we were at Sea World - flips, leaps out of the water in pairs, they were everywhere. Very uncommon, and absolutely amazing. Luckily it rained cats and dogs the next day because I was on sensory overload and needed a day of reading in the van to process everything I'd seen.<br /><br />To round out the fiord tours, we went on a overnight kayak trip in Doubtful Sound - so named because when James Cook passed it in explorations of New Zealand was "doubtful" he would be able to turn his ship around and sail out if he went in. Indeed it's very narrow and the wind is squirrely. We had perfect weather the first day and rain the second which gave you a good feeling of the place by seeing the contrast in weather and mood. The kayaking was wonderful, the scenery was amazing and our guide was excellent.<br /><br />Now we're in amped up Queenstown, off to hike the Routeburn and Caples Tracks -- another 4 day circuit. The weather has taken a turn for the colder so we'll see how we fair on this one! Enjoy the pictures! <br /><br />As always, click on the pictures for a full screen slideshow.<br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2FElizabethYung%2Falbumid%2F5301735625875970273%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fchrismeder%2Falbumid%2F5301761254336930161%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767845513837124723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-46414714464140692722009-01-25T21:31:00.000-08:002009-01-25T22:40:43.108-08:00Road trip around New Zealand<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F3wN8tlRqBM/SX1V-0cQcFI/AAAAAAAADJ8/ziR8H6lO0SY/s1600-h/DSC_0003.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F3wN8tlRqBM/SX1V-0cQcFI/AAAAAAAADJ8/ziR8H6lO0SY/s400/DSC_0003.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295483274574983250" /></a><br />Arriving in New Zealand brings a touch of culture shock coming from Asia. Everyone speaks English, everything is more expensive, and you can't take a bus everywhere you would like to go. We showed up in Auckland, and after dusting off the wear and tear of overland travel of the previous week, set out to purchase a vehicle to cart us around New Zealand's north and south islands. <br /><br />Its strange how in some places, there is just a certain way things are done, and in New Zealand, there is a burgeoning backpacker culture where many travelers either rent or even buy a campervan. Buying a car is surprisingly easy as far as the paperwork goes, and after two days of exhaustive searching and filling out a few forms at the post office, we were the prowd owners of a 1979 Toyota Hiace van. The van has a pop-up top that we put up when camping which allows a standing position in the kitchen/closet area. There is a two burner LPG stove with a small oven mounted on top of a chest of plastic drawers which house everything from culterly and cooking utensils to food and clothing. The Mystery Machine also has a bed, which is its biggest draw, allowing us to camp inexpensively, while providing a significant step up in comfort from tent camping. Car camp grounds with varying levels of ameneties are everywhere, making the perfect network for a road trip in a souped up van. Its a pretty sweet way to travel.<br /><br />A typical tour of New Zealand would encompass loops of both the north and south islands, but our climbing habit dictated that we head straight for Mt Cook National Park in the middle of the south island to get the best of conditions before the routes melted out too much. Four days later, we arrived in the awe-inspiring Mt Cook region. Along the way, we stopped to stay with <a href="http://www.baekdudaegan.blogspot.com/">Roger Shepard</a>, fellow Baekdu Daegan thru-hiker and co-author of the forthcoming first-ever English guidebook to Korea's mystical long trail. It was a great visit and really cool to connect with someone we'd never met but with whom we have much in common. Thanks, Roger!<br /><br />Settling into Mt Cook National Park, I was keenly aware that we'd discovered something I was helplessly falling in love with. While the mountains look a bit like Washington's Cascade Range, the glaciers are more massive and continuous, and the area just oozes atmosphere as the heart and soul of the country's climbing scene. There is a brilliant network of high mountain huts, providing bases for exploration deep within the range while offering a safe haven to wait out the infamous bad weather. People fly into remote huts and stay there for weeks, heading out on adventures when the weather cooperates. The Department of Conservation, much like out National Park Service but a tad slicker, runs most of the huts, all of which are equiped with radios via which nightly weather forecasts are delivered. I dream of such a system and culture in Washington, but it doesn't exist for various reasons which I won't go into here.