Today was our first full day in Jackson Hole.  We got up much earlier than we normally would on a trip like this, but since it's a b'n'b we thought we needed to get our free breakfast and meet the other guests.  Breakfast was great and on Inn keeper, Deborah, is very nice.  Pretty much all of the other guests we've met are from different parts of Texas.  We definitly got a couple of big eyes when we said we were from Boulder.  I guess we're just a bunch of hippies ;-)

After breakfast we decided to check out the ski resort and see why it's so famous.  It seems much smaller than Steamboat, so we were curious about why people come from all over the world to see it.  Our place is just 5 miles from the ski resort, so we popped over in no time.  We took the big, new sky tram up to the top of the mountain.  This tram is huge, in the winter they pack 100 people in each tram, ski gear and all!  It takes about 10 minutes up to the true summit.  On the way up, the tram guy pointed out two ski runs that come down from a huge cliff.  It was basically 90 degrees down over giant boulders.  He said 55% of all of their runs are double black diamond or expert.  Only 5% are green runs.  So, that's why this place is so famous, it's incredibly difficult and challenging for ski buffs.    

The landscape was nothing like we imagined.  It is all rocky and desolate. No trees at all.  When we got out, it was super windy and cold.  I could not imagine skiing here!  At the top is Corbin's Cabin, which is advertised as a restaurant to get hot drinks and waffles.  In reality, it's a shack with instant coffee and cocoa, and yes, they make waffles for you.  It actually reminded us of some of the lodges in Nepal, tiny, scary, covered in satellites and antennea, and very meager inside.  But this place had heat and full electricity.  We really did like it, it was fun to be up there.  We ordered a butter brown sugar waffle.  Delicious!

After we warmed up, we went on a small hike out to the cliffs where those runs are.  It was really windy, but we made it.  I'm sure my mom would like to know I was standing on a cliff in high winds while 6 months pregnant! The scenery was crazy but very awesome.

We headed back to the tram and took it back down.  We ate lunch at the base, great sandwiches.  We headed back to the Inn and did something awesome:  we took a 2 hour nap!  Yay!!

We got up and had cheese and wine.  Our inn keeper got me sparkling cider, which was so thoughtful.  She suggested a Mexican place for dinner, The Merry Piglets.  We figured we'd go there, so we headed to town.  We found a great parking spot and walked around for a bit.  We stumbled on this tiny hole in the wall joint that we just had to stop at:  The Everest Momo Shack!  They were serving only momos this night, and we got an order.  We asked the owner if was from Nepal, and he said yes.  We told him what we had just done in April and it turns out he's from the Khumbu Valley, just near Namche!  He lived in Aspen for 19 years, and has been in Jackson for the last 4.  What a small world.  It was awesome.  

After our momos, we wandered around and found a little restaurant/bakery called the Bunnery.  I got a little meal and Tyson got a cheese steak.  It was great, too.  

We called it a night and headed back to our Inn.  Great day!

Today we drove 9 hours from Boulder, Colorado to Jackson Hole, WY.  We decided back in July that we would take advantage of a deal we had at a bed and breakfast called The Bentwood Inn.  They are actually a client of the company I work for.  

The drive overall, sorry Wyoming, was quite, how should I put this... drab.  For most of the trip we were hoping for amazing scenery that everyone was telling us about.  Well, for those who have never done this drive before you will think all beautiful scenery is lost and keep asking yourself why the hell did you decide to drive 9 hours through Wyoming.

On the way up we stopped only a couple times to fill up and grab something to eat.  We decided to try a place called Taco Time in Rock Springs, WY.  Um, if you want to eat the worst mexican style food in your life, we HIGHLY recommend Taco Time.  I guess we should have guessed it was going to taste like camel butt by the name.  Oh well.

Finally, around hour 8, and a handful of construction delays the scenery turned.  Like night and day we were in a whole new area with beautiful changing trees, mountains, and rivers.  Whew.  This is what everyone was talking about and we hadn't even seen the main attractions yet, like the Tetons, Jackson Lake, etc.  

