Merry Christmas one and all.

I am here in Arizona at home, where my parents live and where much of my mail ends up whenever there are not enough stamps to make it down to Sydney. Doing the holiday thing with the fam. Hanging out, opening presents the like. Just some nice down time, which has been great, but I figure does not make for the most engaging post material.

But good news. I come with gifts for you, my reader. I have been working on the computer for the last few days, and I can now present to you the slide show of the trip. Edited for maximum wow.

Please do tuck in:

1. Vietnam & Cambodia

2. Hong Kong & India

3. London & Paris

I hope that all of you have had a good Christmas. Of course, if you don't do the whole Christian/pagan/atheist thing, I wish you the best in whatever holiday you may be celebrating.

One thing that I picked up from this trip is that there are a whole lot of people out there to whom the 25th of December is just another day. From what I saw in India, Cambodia and Vietnam, Christmas hardly even recognized, and even if it is, it is just another oddity of western culture. Fair enough, without peeking in Wikipedia, I haven't the slightest clue idea what December holidays are celebrated in the towns I passed through, but it sure isn't what I am used to. Whatever it may be, may we all celebrate whatever holidays that we hold dear.

That said, I still think Kwanzaa is a big load of shit.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 10:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

French keyboards have the keys in the wrong place, which makes writing this a bit more difficult, but I will manage. Bonjour my reader. I am in another one of those towns that considers itself the center of the world, but is a load cheaper than London.

The thing about Paris is that my friends have very strong feelings about this place. Either they despise it or they adore it. Inevitably, there is a tragic or romantic story attached to these feelings; either being harassed by the police or kissing on the arc de triumpe. As such, I had approached my second visit to this city with trepidation, lest I swap away my love of this city.

Luck is on my side on this visit. Christy pulled out of her hat of tricks her very own godfather. He and his wife live here and have been happy to play host. This has translated into a great place for us to stay, and great company. Happily, my rusty french has gotten us by, at least long enough to start up a conversation in English.

The food is great, as advertised. No Louvre on this trip, but the Pompidou instead. It is worth the trip. I am in Montmarte now, which seems like a nice place so far. Most of the time I have been here, searching for wandering letters on this damn keyboard.

Tomorrow, it is back home to America. Merry Christmas!

Posted by Colin J Allen at 7:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Still in the same place for once. We had decided to spend some quality time in London on this trip, to slow it down from the usual backpacker pace. See amazing site, get some sleep, pack up, move to another town. Repeat as needed.

When you stay at a place for more than three or so days, it changes the way you look at your current location. It makes you feel more like a local. Add to that you are staying over at some London friends of yours and I can almost get a glimmer of what it would be like to live here: a exiting, vibrant life, yet only in those brief moments you are neither working nor broke.

Christy and I continue to loose money at a prodigious rate, paying for such luxurious items as lunch, dinner and tube fare. And beer of course. Christy is not as excited about the wonderful London bitter and lager they have here as I, but she has found her own alcoholic fascination of her own, the mulled wine. While I think that it is usually a bit too many flavors at once, warming up from the inside sure is a nice way to warm up from this whole winter they have going on up here.

Speaking of weather, did you know that there was a tornado in London last week? How about that for global warming, eh?

Let me give you a few brief descriptions of things seen in London. The London Eye--you know that huge brand spanking new Ferris wheel--is worth every bit of the admission price. You get a beautiful view of the City right above the Thames, in fact you look down onto Big Ben. The Tate Modern is a world class museum--with five story slides in it. Slides for adults. Huge ones at that. I am starting to think that London may just be one big playground.

Well, we are off to see an iconic bridge today, maybe find some art, then wrap it up by meeting up with two old friends from Texas. Goes to show you how many of us high tailed it out of that state as fast as we could.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 6:39 AM | Permalink

It is cold up here in London.

There are many wonderful things about this city. There is not obscene amounts of public urination, for one. You can drink the water out of the tap with no worries about little evil microscopic beings coming into you and cleansing out your system. No beggars asking for your money, no touts trying to scam you out of your money. People ignore you here in London, almost as if they have better things to do with themselves.

India was hard my friends. As much as I hate to admit it, there is a lot to be said for the wonders of the first world. For example, if I have picked up anything from this trip, it is a renewed appreciation of potable tap water. However those governmental hydrologists get the job done, I want to thank them for this cup of water I am drinking right now. Ahhhh, so refreshing, so clean.

But I am not here now to discuss how a country that can build a nuclear bomb has so little in the way of infrastructure. Maybe another day. No, I am here to tell you where I am now, which is the epicenter of the United Kingdom, London. A city that often falls into the 'center of the world' category.

This is my third day of winter now, and I have not really adjusted. It was chilly in India, and warm in Vietnam, Cambodia and Australia, so this is really the first time that it has been Christmas-y feeling. If I am luck I'll get some snow. More likely though, it'll be rain.

What to say about London... Well, it is a great place, but very fucking expensive. This town has the world's most pricey real estate, I believe, so it should come as little surprise that everything else costs a bit more. Thankfully we are staying at a friend's place to keep costs down.

