Brian and Kristin's Travels : EuroAsia : Western Caribbean

Coming Home

2006-11-16T04:20:00Z

We'll be back in FL tomorrow at 9AM ...

The Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City

2006-11-14T02:21:00Z

First let me thank everyone who has offered us housing for when we get back into the states. Unfortunately, I haven't been feeling well since I got off the plane and feel its best if we just go straight home to Florida. We're trying to get a flight from Cal to Florida using some Delta credit we have. If we can't get a flight by tonight, we'll probably crash at the airport until we do.

We have gotten some presents but we're not 100% sure if they will get past customs. If they get stopped, we'll give pictures instead =P

We went to the Forbidden City and the Wall of China. The Forbidden city was indeed a cool place to see. We decided to rent an audio tour but the damn thing kept messing up and we either didn't get to hear part of the tour or the tour would start in the wrong place. Besides that little annoyance, we found the city beautiful. We also got to see an art exhibit by the local University's art classes. It included pieces done by students as well as teachers.

The Wall was amazing. It wasn't covered in snow like we had hoped =( but it was beautiful none the less. We picked up a guide along the way and were shown the old and new parts of the wall. We were also shown a little mountain pass that kept close to the Wall and took us through little farming villages and crops. It was a nice view that very few foreigners get to see. At the end of our walk along the Wall, we took a "cable car" down to where the parking lot is. By Cable car I mean a harness and a rope down a steep cliff and over a river. All in all, it was a fun experience. By the way, you have to pay to enter the wall and pay again to cross this rickity bridge to exit the wall.

Today is going to be a rest day... or as close of a rest day as we get. We'll be packing and getting everything situated.

-K

P.S.- Hey Grandpa and Grandma! Thanks for the advice but we already bought tickets to LAX. We would love to see the northern lights but don't have the money to change our tickets.

P.P.S- We think we'll be home by Thanksgiving.

Goodbyte Tibet, Hello Beijing (Peking) and The Great Wall

2006-11-09T04:01:00Z

Well, we had our fun here in Lhasa, time to move on. Note for any would be travellers, give yourselves about 2 weeks in Tibet, as the sights are 1-5 days away, so if you plan on seeing anything, you need to rent a 4wd and have the time to get to all of the remote locations. Nepal is a better starting place for Mt. Everest.

We are hopping on the new Tibet Railway (The Qingzang railway, Qinghai–Xizang railway, or Qinghai–Tibet railway) tomorrow morning at 8am (7pm Thursday EST) for Beijing. It's a 48 hour ride, so hopefully it will be better than our last one. We are both feeling better this time and will have plenty of food and drink with us. Plus we plan on eating in the dining car this time, we figure this one will have better service (meaning English menus).

We think we are going to stay at Templeside House Hostel. . It seems to be in a good location and offers tours to the Wall in 3 sections , the Forbidden City, a "crazy bar", and the "secret night life". If we dont like it there, we may splurge (if we have the money) and stay in a nice 4-5 star hotel.

If we are lucky, we should get to see the wall with snow on it. Hey, it looks cool in picutres like that, but how many of you actually go in winter time to see it in person, ey?

Lhasa Tibet Travelling Tips

2006-11-07T03:11:00Z

Lhasa airport and taxi's. First off, make sure you follow the crowd after you pickup your luggage. Although it may seem silly since they are all standing in line to leave when the exit is right there, security is checking baggage tags. Be thankful for this, and don't complain about not having a clue

A taxi from the airport to downtown should cost you about 40 to 50 Yuan per person, it's faster and more convenient than the shuttle, but not necessarily less crowded, as the taxi driver tries to get their monies worth by filling the taxi (3 to 4 people). You should question the price if they want to charge you more than that, and get out if you don't like the price, there are plenty more behind that one. Oh, the taxi stand is across the parking lot, hard to see from the door. The shuttle will get you to town, but I don't know how much it costs or where it drops you.

