My next stop in Mexico was the old colonial town of Oaxaca. While the old part of the town was a nice place to look at and walk around it really didn't have much else going for it to keep my attention. Also there was no one around. I stayed in an eight person dorm by myself for two nights. The first day I got there I found a map and started walking around to see what the place was about. After a few hours I realized I had seen and done everything that I wanted to do. The day was ending so I thought that would be fine. The problem was that I had another day of doing the same exact thing. I had a hard time of passing the time. I decided if I ... read more

The Cameron Highlands were cold and my clothes were still wet, so I decided to go to some place hot. Someone I met was talking about Langkawi and with no other thought or reason I bought a bus ticket to the beach. I originally wanted to go to the beaches on the east coast, but it is the rainy season and they won't let you go to the islands and why be at a beach when it is raining. Langkawi was a great place, maybe not as picturesque as the beaches in Thailand, but I liked the place better. I never wrote about my time on the beaches in Thailand, mainly because who wants to hear about a person waking up in the afternoon and partying all night. In Langkawi that is exactly what I did ... read more

I arrived on Christmas Eve in KL after island hopping my way through southern Thailand. It's amazing how Christmas turns into just another day when you don't have a month of advertisements in your face. The 24th didn't seem like anything special and most of the way through the 25th didn't either. If it weren't for the hotel across the street with a couple trees with lights on I may have forgotten the entire thing. My Jewish friends always talk about their Christmas tradition was going to a Chinese restaurant. I was staying in China Town in KL and gave it a try. The place was packed, either they all had Jewish friends who told them about this grand tradition or it was just a good restaurant people ate at regardless of what day it was. ... read more

When I bought my ticket to Vientiane from Vang Vieng the guy asked if I wanted the VIP bus or the regular bus. I know the regular bus from at the border you are certain to have bags of rice under your feet and chickens not far off, so I chose the VIP bus. When they picked me up and took me to the bus station there was only one bus, the regular bus. All I could do was shake my head and get on. It's not like I was going to miss the bus to go back to the guy who sold me the ticket and yell at him, and he probably knew it which is why he sold me the fictional upgrade. The bus was slow and the roads where worse. There was no ... read more

I took another sleeper bus into Chiang Mai and arrrived at 6am. Again I didn't sleep all that well and was exhausted when I arrived. In fact I've been tired a lot lately and I figured this could be a great place to catch up on sleep. I chose the second hotel that I came to which was $8 a night, rather expensive, but I just wanted to eat and sleep. At 6am there isn't much open for food, but I saw a McDonalds instantly went in to get my fill of the local cuisine.The McDonalds didn't have any McGriddles, but I still found something to eat. The city of Chiang Mai is the place where a person leaves and goes on a trek, or rides elephants, or looks at drugged tigers so you can pay ... read more