We left Boulder around 10 and got to the Bentwood around 7.  Still trying to get the taste of Taco Time out of our mouth we decided to check out the town of Jackson and grab dinner.  We used Urban Spoon, an app on my iPhone that picks places to eat at random around you (yes an app for that) and ended up at a really cool place called the Snake River Brewery.  It had your classic modern pub feel with brewery equipment all over the place.  The food was actually very good.  I took a risk and got a pasta dish which was fantastic.  You never know about straying away from your standard burger and fries at a pub, but this pasta was as good as you would get at a nice Italian restaurant.  

After dinner we called it a night, went back to the Bentwood and crashed.  Amazing how sitting for 9 hours, doing nothing, eating crappy snacks, can make you so tired!

 My point is, just make sure that the person working on something for you has the right skills and desires in order to have the best successful outcome.  This is critical for web design, so try to leave your IT dude out of the picture and I can confidently say you will be so happy that you did.  Trust me, the last thing you want is an all out nerd war… web designers and IT folk do not play well with each other ;) 

So I decided to attempt, what I call, the Triple Peak hike today.  Basically the goal is to do the three main mountains in Boulder Mountain Parks in one day.  The three peaks are Green Mountain, Bear Peak and South Boulder Peak.

Usually you do one mountain during a hike.  Brittany and I used these mountains to train for a year for our Everest Base Camp trek.  I never did all three at once however, so I thought I would try.

The overall trip took 4.5 hours and was approx. 7.5 miles.  I started at the Green Mountain trail head off of Flagstaff Road, in Boulder, Colorado.  Green Mountain was the first peak which took about 1 hour.  I stayed at the top for about 5 min, turned around and went back down to the junction.  The top is about 15 min from the junction that takes you back to the trail head or off to Bear Peak.  The first part of the junction goes down into the canyon down to Bear Trail Creek.  It meets back up with another junction that either takes you out and to the Bear Peak trail head or up to the summit.

The second mountain was Bear Peak.  It took 1.5 hours from the Green Mountain summit which made the total time to the summit of Bear Peak 2.5 hours which was a new record for me!  I spent about 5 min again at the top, took some pics and turned around.  The junction to South Boulder peak is pretty much at the Bear Peak summit so not much back tracking luckily.  From the summit of Bear Peak it took a whopping 20 mins to get to the summit of South Boulder Peak.

So obviously South Boulder Peak was the third mountain in the Triple Peak hike.  This was the first time for me to the summit of South Boulder Peak.  It isn't too far from Bear Peak, with a shallow saddle in between.  The final stretch to the top is actually pretty mild compared to the rock scramble up Bear Peak, so I was surprised.  South Boulder Peak is slightly higher than Bear Peak, but was easier to summit.  Green Mountain is the runt of the three.  

I spent the most time on top of South Boulder Peak because it was my first time.  Had a snack, drank some Gatorade and then headed down.  The junction to the way down wasn't too far.  I passed it half way between Bear Peak summit and South Boulder Peak summit.  The junction takes you to the Shadow Canyon trail which Brittany and I attempted last year, but didn't make it to the top.  It is very steep so the way down was a bit rough.

About 30 mins down I realized that Brittany and I were SO close to the top last year! Oh well.  You get fantastic views of the backside of Devil's Thumb on this trail.  Devil's Thumb is a very unique rock structure that looks like a thumb from Boulder.  Up close it looks nothing like a thumb, but still wild.  

Shadow Canyon was much steeper than I remembered and my knees were killing me by the time I got to the Mesa Trail.  The Mesa Trail is a wide server road so I find it kind of boring, but karma comes around and the Mesa Trail caused me to the turn off.  Ok, it was my mistake... I was lost.  I ended up on a trail that was again pretty steep and took me out of my way back to the trail head.  For a while I considered turning around, but kept looking back the incline and thought, eh, it will pop out somewhere eventually.

Well luckily it took me to the same trail head, just took more time.  Brittany was waiting for me a little ways up the trail head which was a nice surprise.  All I wanted to do was sit down, in the car, with AC, and get a hamburger at McDonalds.  I NEVER crave McDonalds, ick!  But damn I wanted a hamburger ;)

It was a great hike and I recommend it to anyone who wants a challenge.  It is great training for 14'ers as well.  I am supposed to attempt Longs Peak again in a couple weeks with Benji and Stefan, so this was a good warm up ;)

So I climbed Longs Peak all the way up and down in one day... What the HELL was I thinking??

