MJ Resurfaces

[OKLibrarian]

Thank you for bringing back the glorious memories of the truck stop bathroom we stopped at outside Shanghai.

 

[dex]

Kramer
In Jinghong, China they had these... Well, I won't go there... kind of a foul subject discussing this stuff, and I'm sort of embarrassed to discuss this publicly.... but it's something to consider. Take my word for it. Bring toilet paper and some kind of handi wipes! whew.
Be well,
Akaisha
Author, The Adventurer's Guide to Early Retirement

Maybe a last word here on this subject.
First during my travels through China I found the toilet facilities gross in all places except for first class hotels. The worst was a boat that I could swear was not cleaned since the Boxer Rebellion. Also, now that China has industrialized I would really fear the toxic materials that find their way into the food. PS - The last time I was in China was in 85 and 95.

FYI when I was in Outward Bound they said that grass and pine cones could be used in place of toilet paper. But I think Wet Ones might be softer than pine cones.

 

[Mwsinron]

So, if you are a traveler out in the middle of nowhere where do you find a spray? And what do you dry yourself with?

Hehe bring a squirt gun...

 

[donheff]

Hehe bring a squirt gun...

I have one built in but I wouldn't use it for this.

 

[loosechickens]

Ah....the encrusted toilet......this brings fond memories, back in our younger days, of a hotel in Patzcuaro, Mexico, ($2 a night, and the proprietor was amazed that we were renting for the whole night), where we went instead of continuing to camp because I had food poisoning and was really sick and couldn't stand the idea of another night lying on the ground with no bathroom......

We should have been warned when the guy offered us a bucket of water to flush the toilet since, "our plumbing is not working today". But our cheapskate ears only heard $2 for the whole night.

That toilet had never been hooked up to water, and when you flushed it with the bucket, you could hear the water cascading down the outside wall. The toilet had no seat, and I am sure it had not ever been cleaned in the history of the world, just encrusted, totally encrusted with filth. I just hung over it trying not to touch anything, barfing into an old coffee can and going at the other end as well. (sorry for the indelicacy, but it's part of the story).

I wouldn't lay on the bed until my sweetie spread out my sleeping bag. All I wanted to do was sleep, but the headboard of the bed was on a wall that the headboard of the bed on the other side was touching as well.

All night, the ladies of the evening, who were the usual tenants of this magnificent establishment, plied their trade, and the wall shook rhythmically, and we were serenaded with operatic quality sounds of faked pleasure.

This experience became the gold standard for our new rule #1. When either of us is really sick, we pull out the credit card if necessary, d*mn the budget, and get a good hotel......

And that toilet, despite travels to many countries, has remained the champion "worst one in the world" to us so far.

LooseChickens

P.S. Of course, I had the food poisoning because of the danged German hitchhiker, which is another story completely.......how we narrowly escaped a fate like in Midnight Express.......to be told another time.

 

[kramer]

This experience became the gold standard for our new rule #1. When either of us is really sick, we pull out the credit card if necessary, d*mn the budget, and get a good hotel......

This is great advice, and I will follow it in my travels. In fact, I was in Patzcuaro just a few months ago and the church restroom I used was not that greatest, for sure I have never been sick while traveling yet, knock on wood. Being a thorough guy, I have just ordered a good travel medical book that I intend to peruse before leaving for help in preparation, avoiding getting sick in the first place, and self-diagnosis (although I will only have a passport sized medical book with me during my actual travels).

In Jinghong, China they had these... Well, I won't go there...

I may be in Jinghong in just a few months. Oh man, I better get ready!

Re: Electronic Readers and e-books
I think this is a huge blessing for ex-pats everywhere. It makes many English books available instantly and worldwide. The market is not even close to mature yet but things are rapidly getting better.

Re: Lack of guidebooks on the road
This is a major issue for many PTs out there. At least you can get a lot of info on the internet. I was exchanging mail with one PT, and he was actually paying a IT guy in India to purchase and scan English language guidebooks for him. But neither he nor the Indian IT guy had the experience to convert the scans into proper e-books.

