Links below go to ten-page stories during the first year of travel, and are stored at
PerpetualTravel.com.
The rest of this extensive page is the only writing we have done for the rest of our travels after 1996.
Granby - Friends. Rocky Mountain NP. Train to west coast.
Berkeley - Friends. Muir Woods, San Francisco.
Yosemite NP - Nevada Falls, Giant Sequoias.
Berkeley - Campus. PCH: 17-mile Drive in Pebble Beach, Big Sur, Point Lobos State Park, Carmel, Nepenthe.
Morro Bay - Friends. La Purisima Mission, Lompoc. Danish city of Solvang. Santa Barbara. San Luis Obispo. Hearst Castle. Train south through Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Los Angelas - Friends. Sunset Boulevard. Wright Hollyhock House. Beverly Hills. UCLA. Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades. Trader Joe's.
Darwin - October 13th, 1995. Bali belly for two days. Reverse culture shock. Outback bus-camping tour for three days in Kakadu NP: frill-necked lizard, termite mounds, Annaburroo Billabong; barbequed kangaroo and emu steaks, crocodile, camel sausage, and buffalo burgers; freshwater lake and saltwater river boating to see crocodiles; Ubirr Aboriginal rock art; Arnhemland Plateau; park headquarters and ecology museum; Garden Falls Billabong swim; Barramundi Gorge swim; Nourlangie rock art site.
Cairns - Friends in Clifton Beach. Live-aboard diving for three days in Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef: Holmes Reef Amazing Caves, Bridge of Sighs, Abyss, Cathedral, Nonkie Bommie; Flynn Reef, Thetford Reef. Training friends on Internet, so they bought local ISP within the year. Dinner with West Indian friends.
Sydney - Stayed in King's Cross. Visit friend from home also here. Opera House. Paramata. Port cliffs. Harbor.
Adelaide - Friend. Grand Prix. University archaeological museum. Built a webpage for another friend; Zorba's Greek Restaurant for dancing to live music.
Runaway Bay - Friend from batik course. Surfer's Paradise, Burleigh Head NP to see kookaburra. Carrumbin Sanctuary to see koalas and feed rainbow lorikeets. Three-day camping trip along Gold Coast: Byron Bay, Back Beach, Grafton.
Auckland - Nov 23, 1995. Domain Park and Auckland Museum. Gamelan concert. Servas visit.
Rotorua - Rest stop.
Gisborne - Servas stay on sheep station. Beach. Hitchhiked onward with ride from a Maori.
Napier - Stayed with Zonta Club host. Hitchhiked with another Maori, then an 87-year-young grandma.
Taupo - Huka Falls. Orakei Korako thermal area. Craters of the Moon. Hitchhiked onward with a Maori.
Palmerston North - Servas stay. University tour with Internet acquaintances. Manawatu Gorge. Hitchhiked in a gold Ford Fairlane 500 with a non-Maori.
Wellington - Servas stay. Mount Victoria. Oriental Bay. Peninsula coast drive. Neighborhood Christmas party. Ferry across Cook Straits, through the Marlborough Sound, to Picton on South Island.
Nelson - Abel Tasman rained out.
Tadmor - Servas stay in a log cabin on a promontory over an uninhabited valley. Punakaiki Pancake Rocks.
Greymouth - Christmas bonfire on the beach. Hokitika to see jade. Ross gold rush town. Lake Mahinapua.
Franz Josef - Hike in hobnail boots up the face of glacier.
Makarora - Rest stop. Wanaka. Kawarau River Gorge to see bungy jumpers.
Queenstown - Rest stop, since flooding and landslides took out roads.
Dunedin - Chalet Backpackers in old hospital. Otago Museum. Octagon.
Ashburton - Servas stay. New Years Eve fireworks. Lake Lyndon. Arthur's Pass. Hike to Devil's Punchbowl Waterfall.
Christchurch - Hitched a ride into town with a chef, who gave us a tour of the city. Servas stay. Cathedral. The Wizard. Bob Marley exhibit at museum.
Le Bons Bay - Hitchiked with mayor to Banks Peninsula. Akaroa Fire Services demonstration. Haybarn hostel.
Akaroa - Servas stay in a B&B.
Christchurch - Canoed Avon River in Hagley Park Gardens. Sumner city to visit friends. Antarctic Center. Servas visit.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Jan 14, 1996. Overnighter.
Singapore - Airport to meet backpacker friends. Dragonboat practice in lightning with expat friends. Ramadan feast. Chinese Art Exhibition. Teow Chew fish feast.