<br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fchrismeder%2Falbumid%2F5295469841415569857%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><br />Waiting for the weather to clear, we hung out in the van and perused our maps and guidebook looking for a suitable climbing objective. The rangers at the DOC vistors center and the guides at Alpine Guides were especially helpful in this as well. We headed out optimistically towards Sefton Bivy, a small 4 person hut perched high above the village at the base of the glacial mass on the east side of Mt Sefton, one of the region's heavy hitters. Our goal was to climb a nearby peak called the Footstool. It sounded benign enough to me. <br /><br />A 3 am start wasn't enough to get us to the top before the heat of the day signalled that it was time to turn around, 100 meters from the top. That isn't to say that the climb was a failure, but we certainly felt like it got the best of us at the time. To assess it from the optimist's point of view, we had a wonderful climb up and over two beautiful glaciers in fairly good weather, and were witness to a glorious sunrise over the region. Our position was high enough that we had front row seats for the sun's greeting of Mt Cook and the surrounding peaks, as well as a constant flow of clouds from the always-wet west coast valleys. It was a fantastic way to really start our trip in New Zealand, and a great introduction to the Mt Cook area.<br /><br />After the Footstool, we hiked to the high alpine Ball Pass on a great weather day. The route was longer than we'd expected and full of loose rock and scree, but we were rewarded with spectacular panoramas of the Hooker Valley (and the whole of our route on the Footstool from a different perspective), the Tasman Valley, and an up close encounter with the massive and imposing Caroline Face on Mt Cook. The whole park experience was quite unexpected, and we had a hard time leaving, both of us having that 'end of vacation' feeling, even though we still have over two months left in New Zealand. I guess that's how you know your feelings about a place.<br /><br />We have already planned a return trip to the Mt Cook area for some ski touring, hearing that the weather is actually better in the winter, and desiring to spend some time high up in the huts. And thus, the problem with traveling is illuminated here. Some say you travel to get it out of your system, but for others--including me--that is just not the case. Instead of checking things off the list we've just been adding things onto the end of it.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767845513837124723noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-8429570011295908512009-01-08T20:28:00.000-08:002009-01-08T21:16:05.878-08:00Krabi -> Singapore -> AucklandOne of my favorite bands to see in concert built much of their reputation on brilliantly executed segues between several songs, often across seemingly disparate keys and musical themes. These seemless movements from one song to the next were shown on their setlists with arrows ( -> ), suggesting a journey, a connection of ideas. Thinking back over the last week of our travels, I saw a parallel. I love the idea that traveling is a method for one to draw his own route across the earth joining places of interest, but more importantly, to connect meaningful experiences in his mind.<br /><br />If I think back across the years, these three places hold much intrigue for me. Krabi is a world class rock climbing destination which has been the subject of more discussions I've had about Thailand than any other place in the country. Singapore's strict but squeaky-clean image was burned into my mind (maybe all of ours?) in high school when a traveler was caned for a petty offense of chewing gum or spitting on the street. Simultaneously frightened and curious, I figured I'd end up here eventually to have a look. Finally, New Zealand (of which Auckland is the gateway) was the initial impetus for my wanderlust as a university student. So, it is with great amusement that I've now threaded these destinations together as a traveler. <br /><br />We spent five days rock climbing in the paradise of Ton Sai Beach, Krabi in southern Thailand. A friend flew in from Seattle to meet us, and then we unintentionally ran into our hiking companion from Korea on New Years Eve, making for a wonderful crew and a week of fun. The climbing on Ton Sai is amazing, to say the least -- big, juggy limestone, with so much variety. We climbed for five days straight, whipping us both into exhaustion, but leaving us equally elated. Of particular note was the day we spent deep water soloing. Climbers will be familiar with this, but for the benefit of the uninitiated, it is a form of climbing in which you climb unroped on cliffs directly above the water, using the water as your safety net. Obviously, ability and confidence can get you into hairy spots here, but its an amazing way to climb, and released me from a recent fear of falling while roped (That might sound strange; scared to fall while roped, but not scared while not roped high above water, but that's how it played out). For me, discovering deep water soloing was akin to backcountry skiing. That is, a perfect combination of two things I love to do; climb and jump off things into the water. It was pure climbing, and pure fun.