Kramer

 

[Billy]

OKLibrarian

Thank you for bringing back the glorious memories of the truck stop bathroom we stopped at outside Shanghai.

I know... Billy and I have been a LOT of places, and the bathrooms in China made ... um... an impression. We did stay in a decent hotel in Jinghong and those bathrooms were at least Western style and relatively clean. But what you find outside of the hotel room....

Dex

FYI when I was in Outward Bound they said that grass and pine cones could be used in place of toilet paper. But I think Wet Ones might be softer than pine cones.

I have a hard time with carrying so many pine cones in my purse and grass kind of slips through my fingers... if ya know what I mean..

LooseChickens

And that toilet, despite travels to many countries, has remained the champion "worst one in the world" to us so far.

Point made! It's good to have one of those benchmarks of travel... makes gratitude grow larger in my heart!

P.S. Of course, I had the food poisoning because of the danged German hitchhiker, which is another story completely.......how we narrowly escaped a fate like in Midnight Express.......to be told another time.

Would love to hear sometime. Traveling... expands the mind, don't it?

Kramer

I have never been sick while traveling yet, knock on wood. Being a thorough guy, I have just ordered a good travel medical book that I intend to peruse before leaving for help in preparation, avoiding getting sick in the first place, and self-diagnosis (although I will only have a passport sized medical book with me during my actual travels).

Kramer, I have probably been sick for one reason or another in every country I have visited. sigh... Some of it of course, is the change in drinking water (even though we use bottled water) and what blows around in the air. Hence our experience in foreign health care... 8)

I may be in Jinghong in just a few months. Oh man, I better get ready!

Jinghong was a great little town. Definitely go see Aktuin and Orchid at the Mei Mei Cafe http://www.retireearlylifestyle.com/ganlanba.htm

They speak English, the food is decent and they can make some travel arrangements to suit you, if you are so inclined.

We were there during the Songkran festival a couple of years ago.
http://www.retireearlylifestyle.com/china.htm

Hey, I wonder where MJ is? I bet he's still with that poolside beauty... haven't seen him around here much lately...

Be well,
Akaisha
Author, The Adventurer's Guide to Early Retirement

 

[kramer]

Jinghong was a great little town. Definitely go see Aktuin and Orchid at the Mei Mei Cafe http://www.retireearlylifestyle.com/ganlanba.htm

They speak English, the food is decent and they can make some travel arrangements to suit you, if you are so inclined.

Akaisha, Great overview articles. Also, I didn't know that one could fly to Chiang Mai directly from Jinghong. Thanks!

Of all the places I hope to visit in the next year, China is probably the scariest because of the dearth of spoken English or even Roman script and I have always been more than a little scared of some of that far out Chinese food . . . if it moves, they seem to eat it.

Kramer

 

[kramer]

Travel to places like China always brings surprises. From Lonely Planet's China page:

Travellers entering China by road or rail across the southeastern border, particularly the Vietnamese frontier, report that Lonely Planet China guidebooks have been confiscated by border officials. This is due to sensitivity regarding maps of China that do not include Taiwan. Travellers should consider putting a cover on the book to make it less recognisable and just to be safe, copy down any crucial details you might need while in the country.

Kramer

 

[OKLibrarian]

I know... Billy and I have been a LOT of places, and the bathrooms in China made ... um... an impression. We did stay in a decent hotel in Jinghong and those bathrooms were at least Western style and relatively clean. But what you find outside of the hotel room....

Oh yeah--the hotels were easily on a par with anything I'd seen in the states (assuming you don't mind firm matresses, which I actually liked). They also seem to be busily cleaning up the place (in all senses of the word) for the Olympics. While I hope that means cleaner and more available western toilets, I do wonder what long-term changes are going to be wrought on the country. I was also pretty much stuck on the tourist track (Beijing, Hangzhou, and Shanghai), so I don't know if my experiences would be typical to the rest of the country. hopefully I can go again in another year or two and find out.

