TravelBlog » Stephen Paul

Stephen Paul - o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

I have a debilitating case of wanderlust, which contradicts with my 40 hour a week job in a busy hospital. I love everything related to the outdoors. I usually travel alone so I can do my own thing and meet more locals, but I m never opposed to traveling buddies. I take a big trip every 6-9 months, my next big trip is tentatively to Cambodia to visit my sister in January of 2008. Last big trip was to Torres del Paine, Chile in April- but since I have been on many mini vacations: Yosemite, SCUBA diving the Channel Islands, a road trip through the Cascades from Lassen to the Three Sisters of Oregon- and most recently a 3 day backpacking trip to the high country of Sequoia National Park.

Where I Have Been

Map Legend: 3%, 10 of 263 Territories

Countries I Have Visited

4 weeks in Chile could never be enough

Home

Your map description

I'm a hobby photographer, more about me and links to my work is here:
http://www.sphaydenphotography.com

Tambien...estoy enamorado con Chile! Quisiera conocer cualquier persona desde Chile o otro paises de Sudamerica. Mandarme mensajes por favor!

Places in the world that I'm drawn to have all the things that are Familiar to me in California- Big Mountains, The Ocean, Hot Springs, Volcanoes, Deserts, Glaciers, Forests, SCUBA and lots of protected natural areas. Favorites: Chile, Western US, New Zealand, Argentina, Hawaii, Peru, Spain, Australia, Italy, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Greece, Venezuela, Brazil, Scotland. I'm also very interested in China, India, Thailand, Russia(Kamchatka Peninsula and Lake Baikal) Japan, Egypt, Tanzania, Morocco, South Africa, New Guinea, South Georgia Island, Kerguelen Islands. I havn't been to all of these places, but someday I hope to!

Private Message Subscribe 58 Forum Posts Top Photos Blog Map

Blog Comments Search Blogs Favorites First Entry Latest Entry

Joined on: March 4th 2006
Last Login: May 9th 2008

Blog Entries: 45
Photos: 2364
Recommended by 25, Recommends 61

TB Code: [blogger=13426]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by Stephen-Paul, order by Date newest first.

By Stephen Paul
March 9th 2008

Sacred Lingas Turn Me On

Asia » Cambodia » Siem Reap » Temples of Angkor

Gecko, Roulous Group

Well not symbolically- just literally! My sister, brother in law and I decided to take a day trip titled "the Outlying Adventure". This fantastic tour offered a trip to see some of the most treasured spots of the Angkor complex: Banteay Srei, nearly pristine intricate carvings in pink sandstone; The Roluos Group, a collection of temples dated to the 9th century- some of the first to be built at Angkor; and the most refreshing for me, into the mountains to see the "River of a thousand Lingas". It didn't fail to disappoint! The Linga is a sacred symbol of Shiva, a [View Full Entry]

By Stephen Paul
February 25th 2008

Attractions for the Tourist

Asia » Cambodia » Phnom Penh

Angkor Wat model and The Silver Pagoda at Phnom Penh
Capital of the Khmer culture- then and now.

At certain times in history man and moment have come together to produce a novelty, something which human eyes had never seen before. Some achievements we hope to see again, while some tragedies we hope will always be nothing more than a distant memory. And so it went for Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek, scars of an unbelievable past so shocking, so brutal, so recent. At Tuol Sleng, there are still blood stains in the cells. There are hundreds of portraits of the people who lived a waking nightmare at the hands of their fellow Cambodians. Standing at Tuol Sleng, how [View Full Entry]

By Stephen Paul
February 23rd 2008

On the Moto

Asia » Cambodia » Phnom Penh

An Incredible Feat of Balance!

More than half a million people drive Moto's in Phnom Penh. With Phnom Penh's population at just over 2 million people, and with often more than one person on a Moto- it seems as if everyone is on the streets! Weaving in and out of traffic, being a Moto driver requires concentration, skill and cunning. Even more talent is required to take loads- people paying fairs on motodops; exquisitely dressed women going to weddings; furniture and dishes; pigs wrapped in Sugar Cane...You negotiate the road next to tow carts with sacks of flour or loads of bricks. Huge SUV's from the [View Full Entry]

By Stephen Paul
February 5th 2008

Waiting for the Sun

Asia » Cambodia » Siem Reap » Temples of Angkor

Elaborate Carvings of the Interior Chamber

Let's face it. Angkor Wat is the mother of all temples. A 900 year old representation of the Mythical Mt. Meru, the 210 hectare Angkor Wat complex is surrounded by a baray(moat) 1.5km long and 1.5 km wide. The walls are intricately carved with bas reliefs of Hindu creation myths and Khmer epics, while the doorways are coated in Sanskrit and Khmer verses. You walk through perplexed by how this could have been created, and your mind poses questions scaled like a Mandelbrot set: *Who thought building something of this size was even possible? *how long did it take to clear [View Full Entry]