Highlights so far are seeing the London Eye, the record shop that is pictured in DJ Shadow's Entroducing, the Gerkin, and quality bitter, lager and Guinness. We are off today to check out some art, which should be a good time.

But really it is nice just to relax and celebrate being out of the backpacking phase of the trip for now and enjoy visiting friends who happen to live across the pond.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 5:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Now this town is more to my liking.

At a certain point in Delhi, I came to the realization that it was time to get in to the rickshaw and let myself be driven around. I am not a taxi sort of person, in fact I have been known on many occasions to walk miles before I will allow myself my own personal, albeit temporary, driver. It seems like such a luxury to be driven, so bourgeoisie.

Well, so be it. When in India, there is no avoiding the fact that there is a huge class difference, and as such I have found that I am quite happy to be driven to and fro the sites of this place. I have a driver, damn it, and it is a great thing. Worth all of the six bucks a day. And he is a nice guy to boot.

I left you, my reader, a bit down and out in Delhi. Long story short, we all do what we have to do to pay the bills. And if you happen to be the one with bills in your pocket, then you best think twice about why people are nice to you. So here, much like in L.A., if you got the money, they got the time.

Today, I am in a better mood. My driver friend (that is to say, as long as we keep paying him) has been a great guide. He has shown us the coolest thing in India, the Taj Mahal. The most insane thing ever build for love. And what a monument. It is as amazing as it looks in the pictures. Cold opaque marble, intricately inlaid with semiprecious stones with the solid blue sky as a backdrop. It is another place where words fail, pictures fail, movies as well. Take the picture you have in your mind, and it is like that, but bigger.

That said, when I get to a personal computer, I'll be glad to show you all the pictures I have. Maybe one of them will capture that essence, as the french say, the I don't know what.

I have to get to bed now. Going to do sunrise at the Taj tomorrow.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hmm. Delhi. Not my cup of tea.

I have no idea how to start to describing this place. In Asia, there are these tourist shirts that say SAME SAME ONLY DIFFERENT, running on the idea that Saigon, Siem Reap or wherever is different yes, but not so much that you would not be able to relate, and be able to compare your day to day to their daily routine.

I can't say the same about here.

This place is simply different. I am stuck here trying to figure out the best way to describe what is happening outside this computer lab. Let me start with the basics. Picture in your mind a narrow street, crowed with way too many people. Vendors sell goods on both sides of the road, but none of it really seems worth the effort to go through the whole bartering process. There are filthy, but holy, cows causing traffic knarl-ups, getting in the way of the many three-wheeled rickshaws (some of which run on petrol, while the rest are just pimped up bicycles) motorcycles and compact cars that honk their way through the all the pedestrians. Like other developing places, the sidewalk is for anything but walking. The homeless tend to stake out a slab of cement as their living quarters. Others park there. Vendors spread out their goods. The sidewalk is a developed world luxury.

This place is a bit machismo. This boils down to everyone harassing me more than Christy. Hello, where are you from, hello, need a ride, hello what is your name... the usual suspects. That actually is not as bad as it was in Asia. However, for Christy, her subcontinent experience has been different. As a beautiful (by the way, did you know that it was our first anniversary yesterday?) girl with pale skin, blue eyes and red hair, everyone stares at her. Men, women, little children, all of them, and there is nothing subtle about it. I was glad to be hidden in my swarthy beard, and not some exotic Irish girl.

We take the train tomorrow to Agra, home of he Taj Mahal. Onward an upward...

Posted by Colin J Allen at 2:41 AM | Permalink

I was not able to post from my last location as I did not have time to waste indoors in an online cafe. Last I left you I was headed to Saigon, aka Ho Chi Min City. We did not spend much time there as we had bigger things in mind. After one not very notable night there, we were in the airport to take a little journey to Vietnam's western neighbor, Cambodia.

Ankgor.

That's right, that Tomb Raider place.

I curse myself for not bringing the right cables to this cafe to show you pictures, but suffice it to say, it is just as cool in person as it is in pictures. The temples are a wonder to behold. You can climb up and into all the temples, you can hug those famous roots, and you can take more pictures than you know what to do with.

The temples of Ankgor are amazing bits of human ingenuity. Did you know that most archeologists think that the building of the biggest temple, Angor Wat, probably lead to the downfall of the civilization? I am not sure if that is true, but I really like the idea. Imagine Boston disappearing because the next major there attempts to do an Even Bigger Big Dig.

Fast forward to Hong Kong. I am not here very long, but I have had a good time. This place is where East meets West. Imagine big skyscrapers with a bamboo construction lattice on the front of it. Imagine western prices, but eastern haggling.

As a good tourist, I went up to the top of the hill, Victoria Mountain. There is an insane train that takes you straight up the 22 degree slope of the mountain. Going up makes you feel like you just got on the first hill of a roller coaster. Hate to be on that thing when it breaks. Once you are on top, the view on the mountain is beautiful. Just like the postcards. If you want, you can go on a nice nature walk to get away from the hustle and bustle.

Today, we are off to get some Dim Som and hopefully check out the old town. Practice my Bruce Lee impressions. Listen to more Christmas music. Fly to a new country.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)