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 ...<< MORE >>

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 ...<< MORE >>

The plan ride left both me and Brian a bit tired (waking up at 6:30am didn't help either) since neither of us really got more than an hour of sleep. We landed at Shanghi's airport and went through costumes. 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 journy here but it seems the sleeping bag didn't... appearently my curse is still going strong (seems whenever I go to a foreign country I lose a bag. In Egypt, ...<< MORE >>

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 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 ...<< MORE >>

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 ...<< MORE >>

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. ...<< MORE >>

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 ...<< MORE >>

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 ...<< MORE >>

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 ...<< MORE >>

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 ...<< MORE >>