Fat man on a little horse

For the life of me I could not imagine a viking riding one of these petite little guys that roam all over the tundra of Iceland.

The land that stole my automotive heart

Reykjavik is a really cool city, where about 70% of Iceland's population lives, but if you really want to see some interesting things you need to get out and do some exploring.  There is a pretty robust tour industry here, but I have always been a champion of the good ol' rental car to find some real adventure.  It seems other than one or two main cross island byways there is not much in the way of paved roads on the island.  I guess it makes sense being that whatever surface it may be is actually covered by snow and ice (or ash in recent weeks) for 80% of the year.  To my amazement, the daily driver out here for many Icelanders is a lifted SUV with 44" tires (some even much bigger).  Hell, even the ambulances and school buses have 44" tires to plough through all of that pure white powder in the depths of winter. That practically qualifies as a monster truck.  So I knew I would be at a disadvantage renting a Toyota Yaris, but I have more than my fare share of off-roading experience and I know most of what it takes is skill not size.  If only it were an option to rent myself a Wrangler lifted into the skies I would have jumped at the chance, but I had no luck finding anything of the sort.  Anyway... the Yaris did just fine as we covered nearly half of this frostbitten land.

Put that train where?

The next leg of the journey was more of a marathon than a sprint at 11 hours from Napoli to Palermo, Sicily. Naturally a bit of a nap was in order... it also gave us a chance to rest our vino soaked livers. So I was a bit confused when I woke up halfway through our trip and realize that our train was indoors and everyone was gone. With the train doors open I jump out only to realize our train had been loaded onto a freighter ship. Apparently the Sicilians have no need for bridges, they prefer the old fashioned method of crossing open water via boat... and that even goes for trains trying to cross open water.  So if you ever train it to Sicily, enjoy the ride.

The a very wet road

The continued cold weather and overcast skies have been a bit of a bummer, but the coolness of the city brought us right back into the spirit of things. After getting a couple hours sleep after arriving late, we open up the dormer windows to see snow on the ground and the canals flooded. Real nice. No worries though, its very difficult not to have a good time in a city so interesting as Venice.  Although the city is not really all too big and I am big on trekking, you can always jump on a boat and find yourself lost in the maze of canals here. But the real fun starts when you simply head off in any direction and just follow the scent of the tastiest pastries and pizza.

A flight to forget

Off we go into the Himalayas.  Step 1: Stop by the UN office in Kathmandu and pick up some tickets for a flight to Lukla, 10,000ft up in the mountains and give ourselves a head start.  Its a hair raising flight on an old Russian prop plane guided by pilots flying only by sight and what must be a sixth sense since it is cloudy 90% of the time.  Without heat you find yourself and the other nine passengers shivering and focusing in amazement on the mountains growing on the horizon you spot out of the front wind shield wondering if that one is Everest, or maybe its that one, or if that was Lhotse.  Buzzing 50ft from sheer cliff faces flying thousands of feet high yet still in the shadow of the peaks above really humbles and gives you a proper introduction to the Himalayan mountains you will be climbing.  Just past the pilot we could see our landing zone, a football field long runway on a steep incline carved several thousand feet up into the face of a mountain.  Everyone laughs a bit , thinking 'Christ, is this guy really going to try and land this beast on that thing'. Walking off this flight everyone had Jimmy legs from experience, and the knowledge we would have to take off down this runway and essentially fall off of a cliff at the end of this football field only made it worse.  But for now, on to the mountains...

Clouds above Kathmandu

Flying into Kathmandu is amazing... surrounded by clouds which slowly disolve away into peaks which eventually emerge as the beautiful Himalayas and then you float down above the welcoming city of Kathmandu.

Bangkok tuk-tuk revisted

I don't care how bad of a rep these guys get, I still love the challenge of the haggle and adventure of a traverse across Bangkok on the back of shiny moto-chariot.  Yeah sure they will try and drag you around town for hours to gem and suit shops for their gas vouchers... but that's only if they sense you are a novice.  Who wants to be toted around town in a pink taxi when you can feel the wind in your hair, and beard!  It's great to be back in Bangkok.

Fluffy marshmallows

I never really enjoyed flying, and it doesn't help when you have to leave the confines of an 'international' airport of a developing nation and walk across the hot tarmac to board a prop plane from the tale.  Particularly, when it is Lao Airlines with the worst reputation in Asia.  No worries though, this airline seems first rate and it is nice and soothing when it looks like you are flying over a sea of big fluffy marshmallows.