Things to bring or get.
1) Altitude sickness pills. This is a must, don't be an idget, a lot of people get it, no big deal, just get the pills. There are really good Chinese herbal ones and standard. Both work just as well. Take 1 pill every 12 hours, for those of you who get the Chinese herbal ones, the directions are written in Chinese. One good herbal pill is called Rhodiola Rosea and it cost about 15 yuan.

2) Dust mask. Seriously, everywhere we have been the pollution has been horrible, if you don't think you will have breathing problems, think again. We are all human and have the same type of lungs, bad air is bad air and it is very bad for your lungs, sinuses and throat. You don't have to wear it 24/7 but at least wear it in the open markets and streets.

3) If it's cold, bring a scarf. Not only to keep our neck and throat warm on the outside, but cover your mouth to keep our throat warm on the inside. The cold air at this altitude will wreak havoc on your glands and throat, you will thank me or wish you had a bag of cough drops.

4) If you plan on trekking or taking a day trip further up, consider getting one of those small oxygen bottles readily available at the pharmacies. Don't worry about looking like a fool or tourist, your body is not used to the low oxygen content, and if you need O2 then you NEED O2, don't be stupid, just get one, they're cheap and it could be a life saver.

5) Light windbreaker / raincoat. You can carry it with you easily and it keeps the chill off. Get some gloves too, these go a long way to keeping you warm, why people don't see that I don't know.

6) Extra memory cards for your camera. Have fun finding a reliable place to upload or put our pictures on cd. Lots of great things to take pictures of, you don't' want to run out of memory.

7) Liquid!! I can't stress this enough. Stay hydrated. Between the cold and the altitude, your body will be using lots of water. Part of altitude sickness is fluid in the lungs, where do you think all that mucus you are coughing up came from. Drink lots of water, real juice or electrolytes. Always have a spare one in the room.

8) Antibiotics and/or Tamiflu and fever reducers (Tylenol or Advil). There are plenty of hospitals here, but why risk it. There are sick people all over, and the pollution doesn't help. If you get the flu, you will get not only waste travel days, but you will feel like crap. It's not very good to have the flu and fever for very long, as you know, and being in the middle of nowhere isn't helpful. These things will help you recover quickly and safely. Drink lots of fluids, eat warm soup and stay in bed. Don't take the antibiotics with Tamiflu, one of the other folks.

9) Toilet paper and tissue. Even if you get a room with western toilet, the rolls have like 40 pieces on them. Most toilets will be squatters and will not have toilet paper. Like always, used paper goes in trash, and WASH your hands every time. Preferably with hot water and soap, which is also scarce, so carry anti-bacterial hand wash. Also wash before EVERY meal.

Things to watch out for:
* There are beggars everywhere, no big deal most of the time. Here, its a very impoverished area, so they are a bit worse. You also have to realize that true Buddhist Monks, are only allowed to beg for food/money and are not allowed to have worldly possessions (cellphones, tennis shoes), so consider this if / when you give money.

The little street urchins children may look all poorly, but will gladly and quickly snag your wad of cash when you get it out to give them some. They will also attach themselves to your legs or hips and make you drag them, until they either get the stuff out of your pockets, you give them something, or you shake them off. Try carrying candy in your coat pocket and throw it on the ground and walk away fast. This may seem cruel, but if you are a backpacker, you probably don't have money to be giving to every beggar, much less be able to afford losing it to pickpockets.

The monks. Remember I said they are only allowed to beg for food/ money for food. So if you feel so inclined, at least look them up and down, it seems there is a bit of fake monks, as a lot of them are fairly young, wearing tennis shoes and sometimes jewelry, brand new robes and cellphones. These things are forbidden to monks so it's a good chance they are just trying to scam you. Also, if they follow you to an ATM and beg, good chance they are not monks, monks won't harass you in ANY form.