<br /><br />Liz made some wonderful connections during her NOLS course in Alaska, and we've had the pleasure of meeting up with several of her classmates on this trip, two of whom live in Singapore. After the protests at the Bangkok airport in December, and desiring to see her NOLS friends, we booked our flight to Auckland out of Singapore. We traveled overland by bus and a 14 hour train from Krabi through Malaysia to arrive in affluent Singapore two days ago. Its a wonderful city as far as cities go, and with the guidance of her friends Chin Yong and Isky, we have had a great time exploring it a bit. Mostly, we've eaten a lot of good food, stayed in a great <a href="http://www.betelbox.com">hostel</a>, and had our first microbrew beer since leaving Seattle 4 months ago. Phwew. <br /><br />We leave for Auckland this evening, and arriving there will, for me, represent the fulfillment of a decade long dream of traveling to New Zealand, which has occupied a spot in my mind like Shangri-la for much of my adult life.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767845513837124723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-6472155551897833332009-01-04T04:47:00.000-08:002009-01-04T05:04:20.654-08:00Laos in Photos<em>Here are several photo sets from Laos. They were much easier to upload here in Thailand, where the internet speeds are light years ahead!</em><br /><br /><strong>The Gibbon Experience</strong><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fchrismeder%2Falbumid%2F5285491724631586033%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><br /><strong>Luang Nam Tha and Muang Sing</strong><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fchrismeder%2Falbumid%2F5285506961599174353%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><br /><strong>Muang Khua and Muang Ngoi </strong><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fchrismeder%2Falbumid%2F5285508670237300385%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><br /><strong>Luang Prabang</strong><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fchrismeder%2Falbumid%2F5285509024967606721%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767845513837124723noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-9333278010624495782008-12-30T00:13:00.000-08:002008-12-30T01:41:38.134-08:00Postcards from Laos<div align="left"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SVnpajCmD0I/AAAAAAAACn0/NXF1y424T7c/s1600-h/DSC_0026.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285512279987982146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 268px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SVnpajCmD0I/AAAAAAAACn0/NXF1y424T7c/s400/DSC_0026.JPG" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-size:78%;"><em>Chris plays with some locals (who all show him up in diving ability) at a swimming hole north of Vang <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Vieng</span>.</em><br /></span><p align="center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SVnnjvObjFI/AAAAAAAACns/jCj2adl6Zg4/s1600-h/DSC_0026.JPG"></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZdunQvTuWMA/SVnnjvObjFI/AAAAAAAACns/jCj2adl6Zg4/s1600-h/DSC_0026.JPG"></a></p><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">We are in Bangkok right now, having just returned from spending almost four weeks in Laos. There is very little <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">internet</span> access in Laos and when we did find connections, they were pretty slow. I felt time was better spent playing cards, drinking <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">BeerLao</span> and watching life go by. Consequently, I have to figure out how to summarize the past four weeks in a reasonable length blog post, while adequately describing the amazing time we had there. I'll be honest - I can't. </div><br />There were countless amazing specific experiences I should start by describing. We slept in tree houses accessed by zip lines at <a href="http://www.gibbonx.org/">The Gibbon Experience </a>, a nature reserve in northwest Laos that is working to protect a population of Black Gibbon previously thought to be extinct through community based <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">eco</span>-tourism. It was too cold to hear the gibbons sing, but we awoke each morning to a symphony of birds feeding on fruit from the tree our tree house was set in.<br /><br />In <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Luang</span> Nam <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Tha</span>, further north, we hiked through beautiful dense forests of the Nam Ha conservation area and visited Hmong, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Lanten</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Khmu</span> villages. "Eco-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">toursim</span>" is a buzz word indiscriminately used all over Laos and Thailand, but we found in in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Luang</span> Nam <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Tha</span>, the authorities have had <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">success</span> in setting up a business model that provides monetary benefit to the villages and meaningful experience to travellers without resorting to "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">ethno</span>-tourism" that shamelessly exploits villages and turns them into little more than a costume circus.<br /><br />We travelled by boat to a town called <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Muang</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Noi</span> in central northern Laos. The town is accessible only by boat, has no motor vehicles and only has electricity from dusk until about 9 p.m. We spent several days lazily hanging out by the river or paddling up it and admiring the dramatic limestone <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">karsts</span>.