I have been wanting to climb Longs Peak for a while.  Brittany and I attempted it last September 2009 but didn't make it.  We broke the hike into two days by camping overnight on the mountain right below what is called the 'Key Hole' in a field covered in boulders, called appropriately, the 'Boulder Field'.  Long story short, we woke up the next morning, climbed up to the key hole and turned back a mile from the top due to exhaustion and a nasty story about to roll in.

After some thought I decided I wanted to attempt Longs Peak.  I didn't know anyone that could do it with me, so I would have to do it alone.  This is why I decided to do it in one day, rather than camping part way up the mountain.

We found a nice camp spot at the Longs Peak Camp Ground, literally feet from the trail head.  We did this because in order to get to the top of the mountain before noon to avoid lightening, you have to start around 2-3am.  I didn't want to have to drive all the way from home to get to the trail head that flippin' early.  So, we decided to camp, with the dog, which was fun.

At 2:30am on July 11th, 2010, Brittany and I got up.  I got dressed and put on my gear, had a little breakfast, and we both went to the trail head.  It was pretty dark, but the sky was very clear.  You could see the stars very well, along with the Milky Way.  I put on my head lamp, kissed Brittany and Melody goodbye and started my adventure.

We planned on 12 hours round trip.  The hike was 7.5 miles each way with a gain of just about 5,000 feet.  The trail head starts at around 9,500 feet and Longs Peak summit is roughly around 12,200 feet.  I knew it was going to be a long and tough hike, but I had no clue what was to come.

The first 2 miles of the hike is below timberline (trees).  I was in the dark this whole time.  I wasn't the only one on the trail so it wasn't too scary being alone.  I could just see specs of light ahead of me from other hikers’ head lamps.  It was very strange hiking in the dark, in the middle of a forest.  You paid a lot more attention to the sounds around you vs. when it is light out.  You could hear the streams and waterfalls very well which gave a good perspective as to how far you had gone.  I was above timberline when the sun rose 2 hours into the hike.  I was about at 3 miles and in between the Chasm Lake junction and Granite Pass.  Other than being on top of Longs Peak, this was probably the next best place to be to see the sunrise.  It was breathtaking.  

Though I had a more important thing to worry about... getting to the top.  After Granite Pass you head up to the Boulder Field.  You hike up long switchbacks for about a half a mile and then poke over the ridge where you see the Keyhole way off in the distance across the Boulder Field for the first time.  You also see 'the diamond' which is the peak of Longs Peak.  The Boulder Field is quite long trying to maneuver your way through fairly large boulders and streams to the camp site about a mile in.  You don't gain much elevation through the field, but the boulders make it equally as tough as if you were.  Last time I was here it was cold and near the start of Winter.  This time it was very green.  Instead of dirt in between the rocks there were lush green patches which made the Boulder Field very beautiful.  It also made the hike more pleasant.  

I finally made it to the camp area and decided to use the bathroom.  This was a little adventure being that I had to go poo and there was no toilet paper.  Luckily I had some in my backpack that was sitting on a rock outside the outhouse.  So I had to pull up my pants go outside, grab my bag, try to bring it in with me, and do my thing.  I was kinda in a panic so I was moving fast.  Well, I moved too fast and broke my zipper on my pants.  This added a whole other level of anxiety for the rest of the hike.  Basically I was worried about flashing other hikes the entire way up and back down from here on out.  I thought 'oh well' and started the climb to the keyhole.

The Boulder Field at this point changes a little.  The nice green vegetation goes away and the boulders become much larger.  Some are as big as buses and most cars.  You are also now gaining some elevation so it was pretty tough.  After a while climbing you make it to the Keyhole that is a unique rock structure that created a 'hole' through the ridge to allow you to poke through and end up on the other side of the mountain.  This is the beginning of the last 4 sections of the hike, which is the hardest part.  At this point I had been hiking for 6 miles and was about to start the hardest part which was packed into the last mile and a half up to the summit.