*English signs do not mean English speaking employees. There are a lot of good hotels and restaurants around that cater to westerns. They have English signs and sometimes English menu's, but don't expect good communication if any. It does not mean these are bad places, some of them are quite good, just have patience and communicate using small well known words. Consider getting the international pocket translator, its full of simple easy to understand pictures to point at. Also, don't stay in a 4 or 5 star hotel just because you can for about $200/night, there are a lot of really nice ones for $36 (for a standard room with western bathroom and free breakfast) with excellent service (the Yak Hotel for example)

*Street merchant prices. As Kristin stated in her haggling post. Don't be afraid to, and expect that the are going to quote you more because they can. Just offer a lower price.

*Power outages are daily, don't freak out, just bundle up in your room if it's night time as it will get cold. Make sure you have enough cash on you to eat for each day, as ATM's won't work without power Always have a drink or 2 with you or in your room.

Haggling Tips + Panda!

2006-11-04T06:53:00Z

First, here's a picture of me petting one of the 1,000 Giant Pandas left in the world.

Now a word about haggling. The trick to haggling is estimating how much a product would cost you in the states and then taking into account the currency rate. For instance, if a handmade scarf cost you $10 in the U.S., your goal is to get the vendor to either match that price or go below it. This is quite easy in China since the currency is like 7.8 yuan to $1. Therefor you just need them to go down to 78 yuan to match the price.

A handy way to haggle is using a calculator to show the amount you are willing to pay. This will only work if they understand international numbers. While in Egypt, I had to learn the Arabic 1- 10 to get by. You can also use a cheat sheet. Just write down the countries number system (1-10) with the universal numbering system below it and point to the amount that you want.

Now some country's economy are not really up to par with places like U.K, U.S.A or Canada. So what's cheap for you might be a lot to them. So don't feel bad if the vendor has a smug look. As long as you are satisfied with the price and know the item you bought is worth twice what you paid, just be happy. Nothing like ending a shopping trip with a win-win situation.

How do you know the item can be haggled over? Usually the items without price tags are a good bet. Even if it does have a price tag, it never hurts to ask if there is a "discount". NOTE: Watch the locals and see how much they pay. If the prices get jacked up when you approach, walk away. In some countries, it is illegal for the locals to rip off the tourists. Find out the laws. If you are in a situation where you KNOW they are scamming you, threaten to call the police. Believe me, they all know that word.

Tips: Never let the vendors think you NEED something or you'll have a hard time of haggling. Keep in mind that its likely that there is another shop close by with the same products as the one you are looking at. Tell the vendor that another vendor quoted a lower price, even if they didn't (but make it believable). Walking away sometimes helps. DO NOT pull out a big wad of cash. Not only will the vendors see but also pickpockets.

To recap: figure out the price of an item from where your from then calculate the difference in currency rate. Then haggle until you are satisfied or walk away.

Tibet at Last!!

2006-11-03T09:06:00Z

Well, we made it to Lhasa, Tibet. It's the main holy city of Tibet. We ended up flying here, left at 5:30AM and got in about 1pm, had a delayed flight. The outskirts are pretty run down, and the pollution is horrible. The taxi driver tried to rip us off, but I argued with him, and came to a compromise. The air is thin, and Kristin and I are slowly getting acclumated, she's a bit tired from the flight and delays, so she's resting for a bit. My sinuses are still clogged from Chengdu, horrible pollultion and smog, was hoping it would be a bit better here, it is, but wanted it to be a LOT better

We plan on seeing some temples tomorrow, and Mt Everest the day after or so. Not really sure where we are going first, just have to look around. The important thing is that we ARE IN TIBET, yay. Very beautiful mountain scapes on the flight here, we got some good pictures that we will upload later. The computer harddrive crashed, so I have to work on it first.

Oh yea, we are staying at Phuntsok Khasang International Youth Hostel, for now. Sorry the website isn't in English, I will look around for another link. We may move to a hotel, for english speaking employees and a little bit more secure feeling, but this place is ok for now, I think...

Write more later.
Brian

Things to See in Chengdu

2006-11-02T12:26:00Z

Chengdu has been a blast so far.

We went to the panda breeding center a couple of days ago. This particular center has the biggest success rate in breeding and raising pandas. We got to see some newborn pandas and I was allowed to pet one! (I'll try to upload pics later).