 

[deserat]

Ahh - the memories of travel - I had an interesting experience while hiking the Via Ferrate in Italy - basically you have a harness and walk along a small path that has been worn/carved into the edge of the 'mountain' (they are actually petrified coral aggregations) in which the 'cable guy' has also placed a cable for you to hold onto as you hike- the Europeans are nice and have beautiful huts you can stay in and the food is awesome, too, but I caught/ate something that had me going out both ends - and it was a squatter toilet - my husband said when he saw me walk into our shared room with no pants on, he knew things had gotten bad......and that was at the beginning of the hike - almost every single one of us got something on that trip. Although the hike and views were *awesome* - bottom line - even first world countries can cause intestinal distress and interesting biological exhaust mechanisms Yes, that trip will be a measurement in terms of awesomeness and horribleness - Deserat

 

[samclem]

They also seem to be busily cleaning up the place (in all senses of the word) for the Olympics. While I hope that means cleaner and more available western toilets, I do wonder what long-term changes are going to be wrought on the country.

The Olympics changed Seoul a lot. There were more signs in English (good for me), but much of the very cheaply available goods went away and didn't come back in the former abundance (grey market tennis shoes, etc). I'm not sure how it will change Beijing.

 

[Billy]

kramer

Akaisha, Great overview articles. Also, I didn't know that one could fly to Chiang Mai directly from Jinghong. Thanks!

Hi Kramer. You are welcome! We were on Thai Airways' "Virgin flight". It was a big deal at the time:

Purchasing our Chinese "date sensitive" visas through the Chinese Embassy in Chiang Mai, these visas had no extensions offered, and travel dates were fixed. The price: $55 USD each. Thai Airway flight tickets, directly from Chiang Mai, Thailand to Jinghong, China, round trip were $104 USD each.

Jinghong China: http://www.retireearlylifestyle.com/china_story.htm

Of all the places I hope to visit in the next year, China is probably the scariest because of the dearth of spoken English or even Roman script and I have always been more than a little scared of some of that far out Chinese food . . . if it moves, they seem to eat it.

You are right. They do! Jinghong is a bit out of the way of tourists. Almost no one spoke English and we resorted to sign language, pointing to things in restaurants to order them and making noises to simulate 'stir fry, soup, etc.' -- you can imagine.

Travellers entering China by road or rail across the southeastern border, particularly the Vietnamese frontier, report that Lonely Planet China guidebooks have been confiscated by border officials. This is due to sensitivity regarding maps of China that do not include Taiwan.

Ths doesn't surprise me. Do not take these warnings lightly. CYA. On the plane ride over there I read in the newspaper how the 'internet police' caught this 40-ish y.o. woman surfing the internet unsupervised and went to her home and arrested her. They broke both her legs and threw her in prison. Her legs were never reset, and she languished in prison 'as an example' to others who wanted more intellectual freedom in their lives. This shook us up a bit...

When we utilized the internet cafes, many of our 'usual sites' were blocked and we could not get to them.

When we used the ATM to obtain local yuan, the machine churned, but no cash came out. We entered the bank to straighten our situation out from the sunny street so the policeman instantly blocked our way and told us to remove our sunglasses. "uh,... yes sir!"

And of course, if you have a fever going into China they don't let you in, if you have a fever when leaving China they don't let you out. How do they know? They utilize a laser gun which they point between your eyes onto your forehead which takes your temperature instantly. I would suggest you bring a few aspirin in case you get intestinal discomfort and your body wants to fight it off. Better to take a few aspirin than stay in quarantine for 2 weeks (or who knows what else...)

OKLibrarian

Oh yeah--the hotels were easily on a par with anything I'd seen in the states (assuming you don't mind firm matresses, which I actually liked). They also seem to be busily cleaning up the place (in all senses of the word) for the Olympics.