For the next part you follow little targets painting on the rocks to give you an idea where to go.  At this point Rocky Mountain National Park says you are no longer on a trail and you hike at your own risk.  There was still some snow and ice so the park still classified this section technical, meaning you should have climbing experience and the proper equipment to attempt this section.  You were able to dodge the snow and ice so it wasn't too technical.  Even a little patch of snow will classify this section as technical.

The first of the four parts is called the Ledges.  You climb over rocks on a ledge that drops off a bit on your right heading up.  The key is to focus and watch your step... and avoid the ice.  This part was longer than I thought it would be.  It also descended quite a bit which only meant that you would have to go back up it on the way back.  Some parts were tough and required minor rock climbing.  It dipped down a little and met up with the beginning of the next part.

This next part, the second part, is called the Trough.  This part, in my opinion, is the hardest part.  You gain most of the elevation during this last mile by far compared to the hike overall.  You climb up rocks at a fairly steep incline for quite a while.  Rocks cliffs rise above you on both sides which gives this section the name 'Trough'.  It looks like a ginormous half pipe angled up and stretched.  Then you pile rocks in it and climb it.  It is also on the west side of the mountain, so the sun doesn't even hit it for awhile.  It was very cold and windy the entire way up making it extra hard.  Snow and ice patches covered a lot of it, so finding a good route was a little difficult.  There was only one part that you couldn't avoid snow and it was super hard to get over.  I thought to myself several times during this section I couldn't make it.  I could see folks above me and some below struggling up as well, which made me feel better.  I kept stopping to rest and when I started again the people above me didn't seem to have moved.  They must have been resting too luckily.  This section also had me doing some rock climbing that I haven't done in ages.  I keep thinking to myself 'What the hell am I doing'.

After an hour or so I finally made it to the top of the Trough.  For most of the Trough it is pretty wide.  It narrows near the top and finished with a lovely rock climb because the normal route was covered in a sheet of ice.  After climbing you went up just a little bit and popped out over a little ledge and were all of a sudden in the sun.  I looked to my left and with no doubt in my mind knew I was at the third section that is appropriately called the Narrows.  

This section is maybe 2-3 feet wide for most of it.  On your left side there is a rock face that goes up several feet and some places hangs over the trail.  On your right it just drops, and drops, and decided to drop some more.  Luckily everyone was heading up so you didn't have to worry about passing people coming down.  There was barely enough room for two people to pass each other.  This section, again, was MUCH longer than I thought it would be, and of course it descended a little, which only meant... yep, you had to climb it coming down.

It was pretty daunting, so you had to stay focused and watch your step.  Again a little ice and snow made it a harder to get through.  At the end there was once again a little rock climb.  I got up to the rock and had no clue what to do.  I laughed and told the hiker behind me that I don't know where to go!?  Finally after a few attempts I grabbed a hand grip on a rock and literally pulled myself up.  I tried to ignore that there was a crazy drop to the right of me.

After this I was at the bottom of the fourth section called the Homestretch.  And again, it was much longer than I thought making all 4 sections twice as long as I originally had thought they would be.  The Homestretch is quite wide, but very steep.  You basically have to scramble on your hands and knees up this entire section if you are not confident or have the perception to walk it.  Luckily I was able to walk most of it.  I watched a few people turn back here because they were too scared.  One girl fell onto her belly and slid on ice a bit and stopped on a rock.  She was one of the folks who turned around.

At this point I was just so eager to get to the dang top.  It took some time and dodging the ice was a bit difficult.  It was also intimidating seeing other people so terrified during this section.  Some were clinging to the rock on their hands and knees for dear life while I just walked up past them.  There isn't much you can do really.  Everyone here is on their own and you have to do what is comfortable in order to be successful.  I honestly thought this section was fun, besides the fact I was so tired. 

After 7.5 miles, sunrise, beating the Trough, surviving the Narrows, and enjoying the Homestretch, I MADE IT!!