We went to the Wenshu Temple the day after that. We spent about an hour walking around in the gardens there. Beautiful place. You could really tell how the trees affect there air... outside the temple wall, there was smog as thick as heavy fog but inside the temple the air was as clear as...well, air. After our stroll, we drank some floating Jasmin tea and then ate a meal of turtle, shark fin and rice. We visited the buildings on the temple's ground. All of them had beautiful carved railings and statues. Inside of many of the buildings were painted with beautiful designs.

The next day, we decided we'd check out Computer Street. It is exactly what the name implies. At the beginning of Computer Street are two buildings, one on each side of the street. Both are 5 stories high and packed with the newest technology and old equipment. The prices are amazing! Not only because of the economy but because the place is a whole sale market. A word of warning: Do NOT buy the DVDs here. They are bootlegged and certain countries will bust your ass for trying to bring them home.

We also went to the Clothing wholesale market. It was an interesting place but I'd only suggest going there if your looking for something. Again, the prices are great.

Todays, we visited Qin Tai Lu. This street is a replica of ancient China. A beautiful place. There are tea shops and wine shops along with some nice restaurants. It is a great place for shopping or just looking at the buildings.

Tomorrow we jump on a plan to Tibet. We might stay there for a week.

More later

-K

Sick in China

2006-10-27T10:48:00Z

We just finished our two day train ride to Chengdu. We got the "soft sleeper". This means we got a room with 4 beds (2 on each side). Despite the name, the beds weren't really that soft but the room was secure and could be locked. Half way through the trip, our two roommates got off the train and we had the place to ourselves. The bathrooms leave much to be desired. Bring your own toilet paper and lots of hand sanitizer. The smell also kept leaking from the bathroom into the sleeping areas (we were in the middle of the train and it reached us). I was sick for most of the time and couldn't eat. Brian fared at bit better but got worse when we got to the hostel.

The Mix Hostel seems to be a nice place so far. They offer free pickup from the station. The private rooms without a bathroom cost a little more than $4. They offer full tour packets to Tibet at reasonable prices. The staff is friendly and helpful and the rooms are clean. The food they serve is cheap and tasty. The only complaint so far is that they have a lack of toilet paper in the bathrooms.

-K

Nov 7th Florida Elections.. A request.

2006-10-22T21:48:00Z

Although I prefer not to persuade others to vote in any particular favor, I would like you to consider approving Amendment 7. This amendment will help several disabled veterans in Florida, as well as Kristin and myself.

If you do not agree, please at least do vote, and ask the same of those around you. Yes I plan on going to the US consulate in Chengdu for an absantee ballot.

End of public service announcement, and begging (for today)

Brian

Jade Buddha Temple

2006-10-21T19:47:00Z

The Jade Buddha temple is a beautiful example of craftmenship. From the traditional rooftops with fu dogs lining the edges to the sidewalks with clouds and flowers carved into the concrete. This temple has both Buddhist and Taoism idols. One idol is a 6 foot buddha carved out of white jade.

On the premises of the temple is the Fo Yuan Tea House. They allow you to try a variety of teas and show you how to serve tea in the traditional Chinese style. The waitress asked us what ails us and suggested teas accordingly. Before this trip, I wasn't a big tea drinker but this tea house offers a variety of flavors. We ended up buying four different kinds of tea. Don't feel obliged to buy the tea. The samples are free and the staff is friendly.

It cost 10 yuan to get into the temple and an extra 10 to see the jade buddha.

this is not the main jade buddha, you are prohibitted from photographing it

Tibet ... Here we come!!

