Ethel Lives! I am glad I stumbled upon your blog: I met Ethel in the winter of 2005 and had a wonderful experience with her. We traveled for several days, some highlights of which were meeting her blind sister outside of Mandalay, and her daughters and grandchildren in Yangon. I had sent some friends to track her down and bring her some photos and gifts in spring 2006 and they were unable to find her. They were told she was ill. I've also asked some other travelers heading through there to track her down and they couldn't either. It looks like you met her after that, so I am relieved to know that she's still alive and crazy. If she mentioned the "nice American boy, always smiling" then that was me! If you want to read about my travels with her, check out theschoolofthought dot com www.theschoolofthought.com.
One of my best random finds ever Howdy to you both. I found your journal randomly by looking for Thailand blogs and noticed your blog right away because of the reference to go blue. My wife and I are both Michigan grads and also wanted an adventure honeymoon. When we got married in 2003 we decided to go to Thailand. We only had 11 days and were only able to go to just that one country, but what an amazing trip. We could not have had a more amazing time and still talk about those 11 days almost every single day, nearly three years later.
Your blog and pictures are amazing and bring back a flood of memories. Thanks for posting all of this and we hope you have a great rest of your trip!
Matt and Patty
Les Bleus Viva Les Bleus!!! Hope you're watching the World Cup as Zizou is having quite the finish to his career. Sounds like the Advanced PADI certification could be worth it. Hope you enjoy any more dives you make.
I remember that bridge from that movie entrapment with Sean Connery and Katherine zeta-jones. That is an awesome building. who are you cheering for now that the us is out of the world cup. I'd like to see the Aussies or Brits win. Big goal by Beckham today. Hope you guys are having a blast on your asian adventure.
Avoid special prices, hmm? I've not yet been to HK, but it's on my list of places to visit. I'll keep in mind anything bearing the name "special prices..." the one from the photo looked enormous! I'm pretty confident that you won't have to deal with that as much in Singapore-- I think they outlawed them. I thought I heard you get caned if you are caught bringing cockroaches into the country....
Happy Belated B-Day Congrats Mike. It will always be easy for me to remember your birthday; mine is the 30th. I just joined the big 3-0 club; how long until you get there? The blog is great and I hope you continue to enjoy the wonderful trip!
Happy Birthday from Ashgabat! Mike, I almost completed my mission to get to Turkmenistan and send you a postcard with Turkmenbashi. I need only one thing - the address where to send it to ) I got here five days ago and still working on getting a ticket back... it's a hassle... so, you have at least two days to send me an address (rommer@gmail.com)
p.s. jeff, salam aleykum!
Happy Birthday Mike! And great blog! Finally got onto your blog and have really enjoyed it - especially the pics! Looks like a great vacation so far. Now I'm back in AA after four weeks of traveling (merely the US - AK and CO) and am jealous of your exploits. And I'm 2 days into my summer internship - so far so good. Dave and Dayna say hey. Best of luck in the months ahead!
jealous Hey guys, I just flipped thru your blog (i somehow was left off the e-mail notifying your friends and family about the blog; i'm trying not to take it personally). Didn't get a chance to read the blog since i'm at work, but saw the pictures. totally jealous. it's amazing how much you guys have done already while we just plug away here on the daily grind. can't wait to hear more about your trip...
Xi'an Xi'an is a pretty cool town-- it takes about 30 to 45 minutes to get from the town center to the Warriors. One bit of advice: If you're going to buy any of the figurines, don't buy them in the exhibit gift shop. You'll pay 20x too much for them. Go to the tents of street vendors. They're all selling the same crap and you can seriously get them down to almost nothing. And if the street vendor you're haggling with doesn't go down to the ridiculous price you want, remember that your BATNA is that you can go to any of the other 200 street vendors there. :)
Hu-Tong Clan Glad to hear that you wandered back into the Hutongs and experienced life in the old city. I experienced first-hand the restaraunts, cheap beer, and "art exhibits." When you went to Tianenmen Square, did you get mauled by anyone trying to sell you postcards, mini-flags, or watches featuring the face of Chairman Mao?
Half price on paintings? Mike, they took your money and are laughing at you. When negotiating for tourist good in Beijing always go for 10% of the original quoted price. Keep this in mind for the upcoming days in other countries.
Adam Cohn
non-member comment
Ethel Lives!
I am glad I stumbled upon your blog: I met Ethel in the winter of 2005 and had a wonderful experience with her. We traveled for several days, some highlights of which were meeting her blind sister outside of Mandalay, and her daughters and grandchildren in Yangon. I had sent some friends to track her down and bring her some photos and gifts in spring 2006 and they were unable to find her. They were told she was ill. I've also asked some other travelers heading through there to track her down and they couldn't either. It looks like you met her after that, so I am relieved to know that she's still alive and crazy. If she mentioned the "nice American boy, always smiling" then that was me! If you want to read about my travels with her, check out theschoolofthought dot com www.theschoolofthought.com.