<br /><br />We spent almost a week in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Luang</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Prabang</span>, a UNESCO world heritage city, admiring the architecture, marveling at the diversity of tourists, enjoying coffee and bread, taking cooking classes and buying far too many textiles.<br /><br />I think, however, our experience in Laos is better described by many non-specific incidents that happened over our four weeks. They form indelible pictures in my mind - personal postcards if you will - that I wish I could fully describe with words.<br /><br />Roads in Laos aren't just for cars. Sitting on a bus you will watch the driver dodge a cow, dog, chicken, small child, motorcycle, all manner of modified utility moped/truck, or rice drying on the road, usually by swerving to the other side of the road and honking repeatedly, which means there is a requisite swerving back into the "correct" lane when oncoming traffic, cow, dog, chicken, etc. is encountered on the other side of the road. In <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Luang</span> Nam <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Tha</span>, there is a long flat road that parallels a runway. You can see for miles in either direction. On it you will see schoolgirls in uniform riding six abreast on their bikes, kids walking, men and women hauling produce or firewood in baskets and all manner of vehicle ranging from a street food stand that is little more than moped with a small kitchen attached, to a several ton dump truck. Along this road there are people playing soccer, doing laundry, showering, cooking dinner or simply standing and watching life going by. I'm sure accidents happen, but it's amazing how much life seems to peacefully coexist on this two-lane stretch of pavement.<br /><br />In the evening campfires are built in the yard. Dinner is cooked over it and the whole family hangs out around the fire until bedtime. The valleys fill with smoke and the smell of campfire in the evening which doesn't burn off until around midday the next day. All our food has a slight smoky barbecued flavor to it as most of our food in Laos has been cooked over the fire. Most of our food also freely wanders around town - no matter the size of town - and we probably very well walked past the chicken or pig that became our chicken or pork <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">laap</span> (a Lao minced meat salad eaten with sticky rice) for dinner. I mean this in the most endearing way, but Laos feels like one gigantic barnyard. Chickens, ducks, goats, cows, water buffalo, pigs and of course thousands of cats and dogs all freely wander around. For someone who grew up in a city and longs for goats and chickens of her own, it provided countless hours of amusement. Of course, I think of all these animals a little less endearingly when the roosters begin crowing at 4 a.m. - and this happens everywhere, regardless of the size of the village or the city.<br /><br />Kids are very adept with knives. A machete is standard issue by at least age three or four as children in the village accompany their parents or grandparents to gather food products in the forest. I've seen a two year old wandering around the yard with a 8 inch chef's knife which was only mildly noticed by her mother. The funny thing is that it little girl looked quite comfortable carrying the knife instead of the usual tottering-around-about-to-fall-on-their-face way that most two year <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">olds</span> look. Children carry younger children and babies in order to free up their mothers to do heavier work. It gives them all the appearance of being small adults. There is an almost unnerving <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">wiseness</span> to their face that makes them appear much older than their size indicates they are.<br /><br />Laos is a very poor country. People live in straw and wooden shacks. And while I think most people are well feed since in general the majority of the population grows their own food, they have little extra to cover for an illness, crop failure or flood. Chris and I had a lot of debates about the ethics of us just wandering all over the country if we're helping or causing harm. It's a good debate to have and travelling here also opened our eyes to the poverty we ignore in our own and other first world nations. These past four weeks have definitely not been a vacation, but the warmth of all the people we encountered, the scenery and the food have left it's mark and we look forward to returning to Laos in the future. </div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16021470306385458735noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-57695025813071801192008-12-09T05:43:00.001-08:002008-12-25T20:02:50.892-08:00Northern Thailand<span style="font-style:italic;">Our time in northern Thailand flew by. A waning visa gave us about two weeks to explore the north, although we could have easily spent two months there. The mountains, people and the food were all amazing, and I don't have the energy to sufficiently do any of it justice, so I'll let the photos do most of the talking. Liz has many other choice photo selections, but she chooses to spend less time in front of the computer that we left home to escape than I. A constantly morphing itinerary ended up looking something like this.