For a hot second I thought I was moving to Vietnam for the summer. I received an email from a guiding company located on the island of Cat Ba Island in Ha Long Bay asking if I was avalible to work for them for the summer; I was stoked, super stoked but in the end it didn't work out and they didn't get the project I was going to work on....oh well; maybe next year. So where did I want to go next, back to Yangshou and climb the limestone karsts I saw only a few days before. It's slow season here which means it's hot and wet; Rich, John, or Brad- if you thought Thailand was hot come here and you will know otherwise. Beyond the heat and humidity, which I am attempting to force ... read more

China. I've arrived and I already like the place. It's cleaner that Kathmandu, which isn't necessary true (according to some random rumor I heard one day; Beijing is like smoking 60 cigarettes, while one day in Kathmandu is like smoking 30 cigarettes...I'm sure that isn't entirely true but China seems much cleaner and doesn't smell as bad. I flew in to Guangzhou, a major port city 2 hours west of Hong Kong. It's a nice city divided by one river that splits off and reconnects together again in various areas. It makes from some good views and a nice breeze. I spent my time wandering around the city, through it's various parks, small streets and street markets. It was like many of the cities/town I had been to before but there was one noticeable difference: China ... read more

Just arrived in Kathmandu a few days ago and I have been gearing up for the trek and all the necessary permits/visas for China/Tibet. The option of going to Tibet is a big if right now due to the Chinese brutal crack down on some monks who were protesting on the anniversary of a Tibetan rebellion. I met a journalist on the flight in and he said his newspaper (The London Herald) told him to get into Tibet as soon as he could be monks were getting gassed. The next day we hear all the boarders are closed and that 100 people have been killed. I was relieved to see the news hit both the front page on BBC.com and CNN.com because this kind of oppression is ridiculous. I did also read the reaction of the ... read more

It's Thursday, February 28th. Rich and I have been in Vang Vieng, Loas for about a week now. Loas is very similar to Thailand with regards to culture, food, language, and people but Loas is set back 40 years before any of the tourists came to Thailand. The countryside is much more rural and untouched by the western world. There are backpacker havens like Vang Vieng but as soon as you get off the beaten path , which could be a 5 minute walk outside the city, it changes drastically. The climbing is very similar as well. In Thailand, especially Ton Sai, where things are generally polished (like a polished stone, rock becomes smooth after repeated use and thus becomes slippery and not easy to climb on) in Loas everything is generally sharp and dirty. At ... read more

Sunday we woke up early for a day trip to some areas north of Chiang Mai. It was a long day up at 6:45am and back at 8:30pm but a good trip all in all. The first stop were some hot pools which had been turned into a full on tourist trap, this is where my alter ego Wanye Rooney was approached for an autograph, I declined not wanting to talk to anyone so early in the morning. From there is was on to a sort of modern day Wat (Wats are temples or shrines, generally for the Buddist god in Thailand). It was very impressive from the outside, all white with mirrors but with a closer look it turned out to be very strage. The bridge to the entrance had hands reaching up from a ... read more