wheeler4040

Mexico Mar. 3 - Guanajuato Cool colonial town. Estacion Esperanza - hostel and popular hangout. Man outside plays guitar and sings, "The times they are a-changing". Fun nights and foosball at Barfly. Loud dogfights in the middle of the night. Strange mummy exhibit at museo momia. Bonfire on hill overlooking town. Couple hikes up to La Bufa for great views. Spanish school at Falcon for a week. Another oven gas explosion at the hostel gives a girl burnt eyebrows. Made killer guacomole. Birthday celebration and pinata beating below Santo Cafe. The Grill - too "fresa". Sunday BBQ and smooth mezcal shots at Fusilado. Mar 16 - Yucatan 5am bus to DF, flight to Cancun, bus and ferry to arrive on Isla Mujers by early afternoon -touristy. Walked down the beautiful east coast. Headed west to Piste ... read more

Slovakia Bratislava 11/8 - Making my way into Slovakia from Budapest didn't go as smoothly as I hoped. I had heard good things about a city called Banska Bystrica in the center of the country. After taking a train to the Slovakian border and walking across I had a difficult time figuring out the buses I needed to get there plus nobody spoke English. Figuring it out as I went along, I reached the city around 7pm only to discover that every pension was full. This left me with a choice between paying for an expensive hotel room or just moving on to the capital on the 5am train. I spent most of the night talking with some locals at a cafe, then went to the train station to get out of the cold and kill ... read more

Vientiane 8/10 Took the really long 21hr busride from Hanoi. The seats were small and the aisles were filled with sacks of onions, garlic, and other vegetables being transported. Many Asians have little tolerance to windy roads so there was the sounds and smell of vomit to deal with as we drove into the mountains. But we got there. The capital of Laos had the feel of a small town. Being in such a relaxed place was a nice relief from the loud craziness of Hanoi. The only ATMs in the country are in this city so I pulled out $200 worth of Kip and received 200 notes in denomitaions of 10,000 kip each. Vang Vieng 8/11 About two hours into our ride to Vang Vieng, our "VIP" bus broke down. Escaping the heat was impossible ... read more

Singapore 5/9 - Switching continents I landed in this tiny country. Checked out Sentosa Island which was a bit over-the-top touristy. The night safari zoo was cool and riding a bike around Pulao Ubin during a massive monsoon turned out to be a lot of fun. Pulao Tioman 5/14 - Got into Malaysia and hit some culture shock. The heavily Islamic population took some getting used to - lots of stares and unfriendliness. Took the ferry out to this island off the east coast and shared a bungalow on a tiny beach. The scene was very quiet and empty. The food was excellent though, fresh shark for dinner for only $5. Kuantan 5/16 - This province capital was awful. Unfriendly people and nothing to do. My hotel room had more roaches and bugs than I had ... read more

Auckland Feb 20 - I arrived in Auckland at 5am after the 13 hour flight from SFO. I took a trip to an extinct volcano island called Rangitoto and hiked to the summit for some killer views. I booked a pass with a backpacker bus tour company called Stray. Hahei Feb 24 - Started the Stray tour today. We took a scenic drive out to Hahei. Most of the people travelling are Europeans, 22-27 years old travelling solo. Once we got to Hahei, most of us spent the afternoon sea-kayaking around the coastline of islands, beaches, and coves. Our driver barbecued a steak dinner and everyone started to get to know each other. Raglan Feb 28 - We drove back to the west coast to a surf-town called Raglan. Our hostel was near the base of ... read more