http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/ktw/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from ktw en-us Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:51:48 BST Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:51:48 BST Well I didn't get around to talking about the meaning of the title of the last entry and this one.When I left San Francisco I flew to Philadelphia to hang out with the crew of fake Aussies in West Philly that we'd met at Ida. Zemmo picked me up from the airport and we got lost for a while before heading to Bezza's house the Powerhouse. All the communal houses in Philly seem to have names it's http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Brooklyn/blog-300219.html where to start... my last entry left off when I was still in Seattle at the end of May. After leaving Seattle I visited Rhea again in Portland then travelled south to meet Spud in San Francisco. We met up with my dear friend Sunny who's currently living in Berkeley and Sunny's friend Mik offered us a room at the place he was staying. With the luxury of a room to ourselves and a key to the back http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Pennsylvania/Philadelphia/blog-300186.html After the adventures on the Oregon Coast Claire and I got a lift back to Portland where we said a reluctant goodbye to Melany and Claire set off for her primitive pottery course in Utah.I got to spend some more time with Rhea and she and her best mate Kayleen took me out to the Columbia Gorge to visit Kika. Kika is a pixie of magical proportions currently living in a semiconverted barn on the http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Wyoming/Yellowstone-National-Park/blog-279393.html What to expect of a visit to the Land Of Plenty the Land Of The Free the Land of Supersized fast food and forcefully imposed democracyI guess I expected everything and I haven't been surprised. Landing in San Francisco from Hong Kong was my first glimpse of America the Brave. Interrogated at immigration as to who my friend in Seattle is how long I've known him what I plan to do in the US http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Washington/Seattle/blog-279392.html According to Wikipedia the brown note is a legendary infrasound frequency that causes humans to lose control of their bowels due to resonance. There is no scientific evidence to support the claim that a brown note transmitted through sound waves in air exists. However here in Hong Kong the Brown Note Collective is exploring the often shady boundary between music and noise and whether we c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Kowloon/blog-266883.html it's time to say goodbye to china...The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of sleep deprivation long train rides sunflower seeds and music. The three fungal horses set off from Kunming in midMay after a couple of great gigs there and in Dali and headed up to Chengdu.Kunming... the city of eternal spring finally pulled out the stops and gave us some good weather just before we left. Kunming w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Henan/blog-259636.html Arriving back in China at the end of the Lunar New Year celebrations I found Kunming familiarly strange as I was reassaulted by the smells and sights of China. I've never seen a runway like this one 5 and 6 storey apartment buildings huddle on the edge of the grass surrounding the tarmac and the plane descended straight into the centre of the city...Tegan and Mick met me at the airport after http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-250524.html Feb 9thAh.I'm back on the road. This time it's a rot mai and it's taking me around Bangkok.I'm currently staying in a pretty nice apartment in Saphan Kwai thanks to Spud's dad's family. I get up at 6.30am take a bus at 7am arriving at Wat Phou at around 8 or 8.30 depending on traffic. Maybe I have time for a coffee Nestle 3 in 1 anyone or a fruitshake. I could say I'm singlehandedly supp http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central/Bangkok/blog-244432.html Cambodia is a beautiful country with an awful history.I had been mentally preparing myself for bulletruined walls residual bomb craters any sign of the horrors that passed here late last century. Instead I saw farms forest cows kids bikes and more bikes.The roads are pretty rough. Our 6 hour bus ride from the 4000 islands to Phnom Penh turned into more of a 12 hour marathon. Everything http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-225332.html We hired bikes and dodged tuktuks all over Vientiane. It was fantastic the best way to see this extremely bikefriendly city.We pedalled out to Tha Luang which was in the middle of the End of Year festivities and crowded with markets monks tourists in rented Laos skirts to cover their modesty and everywhere people carrying elaborate woven offerings of pandanus and flowers. After renting a mo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Si-Phan-Don/blog-222548.html LaosSo far we've sat by the Mekong with a Beer Lao in Luang Prabang taken a bus ride to a giant waterfall and swum in the cool turquoise waters watched a tiger pace around its cage while black bears siesta'd nearby walked across rice fields to limestone caves filled with ancient looking Lao graffiti ropeswung cardplayed eaten fresh spring rolls and walked up the mainstreet of Vang Vieng tr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-221455.html wellTomorrow we get on a 27 hour sleeper bus bound for Luang Prabang and it's goodbye China at least for now.Kunming pulled out all the stops to entice me to stay. The weather's great the air in this city is clear there's great people around and a whole universe full of fantastic cheap street food. We met a very nice Chinese girl called Ju who told us we can save time and cash by taking a bus http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-218983.html Dali... the Old Town's ramshackle old houses and flagstone streets lined with market stalls selling Nakhi skirts and embroidery blue and white Dali batik brass jewellery pipes and the ubiquitous cammo sneakers and Mao hats. This place is well and truly used to tourists every second cafe in the old town serves western food and has free internet. Little old Bai women come up to us on the street http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Dali/blog-217579.html What a lazy time we've had here.. it's hard to leave. Haven't crossed off a single thing from the tourist checklist while in Chengdu. It's been heaven.Tegan and I arrived on Monday and met up with a local couchsurfing host to crash the night on his floor. After the 10 hour bustrip from Jiuzhaigou it was so nice to be at a place where we didn't have to talk to anyone or make polite conversation abo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Sichuan/Chengdu/blog-215700.html We took the early early bus to Langmusi and were pleasantly surprised that it took only 4 hours instead of the expected 6.The scenery along the way is amazing climbing through the mountainous edge of the Tibetan Plateau that is southern Gansu. The public bus even made one stop for photos but the wind across the plains was murderously cold so I just poked my camera out the door...Langmusi is a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Sichuan/Songpan/blog-212275.html Xiahe...a long way from Jiayuguan 10 hours of snoring men and screaming children some meaty vegetarian dumplings in Lanzhou and a 6 hour busride to 3000m above sea level the Tibetan Plateau and we're in Xiahe.It feels like a different country. The bus station is in the East of the town and one long road of shops and houses stretches west until it arrives at Labulang Lamasery the largest Tib http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Xiahe/blog-211112.html so...my birthday prezzie to myself was an overnight camel trek out into the Gobi Desert. For 300 kuai we got everything included from a local guide to instant noodles served out of the cup around a fire.It was a pretty amazing experience. Our guide Li has a face like a dried up fig brown and wrinkly and when his face relaxes you can see that the depths of his wrinkles are still pink not ta http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Jiayuguan/blog-210568.html Ahhh. I'm an old lady now so I'm allowed to start this entry with I remember when... but since I've never been here before I can't compare. Tegan gave me a vegan Oreo cookie with a lighter flame that threatened to set the train on fire at about 6am on my birthday mmm tasty.Dunhuang has been a mixed experience so far. The train ride here was relatively easy hardly anyone on board we crossed th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Dunhuang/blog-209770.html Well it's an experience all right. Probably one I won't sign up for again soon but otherwise it would have made getting to Lake Kanas nigh impossible. On the morning of the 3rd I'm not sure of the days anymore but the dates seem ok after stuffing our bellies with steamed dumplings we set off on a tour of Lake Kanas. A giant busload of Chinese people mostly locals from Urumqi but also some f http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/blog-208812.html The trip to Turpan Pronounced Turfan...Bellies full of steamed vegie dumplings we took the local bus to the station and managed to find a bus to Turpan. The 3 hour drive was packed with barren desert scenery excitement and sore knees from small seats... Unsure of the itinerary or arrival time I kept asking the girl next to me is this Turpan and she'd say no this is the WC or something... S http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Turpan/blog-207666.html