</span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Phitsanulok and Sukhothai</span><br />Phitsanulok is a small market town where we took a deep breath to enjoy normal life and then visited nearby Sukhothai to take in the ruins of one of Thailand's ancient capitals. <br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fchrismeder%2Falbumid%2F5277773294383850881%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Chiang Mai</span><br />The cultural center of the north, Chiang Mai was a surprise to me even after having heard so much about it. Art galleries, new world coffee shops, markets running day and night, and delicious food of all origins and for all budgets. It was hard to grasp what exactly was going on in Chiang Mai for me, but it was certainly an entertaining place to spend four days. But alas, we are mountain people and the peace and quiet of the hills called us further north and west to the remote province of Mae Hong Son.<embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fchrismeder%2Falbumid%2F5277788323963649041%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Soppong & Cave Lodge</span><br />Soppong is a small yet surprisingly busy market town high in the hills where many of the surrounding hill tribes come to sell their produce and handmade goods. We rolled into Soppong on a bouncy orange bus, spent one night and day checking out the little town and then headed for the fabled <a href="http://www.cavelodge.com">Cave Lodge</a>. One of the reviews we read said that Cave Lodge was more an experience than a place to stay, and no words were ever more true. From the moment we arrived, staying at Cave Lodge was different than any place we've stayed in three months of traveling. The large open air communal area--inside which nightly camp fires were hosted by the Australian owner--was a great place to meet others, and that we did. The lodge's location in the rural woods just 30 km from the Myanmar border also allowed for many exploring opportunities. We kayaked through a 500 meter long cave, wandered through dramatic limestone karst cliff formations, and biked to a nearby Karen (hill tribe) village where we hired a local guide to take us into the forest and into yet another cave. There is so much to see and do in this small area that we are certain to return, and I would highly recommend a stay here to anyone looking for adventure and fun in northern Thailand. Check out the website in the link above for more.<br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fchrismeder%2Falbumid%2F5282467823669414609%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Mae Hong Son</span><br />Mae Hong Son is a small Thai town nestled in the mountains of the northwestern corner of the country. We spent several days here enjoying the town's market, peaceful daily ongoings, and exploring the surrounding mountains and villages on motorbikes and on foot. <br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fchrismeder%2Falbumid%2F5282467931997696081%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767845513837124723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-76384012850846507232008-11-30T07:38:00.000-08:002008-12-01T06:51:47.919-08:00In the middle of somewhere<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F3wN8tlRqBM/STP2eia90MI/AAAAAAAACrw/uM-9qc-PEQ8/s1600-h/RSCN4686.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F3wN8tlRqBM/STP2eia90MI/AAAAAAAACrw/uM-9qc-PEQ8/s400/RSCN4686.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274830593077399746" /></a><br /><em><blockquote>The best things in life aren't things.<br /> --Art Buchwald</blockquote></em>Sometimes the best thing you can do is to sit down in one place and wait for something interesting to happen. This idea was presented to me by a friend in college, and her wisdom at that young age continues to impress me as I go through life. She's right time after time, and this has been especially true during our travels. Liz and I aren't see-as-much-as-possible travelers, even though we've tried that several times on this trip. Discovering the depth of a place is what has revealed our best experiences. <br /><br />If you asked most travelers about their trips through Thailand, few would probably mention the town of Phitsanulok. Located in central Thailand between the bustle of Bangkok and the natural beauty of the northern provinces, Phitsanulok is just a simple Thai town with little to offer the sight-seeker. It has a train station, several markets, a few hotels, and a riverside nightlife scene. The nationally-revered Buddha image at Wat Yai is probably the town's most significant tourist draw, but that alone wouldn't be enough to pull in most foreign travelers on their way north to the cultural hub of Chiang Mai. <br /><br />We stopped in Phitsanulok as a base for a side trip to the ancient city ruins of Sukhothai, an hour away. While we enjoyed the ruins for their historical value, our time in Phitsanulok extended beyond what we had initially intended simply because the town was such a pleasant place to just be. Its strangely comforting to try to live a normal life in someone else's normal town.