We stayed at the Xishuanbanna Hotel (190 yuan per night, about $24) for 2 weeks. The first few days people were pretty remote and service was 'early communist'. (read: I don't give a s#*&t) I think our building was named 'Number 5" . There was no attempt to add beauty in real physical items or in concept. (i.e., the building could have been called Chyrsanthemum, for instance...)

Song Kran was coming in a few days and the word on the street from some ex-pats was that the Chinese would kick us out in order to house the Chinese tourists who come into the city to celebrate - regardless of whether we had paid for the room or not... it was not unheard of..

A few days later, all of a sudden the people at the main desks had on bright colored uniforms, Huge boquets of flowers were at the main desk and in the hallways, people were smiling, and maid service quality increased. ( we got a role of toilet paper with the room and clean towels) We asked the man at the desk what had happened.

In his broken English he explained that previously, the hotel had been owned by the government. "Today it is owned by a private person. " We said "Oh Good!" He replied "Not sure."

We did wonder how that could happen... under the rules of Communist China... but didn't pursue the discussion much further..

Deserat

bottom line - even first world countries can cause intestinal distress and interesting biological exhaust mechanisms Yes, that trip will be a measurement in terms of awesomeness and horribleness

You poor girl! Been there! One trick I learned from a local Malaysian who learned from her Granny -- Granny says to take a bottle of your own 'local drinking water' with you when you travel. (I know the rules about bringing drinking water on board airlines has changed...) but you use that local drinking water as 'medicine water.' Every day you add a little bit of that local water to the water you are drinking in the 'new' place, even if that water is from a bottled water source.

Your stomach and intestines are used to the bacteria (etc.) in the water you have been drinking and it will adjust little by little to the changes if you add the water it is used to -- to the new water you are now drinking. I have done this ever since I learned of Granny's trick and have had a lot more comfort in changing from country to country.

I don't know what we will do now that we are only allowed to bring about 3 oz of water on the planes.... Granny would say it makes no sense!

Where's MJ?

Be well,
Akaisha
Author, The Adventurer's Guide to Early Retirement

 

[MJ]

stories like billy & akaisha's & yours have really got me thinking about a vagabond life for myself. it sounds like a wonderful way to live. i'm starting to like the idea of vagabonding abroad even better than living aboard in the states. definitely would love to read more about your adventures.

I know B & A love their PT lifestyle. For me, this is my 1st time doing it. Remember, the grass is always greener ..... I am still working out the what, where, how, and why's of this travelling lifestyle. It is great fun figuring it all out bit by bit. If I was 20 years younger, doing it alone might have bit more exciting. Having a soulmate to travel with would enhance the adventure. I am working on my next best friend although the last girlfriend just re-established communications. Time will tell. Man, do I like playing with fire.

MJ

 

[MJ]

We are just jealous.

Glad to hear from you. If you have pictures, post some.

Hi Martha,

No reason to be jealous. If you wanted this type of lifestyle you and Greg could certainly give it a try but I suspect, you are a homebody and enjoy your house, garden and familiar suroundings. I don't think this is for everone.

I have begun loading my pics.

MJ

 

[MJ]

Nice to see your pixels......if you're thinking of giving up your bike for a backpack, take it from experience.....if you're carrying around 30 pounds, you have about twice as much stuff as you need.

I' ll try to keep it within 20 lbs.

Sorry your romance didn't work out, but it sounds like it was fun while it lasted....."to every thing there is a season".......

Enjoy your travels...LooseChickens

Well, it is probably over, BUT, I just got an email from her after 3 months of silence. So chapter 2 begins. It may only be a paragraph long or ...........

Thanks for the well wishes

MJ

 

[loosechickens]

one more hint from the old f*rts.......those "loose chicken" women don't like to be held on to too closely........you might retain a real relationship with this lady if you give her some space.....sounds like she is one who really needs that.

Good luck......just enjoy what comes your way and be prepared to allow it to slip through your fingers and sometimes it hangs around....

Enjoy your travels...