Malacca, Malaysia - Dutch churches and buildings. Little India for Thaipusam Festival.
Kuala Lumpur - Chinatown. Servas visit to night market in Little India, then Merdeka Square and the Sultan Abdul Samad Building.
Satun, Thailand - Rest stop. Pak Bara pier for boat to islands.
Ko Lipe - Bamboo beach bungalow. Snorkeling at Ko Rawi.
Trang - Rest stop. Hariraya Puasa and Chinese New Year.
Krabi - Daytrips to Rai Leh beaches and caves. Night market. Wat Tham Seua (Tiger Cave Temple).
35 days. Intro to Khao San Road. Grand Palace. Wat Pho reclining Buddha. Siam Square shopping areas. Tour with Internet acquaintances to King's Summer Palace at Bang Pa-In. Visited expat met on Internet. Met Fran the magician, and found the public pool. Funeral ceremony for the King's Mother at Sanam Luang. Karin visited Guam for a week, and Korea for a day. Train to Phitsanalok.
Sukhothai - Hotel next to a slaughterhouse. Biked through Old Sukhothai Historical Park.
Chiang Mai - Chiang Mai University for Internet access. Songkran water fun.
Chiang Khong - Dinner on the Mekong.
Huay Xai, Laos - Crossed the Mekong River, and went back in time. Speedboat downriver.
Pak Beng - Cliffside rest stop. Speedboat.
Luang Prabang - Royal town with many old temples, and some French colonial remains. Pimai, or Lao New Year, and Songkran water festival parade. Hmong tribespeople. Bike tour. Flew over mountains.
Udomxai (Muang Xai) - Rest stop.
Luang Nam Tha - Rest stop.
Muang Sing - Remote village. Biked to hilltribe villages. Bun Ban Fai Rocket Festival. Luang Nam Tha market, then Boten border post, then Chinese border post Mohan.
Mengla - April 28, 1996. Dinner with group that gave us a ride.
Jinghong - Dai people. Lounging at the Forest Cafe. Sancha River Nature Protection Region with Australian biologist teaching environmentalism. Flew north.
Kunming - Rest stop in a big city. Sleeper bus.
Dali - Third Moon Fair. Bai and Naxi people. Mr. China's Son Cafe. Both sick with bad case of influenza.
Lijiang - Naxi town in mountains, recently damaged by strong earthquake. Night bus.
Kunming - Flower Market. Fruit Market. Friends from Sancha tour. Train 32-hr east to Guilin.
Yangshuo - Backpacker village on the Li River, amongst limestone mountains. Train 36-hr north.
18 days, since we kept meeting interesting backpackers. Sanlitun Embassy area to get Pakistan and Indian visas; stockpile Western goods from the supermarkets; and eat in good restaurants. Met a man from the Tanzanian embassy, who gave us a tour and a meal. Wanfujing Avenue to Donganmen Night Market. Tiananmen Square. Largest McDonald's in the world. Met Henry from Switzerland, who we still travel with. Outdoor clothing market. Muslim Hui fruit and vegetable market, and night-time open-air restaurants. Beijing Concert Hall for violin recital. Summer Palace. Great Wall at Simatai. Silk Market. Friendship Store. Found Internet after searching for two weeks. Ancient Observatory. Yonghegong Tibetan Lamasery.
Datong - City of gougers. Pollution that burns eyes and throats, and went on to be the worst in China. Hanging Monastery. Yungang Buddhist Caves. Train 36-hr west; Kazakhs from Yining taught Marc some Uighur language, and tried to adopt him.
Lanzhou - Frontier town of three million. Night market. Met Silk Road Camel Caravan expedition team on the bus into the mountains.
Xiahe - Tibetan monastary village.
Lanzhou - Night market with the expedition. Meet the camels. Train 36-hr west.
Turfan - Desert Basin is the second lowest depression, and one of the hottest places on earth 47°C (116°F). Uighur Dance Show. Churrasco and hami melons under grape trellises with Brazilians working highway contracts.
Ürümqi - Night market. Xinjiang Autonomous Region Museum to see mummies. Sleeper bus 36 hr, through desert, with sandstorms.
Kashgar - Sunday Market with European expat family of six. Bike around town for two days. Bus stopped at Karakol Lake in the Pamir Mountains, to visit Tadjiks in yurts.
Tashkurgan - Crossed border at Khunjerab Pass to Sust, Pakistan.