Chariots of glory

Every city has its trademark form of transportation, such as NYC's yellow cab and in South East Asia it is the tuk-tuk. Although the name is the same across nations, the form of tuk-tuk varies, and in Thailand it is in the form of a fancy little open air roofed steel trike with the driver up front and passengers in the rear. Some of these are vary simple and often clearly neglected from an aesthetic standpoint, although this is clearly not the norm. Owners often grace these vessels with wildly colorful paintjobs, bells and whistles (literally), extra lights of nearly every color, and more chrome than a '57 Buick. I have even seen a few with flames reminiscent of a '78 Firebird. Competition is fierce, so it helps the owners to pimp their ride to entice paying customers. There is a lot of cajoling, some muscle flexing, and promises of the fastest shortcuts. You must be careful though because these guys get paid by store owners to bring you to their shops, so if you hunt for a tuk-tuk strictly on price you may end up in two suits shops, three gem stores, and hotel lobby doorstep before you get to carted that temple you were hoping to visit. You can always try to catch a regular pink taxi, but you are just as likely to get some off meter shenanigans as you are with the tuk-tuks so you might as well opt for the agile little tuk-tuk, besides if you ask me they are pretty mean lil machines.

Heading back to the mainland

Transport in Thailand has been really interesting. We are lucky enough, or more likely smart enough, to avoid some of the long run bus trips that are the basis for so many backpackers' travel nightmares. We needed to get back to the mainland today so naturally this involved no less than five forms of transportation. The real highlight being the 4x4 drive through the jungle back to the major port on Koh Phanghan provided by Luhr, the owner of Love Lip Bungalows. He had a mean little four cylinder lifted pick up that he was able squish 7 backpackers into with their massive duffels and overfed bellies. Of course Luhr was responsible for those overstuffed bellies and whenever we complained at dinner and pointed at his own which he left bulging out from his rolled up shirt, he merely replied "much Thai power". Maybe he was right and it is power, but what we learned this day after eating Luhr's going away present the night before of tuna, mussels, chicken, prawn, curry, etc. was that power can be a difficult thing to keep in your stomach after a long 4x4 trip on questionably tracked trails in the Thai jungle mountains. Luckily we had a nice and easy ride and a auto and supply ferry back to the mainland afterwards. The rainy season seas had not been whipped up into a sloshing mess yet so it was an easy journey under some incoming clouds which would bring the first strong storm of the season into the mainland that night.

The long tail

Thai boats of all sorts have a very distinctive shape with a long and narrow hull often with an extremely concave curvature sloping up steeply at the bow.  The smaller boats, about 8m long, are used for transport of supplies, fishing purposes, as well as the primary means of beach hoping on all of the islands here in the Gulf.  All of the land is very mountainous and road access is limited if not nonexistent so to get into town or just visit the next beach over requires a jump onto a long tail taxi.  The power for these vessels comes in the form of a massive reconditioned diesel truck engine block mounted on a simple gyroscopic cradle.  A modified 3m long truck drive shaft serves as the shaft for the rotor blade and as a rudder for the boat giving it the appearance of a wagging tail as the driver swings the entire contraption about effortlessly.  It seems Thais take great pride in dressing up their long tail with a bright and colorful paintjob and ribbons, beads, and flowers around the nose of the bow.  It is believed that Buddha sits on the bow of the boat guiding the sailor and ensuring good fortune and the dressings that grace the bow must be as appropriately dignified.  It is considered inappropriate to sit at the very bow of the boat as you would be stealing Buddha’s seat and also rude if you put your feet up on the bow as it is insulting to show the bottom of your feet to Thais.

 

 

 

 

 

Bangkok airstrip

Very clean, very colorful, very orderly, quite photo worthy.

 

Two wheels

Travel around less developed regions is always an interesting and with gas prices high and distances between points of interest short it seems the preference in the Gulf islands is to keep it to two wheels and for $3 a day the scooter reigns king.  The key is to find the 'dirt bike' scooter with dirt tires for those adventures getting lost in the jungle trying to find some undiscovered beach. Also important is finding a tricked out ride with some snazzy decals to help distract you from the fact that you are actually riding a scooter.  No dignity required.