<br /><br />Over three days, we enjoyed walking around, getting the lay of the land, eating three square meals a day, and taking time to learn and practice speaking a bit more Thai. We mastered numbers, greetings, basic commerce ("How much is this?"), and the always necessary "What do you call this?" so we can ask for something we've enjoyed in the future. After several meals in the same small morning buffet, we were greeted with smiles and encouragement at our communication attempts. We started recognizing and passing people we'd seen several times on the street, and they recognized us as well. We found the post office, talked to high school students and shopped at the local market. <br /><br />The highlight for both of us, I believe, was a string of interactions we had with a little girl and her mother over three days. Its amazing how much you can truly communicate without language. I hope I never forget the feeling of those three days. Its richness will certainly outshine any souvenir I could possibly hope to bring home.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02767845513837124723noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-76752640000939882852008-11-18T00:28:00.000-08:002008-11-18T01:33:19.241-08:00Returning from our Vacation"But you're on vacation...for a whole year!" is perhaps your protest. But after hiking for seven weeks, we felt our bodies needed a break. So we hightailed it down to southern Thailand to the island of Ko Phangan. We arrived safely after much adventure involving a tourist bus and boat that was nothing like what was advertised, while having a bit of a stomach bug that we probably unfairly attributed to some yummy treat we had from a street vendor. How we ended up on said tourist bus is also another lesson in why we shouldn't talk to strangers. But no harm came of it all and now we are savvier travelers (until the next incident!).<br /><br />After some antibiotics and rest, we both recovered, it stopped raining (it turns out that while November is considered part of the dry season in Thailand, it is the rainiest month of the year for Koh Samui and Koh Phangan!) and we enjoyed beautiful weather, quiet, empty beaches, and some amazingly great food. Quite by chance we found Haad Khom and the wonderful people of <a href="http://www.phangan.info/oceanview/index.htm">Ocean View Resort</a>. Most of the places we stayed on the island had ten-page menus of pretty non-descript western and western-style Thai food. Ocean View is run by a foodie, with specials every night like steamed white snapper with lime. Absolutely amazing. We could have spent a month there happily biding times between three (or four!) meals a day on the beach.<br /><br />But alas, we felt there is so much we want to see and lest we kick our selves later on, we decided to end our vacation and head north. We head to Sukothai (ancient capital city ruins) tomorrow, and hopefully we'll meet up with some friends from my NOLS course in Alaska. I'm sure we'll have stories! In the mean time here are some pictures for your enjoyment.<br /><br /><br /><embed pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" src="http://picasaweb.google.co.th/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.co.th&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.co.th%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2FElizabethYung%2Falbumid%2F5269894086297633473%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss"></embed><br /><br />Bangkok:<br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fchrismeder%2Falbumid%2F5268008574271106929%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><br />Ko Phangan:<br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fchrismeder%2Falbumid%2F5269923387919042513%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16021470306385458735noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6447554443131738660.post-6699410761318858012008-11-06T04:13:00.000-08:002008-11-06T04:24:43.310-08:00Hello Thailand!With a quite a bit of sadness, we bid farewell to Incheon Emo, my mom, sister and the comfort of the known in Korea yesterday. We hopped on a flight to Bangkok arrived around 11 pm, took a bus into the city, got off in a mess of foreigners from all over the world and a whole host of stores, bars restaurants and street vendors catering to backpackers needs - it's like Disney World for potheads. We're back in the heat and humidity again (can you tell we live really far north!?) and spent today wandering around in a bit of a daze. For me it's been a tough adjustment not knowing how to read anything nor be able to say anything other than thank you, which still usually comes out in English. I go back and forth between feeling like a jerk and loving the complete foreignness of it all. It's interesting to shift gears from "traveller" to "tourist." We had a great day just wandering around the area without consulting a guide book too much. We ate several interesting things too, including what I think was a deep fat fried omelet. The Thai food issue will surely be interesting. We'll probably spend one more day here and then head south for some beaches and relaxation - although I'm sure the south will still provide lots of fun stories to share!Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16021470306385458735noreply@blogger.com4