2006-10-20T19:55:00Z

Well we have been in Shanghai for 4 days now and goto Chengdu on the 25th (38 hour train ride).. we haven't done anything here yet, been a little sick and off from the time difference of western Europe..

going to see the Jade Buddha Temple today though once in Chengdu, we will start planning our Tibet trek, on the worlds highest train Qinghai-Tibet Railway (which includes oxygen). we plan to see Emeishan mountain, and a lot of temples and stay at a monastery or two, yes you can do that and they are real. we will be staying at Mix Hostel while in Chengdu

for now, staying in a nice hostel in shanghai for about $10/night in a normal hotel type room, gotta love the exchange rate and the economy, the one in Chengdu is $1.98-$4.60 a bed/night.. were opting for the private room for $4, can you blame us

We may stay in a really nice hotel here or in Beijing if the price is right, with the economy, 5 star should be rather affordable. However, for those planning on traveling, consider this, a trip to Chicago for 3 days is about 3 times more expensive than a week long trip to china.. $900 airfare, and $20-$50/night for 2-3 people in a good hotel, $2-$10 for a very filling meal. You could stay here for $90 a week and its a really nice hostel.. most tour sites cost 5-30 RMB (1 Chinese yuan = 0.126473415 U.S. dollars) so 63cents to $3.80 per attraction. just a thought.

"Where have you guys been, and what have you been doing?" Plus recap..

2006-10-19T11:15:00Z

Ok, so some of you are wondering where we are and what we've been up too, since we haven't posted a lot lately.

After we left Austria in September, we were short on cash, so we headed to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany to save up our money before moving on. We pretty much just hung around the bases, watched movies and hung out at the library for internet. I (Brian) was pretty tired and the weather was shifting so much, we didn't feel like doing much more, even going to the library or movies was a task, since they were either across base or on another one. We spent about 3 weeks just hanging out and no sight seeing.

Next we moved on to Amsterdam. We took 2 trains and the Stena Line ferry across to get there, about an 8 hour trip. It was a nice ferry though, casino 2 movie theaters, a few bars, a child play area, etc.. Pretty much a mini-cruise liner but with a twin hull. The day we arrived in Amsterdam, was the first day of rain according to Kristin's family (which lives all over Holland), and it pretty much rained every day at some point. So I didn't feel to well there, so we didn't' do much but walk around a bit, see the Red Light district and visit some "coffee shops". Of course the day we left, it stopped raining. Really didn't do a lot or take pictures, but we did see a lot of interesting things.

After the ferry to Harwich, we headed to London. The main reason we even went to London, is the cheap flights to China, it was more than double to fly out of Germany or The Netherlands. We didn't do any sight seeing except for Camden Town, which some should know, that it's a must. I felt a little better in London, but we didn't plan on seeing much and I was still a bit tired, not to mention the cost of living there is really high, seriously $4 for a bottle of water (16oz), to give you an idea. Since it cost a lot to live, we didn't really feel like blogging a lot, and internet cafe's were a bit far from us.

We flew from London to Shanghai on Qatar Airlines, 2 planes and a 5 hour delay in Qatar's capital Doha, totaling a 20 hour flight. Qatar airlines gave by far the best price, and definitely great service. You get juice, water, tea or soda all through the flight, they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, good meals (free by the way), each seat has a decent size LCD tv with FREE interactive games, a huge list of recent and old movies, also free, and a lot of music, oh yea, they don't charge you $5 for the crappy headphones like other airlines. They even give you a hot towel before your meals to clean up with. On the second flight we even got a free travel bag (toothbrush, shampoo, eye blinds, a pair of comfy socks, and a neck pouch for your stuff. My only real complaint was the seats, they are clean and nice, but tailored for the average or below average height. I would probably use this airline again.

Now we are in Shanghai, as if you didn't get that from the previous post, and between the jet lag (remember the 20hour flight), temperature change (it's 81 degrees here, was 60 or so in London), and a slight head cold, we haven't done anything but stay in are room for 3 days. The rooms at this hostel (Shanghai City Central Youth Hostel (UTEL)) are really nice though, and $5 a bed for a 4 bed dorm, huge beds, key card entry and a cafe that serves good food for $4 or so. We decided to get the private room for $20/night, it has own shower/toilet, internet in the room and a TV with 69 Chinese channels and 1 English Chinese news station, oh well Really nice rooms and staff.