LooseChickens

 

[Sam]

Well, it is probably over, BUT, I just got an email from her after 3 months of silence. So chapter 2 begins. It may only be a paragraph long or ...........

I'm totally inexperienced in this particular field. To my dismay though, I observe that in most "relationships", the female is the one pulling the strings, and man just dances along. :

BTW, I'm not specifically referring to vagabond's case, just speaking generally.

 

[Billy]

MJ

Time will tell. Man, do I like playing with fire.

That must explain your current hair-do, MJ... Now I understand.


Sam

I'm totally inexperienced in this particular field. To my dismay though, I observe that in most "relationships", the female is the one pulling the strings, and man just dances along.

Gosh, Sam, I must have missed that course in school.... bummer for me! 8)

Akaisha
Author, The Adventurer's Guide to Early Retirement

 

[MJ]

I don't remember seeing this post the first time you posted it - I don't know why.
But, thanks for the update - you are doing great and are an inspiration.
Congrats

I'm just a guy with a little smarts and a lot of dumb luck. I just decided to take my marbles and go play somewhere else (in the world). I'm hoping the kids are more playful.

I'll tell you how great I have been doing after about 3 years, no make that 5 years, no make that 10 years, no make that .......

Thanks though.

MJ

 

[MJ]

vagabond,
Thanks for checking in, and make with the pictures already! Us stay-at-home types need to enjoy your trip vicariously.

Ok, ok, i'm working on it, i'm working on it.
I don't know if I can handle these demanding stresses.

MJ

 

[MJ]

MJ, I would be interested in hearing more about your trip to Laos. We intend to spend time in Vietnam and would be interested as to how your compare the two countries. BTW did you every feel "threatened" in Laos - that is your personal security I am referring to.

Hi DM,
This was my first trip to Laos. I didn't get to Vietnam yet. Since, I'm not a typical tourist, I usually don't do most of the sightseeing stuff. I did the route starting in Vientiane, Vang Vieng and Luang Phrabang. I pretty hung out with both the travellers and locals. I did a lot of local bike riding around each of the towns. I met some real interesting characters. In Vientiane, I wasted about 3 to 4 hours a day for 4 days going to this wat that offered herbal steam sauna and massage for the expensive price of $4. I did have my 1st traffic accident ever in Vientiane, when I was clipped by a motorbike from the rear. Luckily, I just felt a strong bump and stopped my bike without falling. On the other hand, I saw that the motorbike and the female driver both laying on the ground. She started crying that it was my fault, while I responded by pointing that she rear ended me. After about 5 minutes and no police insight, I calmly got out of there quick. In southeast asia, if you step out of your guesthouse, you are already in the wrong.

As far as security goes, whereever I went, it always felt secure to me no more what time of day. Of course, being from NYC, I keep my guard up when appropriate and I try to stay clear of intoxicated locals.

MJ

 

[MJ]

Have you tried using a device with no keyboard that doesn't run your favorite apps before? In my experience, the novelty wears off pretty quickly. I often carry a 4lb laptop with me when I travel, but Sony does make a sub-2lb laptop if you're really wimpy weight conscious.

I didn't bring a laptop with me this time and missed it. I sure would like to bring one next time. I would love to keep in under 2lbs but man, that Sony is still real pricey. Wimpy, shwimpy, 2 extra lbs after 2 or more months of travelling is 2 lbs too much.

MJ

 

[MJ]

Hey MJ! You never even said 'So Long' the other day when you visited us at our poolside office! You simply made your way over to that poolside lovely.... and that was that! Didn't your momma teach ya nuthin'?

Well, it serves you right, everytime Billy leaves the pool and I try to make my advances to you, you continuely reject me
because of some silly reasons like your deep love and affection for Billy,
so I am forced seek out younger and more naive women who might fall for my innocent charm.

MJ

 

[MJ]

Hey, I wonder where MJ is? I bet he's still with that poolside beauty... haven't seen him around here much lately...

Finally came up for air yesterday. These beauties can make you feel like you're 40, no, make that 30, no, make that .....

MJ