By Stephen Paul
January 26th 2008

Squidfish and Scuba Diving

Asia » Thailand » East » Sattahip

fresh squids

A Scuba Diving entry without underwater pictures? Yes, that's unfortunately, what we have here. I seemed to have completely forgotten my underwater camera(a Reefmaster Mini). Arriving to the dive shop I knew something was missing, but it certainly wasnt people! It was a very busy and crowded morning, with many different groups leaving at once. An intense multi-day Rescue Diver course, snorkelers and day divers. Soon we were loaded on the back of a truck with a wire cage, apparently a popular taxi along the Thai Coast? The drive was an hour away, passing many portraits of the King, a few [View Full Entry]

By Stephen Paul
January 13th 2008

You've Probably Seen All This Before...

Asia » Thailand » Central » Bangkok

Check these guys out!
The guard isn't allowed to move, but Im sure he wants to slice their heads off with his bayonet

After 4 days in Siem Reap, I decided it best to go to Thailand. I had heard many good things! It didn't fail to live up to expectations. I had just 24 hours in town, and I decided to spend them at the major tourist attractions. I arrived to Bangkok at 12am after a 20 hour day, so needless to say I was exhausted and needed rest. The Royal Hotel was a bargain, but I shouldn't have been so relaxed about using the hotel water that night. It would come back to haunt me later! The Royal Grounds were amazing, it [View Full Entry]

By Stephen Paul
December 15th 2007

Sierra Nevada Granite

North America » United States » California » Desolation Wilderness

Glacial Steps, Glacial Lakes

It was early November in California, and still snow had not fallen on the "Snowy Range". The Sierra Nevada is spectacular for one principal reason- at higher elevations it is almost entirely composed of glacially carved granite. Hundreds of ancient volcanos left behind quite a treasure, for as their liquid magma chambers froze into place- granite was formed. But this granite was trapped underneath thousands of meters of overlaying rock, unavailable to the terrestrial eye. Millions of years of erosion took over-rain, wind and snow removed thousands of meters of rock above the granite, glaciers carved the peaks and lakes, flowering [View Full Entry]

By Stephen Paul
November 21st 2007

Life, Death and the Metamorphic Conspiracy

North America » United States » California » Sequoia National Park

The last Alpine Lake I will ever See?

The weekend before I was to have surgery, I decided to go on one last backpacking trip. Honestly I didn't know if I would ever be able to go backpacking again. What if the cancer had penetrated the bladder wall, spread to the lymph nodes and required serious treatment? I might need my bladder removed completely, or perhaps radiation therapy, chemotherapy and more surgeries. My future was uncertain, so I decided it best to forget about everything and go to church- The High Sierra Nevada Mountains. Instinct told me the best place to go was the tallest and most pristine part [View Full Entry]

Mimulus guttatus, "Seep Spring Monkeyflower"

By Stephen Paul
October 23rd 2007

Just around the Bend: volcanoes, obsidian and forest

North America » United States » Oregon » Bend

Obsidian Flow Pano

When I finally left Crater Lake on thursday night, twilight bathed the forest and peaks in a calm blue light. After some curves through the forest, the road made an abrupt right turn. Ahead of me was 30 km of a downhill and lonely road, which I proceeded to test the maximum speed of my VW Golf yet again. 180 km/h was the maximum velocity, which had to save me at least 4 minutes on the 3 hour drive! For over 140,000 miles across the great American West this car has travelled, yet still it performed. I chain smoked cigarettes, burned [View Full Entry]

By Stephen Paul
October 18th 2007

The Remnants of Mt. Mazama's Cataclysmic Eruption

North America » United States » Oregon » Crater Lake

Crater Lake and Mount Thielsen(2,799 m)

After Stewart Springs, I ventured through the remaining miles of California. This is where a simple idea such as a "road trip" turns into something very different, where whole governments and people change while the landscape remains the same. It was almost like going uphill, the dry and expansive Pacific Coast I know in California became intimate and lush. The terrain was defined by forested hills and large but distant volcanos. My destination? The mythical National Park of Crater Lake. Crater Lake is easy to understand. Imagine a massive volcano much like Mt. Ranier- 4000 meters high and covered with glaciers- [View Full Entry]