So what's the goal now? Well, we are staying here till the end of October, working on getting our Travel Permit and Tour group to goto Tibet, they are required to have, so we have to find a reliable travel agent. After that, depending on our finances, we are taking a 2 day ferry ride to Osaka, Japan, then a bullet train to Yokohama (Tokyo) and goto the US Air Base. Hopefully we will fly out of there to our next destination. If we run out of money then we'll just find a flight from Shanghai to the states, probably to California. No sturdy plans yet, just seeing what's next. We figure we can afford to easily live in Japan for a month, and might fly out in December, no promises though.

Our main goal at the moment is Tibet and Mount Everest Base camp. After that, we'll know what we are doing, just need some rest before we go exploring again, sorry for the lack of pictures or blog.

Brian

First Look at China

2006-10-17T09:53:00Z

The plan ride left both me and Brian a bit tired (waking up at 6:30am didn't help eitherafter 2 flights that took about 20 hours) since neither of us really got more than an hour of sleep. We landed at Shanghi's airport and went through customs. As we waited for our bags to arrive we watched a drug/bomb sniffing dog point out a black suitcase (the dog looked like a mini irish setter). Both backpacks made the journey here but it seems the sleeping bag didn't... apparently my curse is still going strong (seems whenever I go to a foreign country I lose a bag. In Egypt, the airport lost my bag for 2 weeks). We gave them the details and moved on. The next problem was with declaring the goods. Brian sent me through the 'nothing to declare' line while he went to declare our radios. I went through without a hitch but had to go back so I could sit with security while Brian went to the post office to send the radios home. By this time I was feeling like crap. We called the hostel to get directions and jumped on the shuttle bus. When we got off the shuttle and were swarmed by people showing us pamplets for hotels. We waded through and managed to get onto the right metro line. We stumbled to the hostel and slept till 4pm the next day.

We went out looking for an ATM as soon as we woke up. The first thought that crossed my mind when we stepped out was 'Thats weird. I've never seen fog out at 4pm... whoa wait. Is that smog?... I feel dirty'. It was annoying trying to find an ATM. Some ATMs will take some friggin cards but the majority would only take chinese cards.

The economy here seems a bit lower than the USA's so we think we'll do ok here. The plan is to stay in Shanghi until the end of the month and then we have a week to get ourselves to Tibet before our visa runs out.

If you feel like making our Halloween, please donate!!!

-K

London and Then CHINA!!!

2006-10-13T20:52:00Z

We did it. We now have our visas and tickets to China. We used Lastminute.com to book the flight. We managed to get a flight from London to Shanghai for just under $1000 (yes kiddies, that was expensive for us) and we leave Sunday (Oct. 15th). We will be staying for a week at Shanghai City Central Youth Hostel for only $90... thats like $6.50 a day. Definatly an improvement over these $20 hostels we've been at (and those were the cheap ones). Hopefully this is the beginning of a trend of low living cost for us... we really need it.

We stayed at Dover Castle Hostel while in London. At first we thought it was ok. The location was a bit seedie but nothing really serious. The place was a normal London building (read narrow stairways and small rooms) and reasonably clean. Its the staff that's the problem. We were on the 'overbooked list' (which mean that we wanted a bed but had to wait for a cancellation). We went out to take care of the visas and stopped at an internet cafe and got an e-mail survey asking us what we thought of the hostel. We gave an average rating except for a poor mark for security (NO ONE locks the doors) and a little comment saying that you can't really get a wireless signal in the room like they advertise you can and the router keeps locking up. When we got back to the hostel to collect our bags and check if there was any empty rooms, the girl on staff said something to the effect of 'why do you want to stay at a hostel you rated badly?' and would not help us at all. Even when she herself admitted the wireless was faulty and they were getting a guy to come out and fix it, she was unhelpful. When we pointed out we gave them pretty much an average rating she said 'why do you want to stay at an AVERAGE place?' Then basically said 'get the fuck out'.

So anyways, we're not sure what's going to happen in China. We'll try to stick to the big cities and internet but we're also hoping to visit Tibet. We'll contact home as much as possible.

Wish us luck!

-K

P.S.- Yes, we have figured out the hyperlink button.

