mikersaxer
Michael Saxe Joined: August 19th 2006
Logged in: December 29th 2011
Logged in: December 29th 2011
I may be stupid, get lost and wear polyester, but I won't get dysentry.
Travel Blog Posts
Boat, Trakai
I totally stole that title from a t-shirt. Always cite your sources. So my father and I rolled out of Saint Petersburg and out of Russia on a train bound for Vilnius, via Latvia. Contrary to what I expected, I was not detained by the Russian border officers. We were, however, woken at several points in the night by men wearing large fur army hats of various colors who demanded our passports, which we wearily produced. From Vilnius station we made our way to the flat of Kerry Keys, poet, located in the old Jewish Ghetto of Vilnius. The city can be easily covered in a day or two, but we found that the longer we stayed the more we liked it. The old city of Vilnius is a UNESCO world heritage site, an deservedly so. ... read more
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This is a seperate entry because, well, because it deserves to be. This is something I do from time to time. It clears my head. More on Lithuania later. ********** In the forest of Paneriai I breathe the damp, cold air of the dead. Trees with black rings of memory sway in grey sky. Feet sink into wet forest floor and I sink into the memory of 100 000 here and the millions. Sand and earth are rich with the bones of my ancestors in the forest of Paneriai. m ... read more
Violinist, Nhizhy Novogorod
It is very damp in Lithuania and my hands are cold. Typing is difficult. Well, when you last pretended to read my blog, I had just left Tomsk/Novosibirsk and was on my way to Nizhny Novgorod (previously Gorky, after the writer). I spent two uneventful nights on the train, with only a screaming child to interrupt my reading (my Russian isn't so good, but I figure most of what he said was 'No! Its mine! I want it!'). In Nizhny Novogorod I stayed at at totally dodgy Soviet-era hotel. As I have come to learn, when a hotel is described as 'Soviet' it is best avoided. Every time I got in the lift the light would dim and it would rattle a lot. Nizhny Novogorod, hotel aside, is a lovely town with a big ol' Kermlin ... read more
Jack's Place, Irkutsk
Privyet, comrades! Well, in Russia. Its big and cold...not that I expected "sunshine, deck chairs, and Mojitos" (Kierans, 2006). Since I am taking the trans-siberian train, I am obviously spending a lot of time on trains, although to try and perserve what precious little is left of my sanity I have not yet spent more than one night on the train, although that will change beginning tomorrow night when I begin my 3000km jaunt to Moscow from Novosibirsk. Note: I am not in Novosibirsk now, but in Tomsk. Travelblog.org however does not include Tomsk (although does include the nearby Omsk) in its list of Asia-Russia destinations. Not that it matters. I'm simply trying to shake off a bit of writers block. Anyway, to relate my first night on the train and my crossing from Mongolia into ... read more
All aboard in Beijing
In my last entry I made reference to the city of Ulaanbaatar as being "The Napanee of Asia". For those of you who do not know of the 'city' of Napanee, this will serve as an introduction, and for those of you who do, well, I will do my best to explain why Napanee is indeed the Napanee of Asia (according to my experiences). Napanee, Ontario (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napanee,_Ontario, http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=napanee&sa=N&tab=wi (why someone Wikied this I'll never know)) is the town where I went to high school. It has its charms, er, maybe it has a charm...yes, probably only one. I'm sure some would argue, but the town is lacking in...niceness. True there are a few street where older houses have not yet been overtaken by the sprawl of truckstops or Wal-Mart, but mostly...not nice. Same goes for Ulaanbaatar. ... read more
In my humble opinion...
Agent Reporting: Michael Saxe Current Location: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Mission Report: 2 Weeks in China Mission Status: Complete I arrived in China from Macau, slipping undetected through Chinese customs and their heat scanners. Despite my headache and nausea (sp?), I did not have the bird flu, but merely a hangover. To Gulin, arriving by the cover of night, then to Yangshou where I was met at the bus station by the Chinese agent meant to meet me at the airport, but screwed up. Luckily my survival skills are sharp and I managed my way without having to erase anyone. Many travelers become lost in Yangshou, disappearing into the terraced rice fields and scaling limestone outcroppings. The smooth flagstone streets make for easy walking, especially when lit at night by red Chinese lanterns. From Yanghuo to Chengdu, where ... read more
No explaination needed...
I believe that when I last left my dear readers I had just departed Vietnam and was spending too much money in Hong Kong. Thus, here is where I will begin. Hong Kong Hong Kong mostly owes its present state of existence to opium. If my brief scanning of museum texts serves me correctly, the British, who had nothing to offer the Chinese (who provided spices, tea and silk) turned to importing opium to even the trade deficit. When the Chinese rejected the junkifcation of their citizens, war ensued, the Brits won, and Hong Kong was claimed. Class. (If any of this is incorrect I'm sure a certain HK native will correct me...) The culture of Hong Kong, through my eyes over 4 days, can be summed up in a word. And that word is MONEY. ... read more
Nha Trang...I think
Here are photos that compliment the last entry, once thought lost, now recovered. Currently in Hong Kong. Will update that once I finish shopping. There are loads more pictures, but I've had just about enough of computers for one day, thank you very much. m... read more
H is for Hoi An and tailor made threads, H is for Hue to visit the dead. H is for Hanoi, big, dirty and hot, H is for hydrated, which I was not. H is for Ho Chi Min, a leader entombed, H is for Hilton, where propaganda has bloomed, H is for hills, of which Sapa has plenty, H is for Halong, where I am now, And H is for Hong Kong, and I'll be there soon and I can't be asked to rhyme anymore. ************************************************************************** Ahem. When we last parted, our hero was making his way by overnight bus from Nha Trang to the city of Hoi An. Although unsure exactly what lay ahead of him, he did have three things to hold as truth. The first being, that two fellow Korea-escapees would be ... read more
Snake and Scorpian Wine
I arrived in Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) on Thursday. Finishing my contract in Korea, I found departure to be surprisingly non-cathartic. Perhaps because I was so perpared to leave, or that mentally I was already gone, as I boarded my Vietnam Airlines flight in Incheon with little to no sentiment. It is, I suppose, time to leave Korea. I have made some fantastic friends and had amazing experiences there, but as of August 24th, 2006, it is time for us to part. Which brings us, of course, to the interesting part. Saigon, for the most part, is architecturally uninspiring. Block after block, the buildings and cityscape remain the same. What is remarkable is the drone of the ~3 million motorcyles that weaves through the city's streets. To cross the street you do not dash to ... read more
