Although I'm in Romania celebrating Christmas with my family, I felt it appropriate to wish everyone a Happy Holidays and share some pictures of the celebrations from the Israeli/Palestinian religious center of the world. MERRY CHRISTMAS! Bethlehem being the birthplace of Jesus, is the place to be. While I'm not there to take pictures at the mass, I think I have enough to reflect the cheesiness and holiday cheer. Bethlehem was supposed to have a big Millennium/Jesus/Christmas Celebration. Unfortunately, the second Intifada broke out followed by clashes at the Nativity Church in 2002... [View Full Entry]

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JERUSALEM: JesusMohammadAbrahamJesusMohammadAbrahamJesusMohaaAHH!!! Jesus walked this street and was crucified here. This is where Mary was born. This is the Western Wall, the most significant site in the world for Jews. This is where mankind was created. Miss! Don't write anything!!!! Huh? I'm reading with a pen in my hand. MISS DONT WRITE ANYTHING! IT'S SHABAT! This is the Dome of the Rock, the 3rd holiest site in Islam where Mohammad flew up to heaven. NO ENTRY FOR TOURISTS! Let's talk about religion. Religion religion religion. Friday, all things Muslim close. Saturda [View Full Entry]

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"We are in deep s*hit - so deep, it comes out our noses," repeats Antony, the man I'm renting my apartment from. "The US like (covers his eyes), England like (covers his mouth) and EU like (covers his ears)." "All I want is to live in peace. I don't care if my neighbor is Muslim, Israeli or Christian," he like so many other Jews, Arabs and Christians says. How is it that with everyone wanting the same peace, prosperity and security, and with people of different religions living side by side in peace in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa, this place [View Full Entry]

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Bethlehem (the birthplace of Jesus and location for the "Christmas of all Christmases") is beautiful, scenic, peaceful, clean and I LOVE IT.... everything except for three main things. First, there are the refugee camps for people who can not return to homes they left/fled from in one of two wars, or were displaced from by the separation wall. These refugee camps are sad, deserted places to walk through despite having been made more livable as refugees began to accept that they would not be returning home any time soon. Second, there is the separation wall and the difficulties it creates. Ever [View Full Entry]

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One glance at the long, slow moving non-US resident/citizen customs line in US airports and you'll see that foreigners aren't kidding when they complain about how tough, difficult and annoying it is to get through (...and that's AFTER forking over large sums of money and filling out tons of paperwork just to apply for a visa). Well, in the words of an Israeli guard I interacted with: "The US learned from Israel". So, as you can imagine, getting through Israeli customs even if you're just a measly tourist entails a lot more than the customs agent taking your passport and stamping [View Full Entry]

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The more time I spent in SE Asia, the more I got used to seeing old men hold hands with young, beautiful Asian women they paid for. Seeing these women hang around bars late at night and harass every man that walked by became normal, as did hearing from a fellow traveler that he'd just been chased down the street by a woman shouting, "Mister, you want blow job? I give you good blow job. Blow job? Blow job mister?" I also got used to the pedophilia and sex trafficking signs found in EVERY Cambodian hotel I stayed at and club [View Full Entry]

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CHAOS FROM THE BEGINNING: On my way from Laos, my minivan stopped to pick up a random ragged, poor, sad looking lady holding a baby. Despite the minivan being full and all the rightfully frustrated Irish and British protesting that they paid for their seats and there wasn't room, we were forced to cram her in. "Does she have to go through customs like us? Where's her passport?" they asked. Sure enough, she didn't, but we marched to the Laos border customs agent where we were asked for, "2 dollar"."I thought getting an exit stamp only cost 1 dollar," I argued. [View Full Entry]

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[WARNING: SOME OF THE PICTURES ARE VERY DISTURBING. SKIP TO THE 6TH PARAGRAPH FROM THE END IF YOU ONLY WANT TO READ ABOUT HOW A TUK TUK DRIVER TOLD A FRIEND AND I HE'D KILL US] As I walked through the Killing Fields in Phenom Phen, Cambodia, I found torn pieces of clothing, a bullet, tooth and button before I stopped searching the ground for more remains that had surfaced over time from the mass graves that surrounded me. Grass had grown over these graves, but they still caved in holding pools of rain water from days before. Some had been [View Full Entry]

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Ask most backpackers about Laos and the first thing to come to mind will be Vang Vieng tubing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq5LlHuxQJM&feature=related Yup.... For a full day you grab a tube and go down the river stopping from bar to bar. Usually, these bars will have something dangerous that drunk people can die doing like a trapeze swing to swing on and drop into the water from, a giant slide that will bruise you once you hit the water, or a mud pit where my white shirt turned brown and a guy happened to be so unlucky that he got hit in the eye [View Full Entry]

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[THIS BLOG WAS WRITTEN OVER A WEEK AGO. I WAITED TO SEND SO AS NOT TO BOMBARD WITH BLOGS. I AM NOW FINE, HEALTHY, HAPPY AND IN LAOS :)] The first day I wanted to come back to the US was the day I woke up with bed bug bites all over my arms and legs... I walked around Chiang Mai hating Asia and wanting to rip my skin off. I dreaded having to sleep in that bug infested Lonely Planet recommended dorm another night and almost broke down crying when Mike, my favorite 20 year old travel buddy popped up [View Full Entry]

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