Amsterdam to London

2006-10-11T15:55:00Z

Sorry for the short posts recently. Netherlands was fun. We tried 3 types of weed and 3 ways of smoking it. We also tried to get some Absenth but bars aren't allowed to sell it and the bottles at the liqor store where too big. If you're ever in Holland and don't really have money, there is a free boat tour that meets at the Chicago Boom Bar. If you're looking for a good placed to smoke and drink, the Bulldog resides in the Red District. There is this free tourist magazine that we found at the Stayokay hostel. Its called Boom. It will tell you ALL you need to know about Amsterdam.

If you are a backpacker and come to Amsterdam, do NOT stay at stayokay. Dispite how they advertise, it is not for backpackers. They charge for everything and don't allow you to bring your own food. We didn't have the best time there. Mostly due to inconsiderate people coming and goi ng at all hours (which is fine normally), making a lot of nose (kinda annoying) and leaving the lights on when they leave at 4am (I wanted to do them serious damage).

We took the ferry over to London and here we are now. Our phone broke so we're trying to replace it. Today we applied for our Chinese vias. They will be ready by Friday.

More Later
-K

Adventures in the Netherlands

2006-10-06T08:32:00Z

Wow. Amsterdam is amazing.

Well, we met up wih the family here and had a nice lunch. Unlce Fred is doing good and he has officially added Brian into the book of Elink-Schuurman. He was a bit confused about our last name but he figured it out. Freddy (uncle Fred's kid) has a great view on politics. He gave us a good prospective on how people view certain issues in the Netherlands. When I told him about finding pot when we first got here he wasn't scandlized. Nor were they put off when I told them Jason is gay. We invited him to come to Florida and crahs at our place when we get one of our own so he can visit the family over here.

We tried our first space cakes. It made us both sick. I also bough a 1/4 of purple haze for 12 euro. We've also made ourselves familiar with the Red Light distric.

Today we are going to try to get our China visa.

I'll blog later

-K

Our First Look at Amsterdam

2006-10-01T19:47:00Z

We made it safely to Amsterdam and managed to have a little adventure already. When we got off the trian station, Brian left me with the bags and went to the bathroom. When he came back, he walked over to a nearby ticket kyosk and plucked a bag of weed from the top of it and handed the bag to me. Not knowing exactly what to do with it, I stuffed it into my pocket and we headed to our hostel. We check in and go up to our room to put away the bags. In the room, there were two guys and one was rolling a blunt (how did I know? They had a half- empty ciggeret and an empty dime bag... some people put tabacoo in their blunts to filter it or add taste). I'll probably end up selling or giving away the bag we found. I'd perfer to buy weed from a decent place.

Tomorrow we will be meeting up with some family here.

Bye!

-K

FINALLY

2006-09-30T13:41:00Z

Our money has replenished and we're on the first train out of Germany. We've contacted some family and are currecntly trying to set up a meeting. We're staying at the Meetingpoint Hostel (http://www.hostel-meetingpoint.nl/) then moving to Stayokay hostel (http://www.stayokay.com/index.cfm?lng=1).

Hopefully soon we'll have something more exciting to post. Sorry for this long boring pause.

-K

We're Still Alive

2006-09-22T12:05:00Z

Sorry for the long period of silence. There hasn't been much going on. We moved to the Vogelweh air base and are staying there to recover from Austria. The room is cheap and there are some neat stuff to do on base.

Base life is interetsing. For some reason, you can only book 3 days at a time and no one seems to know what is open. You have to call central booking to find out what it open but if you don't call during a certain time period, THEY don't know what's open. So we're going to be here until a) the end of the month or b) they have no room... which ever comes first.

More later,

-K

Eurail Tips & Tricks (European Railways)

2006-09-19T11:30:00Z

First thing you want to know, if you are in the Eastern European countries, good chances are the Billeting/Ticketing counters aren't going to speak English, so figure out where you want to go and "how" you want to go first. NOTE you will almost always need a seat reservation. This is NOT a ticket, its just extra money you pay to ensure you actually have somewhere to sit. Sometimes it's not required, but some of these trains can be jammed packed and leave you without a seat, just get one (or 2 or 3... I'll explain this later)

What I mean by how. As you probably know, there are seats, couchettes and sleeper cars. There are Salloon seats and regular seats, really who cares, don't get them, they suck. Very uncomfortable, the non-smoking section is in the same car with no divider as the smoking section, and they offer very little luggage room.

The usual best option is to get a couchette. What we have found to be the best option, since we already have a 5 country train pass, is to book 4-6 seats, for about 3 Euro a seat, in a couchette. This pretty much reserves the whole couchette (a 6 seat compartment usually with air and a curtain, but always a door, which sometimes is lockable), since there are 2 of us, we at least get 4 seats to stretch out on. The seats lay down to form a bed if you have 2 of them across from one another. Believe me, it's worth the 12 euro.

If you don't decide to reserve, and you're on a night train thinking you need some rest, or just some privacy. The conductor, at least one of them, usually reserves a couchette for themselves. With some asking around, and about 10 Euro, you can "bribe" them into locking you into their private couchette. Don't worry they wont forget about you, it's their job on the line , but you can get some sleep. This also works out if all of the sleeper cars are taken.

As for sleeper cars, if you are gonna be on the train more than 5 hours, you should probably get one. We have paid from $16 to $40 for 2 beds, and haven't shared one yet. If you think that is expensive on top of you train ticket, just think of it as one night at a hostel or hotel and compare, it is also worth it if you need rest, plus all the doors lock.

First Class trick. Ok, if you got your tickets in advance, you probably have Student Tickets, which are 2nd Class by default. Due to my age (> 26) I had to get a First Class ticket and K has 2nd Class. We usually ride 1st Class anyways, and I show the conductor my ticket, they examine it and then just glance at K's ticket which I put under mine. So if you have a similar ticket situation, there you go. Just always ask them a question or two to distract them from reading the second ticket, not that they bother, they just want to make sure you have another ticket for extra people. However, if they do notice, well just act stupid, as if you havne't done so thus far, and say you didnt know, most of them will just ask you to move to another car, or offer to sell you an upgrade. There usually isn't much difference in the seat styles of 2nd and 1st Class, a little more room and softness, but there are definately less people!! This is good, less people, less theft, less bothersomeness.. Err or something. If you want to party, honestly, stay in 2nd class, because that's where all the party people are most of the time.

WC, Restrooms. Most of the toilettes have been fairly decent on the trains. The first class being better with hot water and soap, but the more west you get, the better the 2nd class trains get. Make sure you wipe the seat, have your own toilet tissue and handsoap. There is usually a light that tells you if it's in use, when the door is locked, don't threat, just goto the next car. Caution, dont' do this between stops if you think you will be long, as they sometimes split up cars at stops, if unsure, either wait or ask the conductor which cars goto your destination.

Rail Stops. Be sure to either ask the conductor, have a railway map of stops, or pay close attention to each and every stop. You have about 2 minutes to get off the train at regular stops, and they do NOT announce the stops all the time. This can be a pain to get your stuff together and get down the very thing passages with a backpack. Usually the best thing is to set your watch 30 mins before estimated arrival, so you can wake up and get ready beforehand.

Buying tickets. For those countries that aren't very helpful at the ticket window, look around for the auto kiosk that sells tickets, it sometimes is the same as the Information kiosk. Most of them have several languages and allows you to look up several destinations. I have found a few that even sell reseverations, which you normally have to get at the ticket window, and some that sell local bus tickets.

Side note on bus/metro tickets, its an honor system most everywhere, no one checks your tickets and/or the electronic thing for your ticket doesnt even function, but beware the undercover ticket checkers and the heavy fines (about 20 Euro or more we have heard). We have yet to see them, but we get a ticket every time (almost). Oh yea, DO NOT get the Vienna card or the Budapest Card, NOT worth it, get a week bus pass for way less, screw the coupons, you wont' use them.

That's all for now, I may edit or add on to it later when and if I remember things.
Brian