The summit was absolutely breath taking.  Very unique summit honestly.  For such a steep and high mountain the top is flat covered in decent size rocks.  The top is about the size of a football field, but everyone was hanging out near the east side of the top.  There was one rock that was taller than all the others which was were the Geological Survey marker was indicating the highest point on Longs Peak : 14,255 feet.  I stayed on the top for about 40 mins.  I was tired, out of it, and suffering from a mild altitude headache.  The view was amazing.  I could see Fort Collins, Boulder, Longmont, and Denver.  I could probably see other cities, but couldn't name em'.  Looking away from the plains I could see the continental divide, Trail Ridge road, the entire Rocky Mountain National park, and tons of mountains which all looked so weeny from so up high.  Surreal is how to describe it.

After some rest I decided to get off the mountain before the thunderstorms rolled in.  There were about 7 people left when I started down.  I passed a lot of people through the Homestretch and Trough, though it was still very slow going.  It took the same amount of time to go down than it did to go up from the Keyhole.  A few times I thought to myself there is no way I am going to make it down.  A lot of butt sliding, resting, and even more climbing up is what it took to get back to the Key Hole.  But after 3 hours I finally made it to the Key Hole.

I sat just on the other side of the Keyhole looking back over the Boulder Field for a while just looking at what I still had to do JUST to get through the field and back to Granite Pass where the trail become more of a 'trail' and not just rocks and streams.  I was kinda worried.

I got into a mode of just wanting to get down so I just stayed focused and kept moving.  When the trail got better I gained speed and started moving MUCH faster down.  On the way down it snowed, rained, hailed, and then rained some more.  The mountain couldn't make up its mind.  I basically followed the same folks down that I followed up.  We leap frogged a couple times, but all finished within the same hour.  

I had to give someone my ace bandage about half way down because she had fallen twisted her ankle and tore up her knee.  We had to give away our ace bandage the first time we were up here as well.  Must be the thing to do ;).  

The part after going back below timberline felt like it took forever.  I remember this same feeling last September.  It just went on and on and on.  It rained on and off the entire way, but I finally make it back to the trail head where Brittany and Melody were waiting.

All I wanted to do was get my flippin’ shoes off and GET HOME.  Everything hurt... my feet, legs, knees, arms, head... ugh.

But with all that said, was it worth it? Yes, very much so.  It was the hardest physical activity I have ever done in my entire life, but it was well worth it.  It was an amazing experience and after I recover I may consider doing it again ;).  It was honestly much harder than I thought it would be.  Right now I don't even feel like I was up there other than the fact my legs hurt like hell and I have pictures to look at.

 Howdy All!

So here's a quick summary of our Hong Kong visit.  We will again post more on the site when our connection is faster when we get home.  This is for 4/15-4/20.

We leave tomorrow to catch a 15 hour flight back to LA, and then a few hour flight to Denver.

Hong Kong has been awesome!  We both really like this city... Good food, stuff to do, easy to get around.... If you know what to look for it isn’t that expensive.  We were able to get a full dinner for $7 US dollars one night for both of us!  The MTR (subway) is very easy to get around.  Taxis are actually not bad either..compared to other big cities.  We can get from our hotel to most of the main places for about $5 US dollars.. Not bad at all.  We covered our list of ‘must sees’  that we got from some sources and our friend from the trek who was here for part of the time with us.  Her friend lives here and gave us a list of things to see which was cool.  Some of the things were already on our list, but some were things we would never have known to see.  

Our first day here we pretty much took it easy.  We were beat from the flight from Kathmandu which was overnight, but only 5 hours.  We needed to catch up on sleep.  After our nap we decided to go to Avenue of the Stars which is like the stars in Hollywood.  We had to take the metro over to Kowloon, which is the main land part of Hong Kong.  The main part of the city is on an island.  The view of Hong Kong island from Kowloon is amazing.  You stroll Avenue of the Stars and look at the city.  At 8pm every night there is a light show with lasers that a handful of buildings participate in on Hong Kong island.  You watch it from Kowloon and it is all choreographed to music.  Kinda like one of those free casino shows you see out front in Vegas but at a MUCH LARGER scale.  Pretty neat to see sky scrapers flash and twinkle and show laser beams off their tops all synced to music.  We can see this show from our hotel room as well.  After we strolled Avenue of the Stars we explored a bit around Kowloon and ended up on Nathan Street.  Just imagine Time Square, but a little bigger.  Hong Kong has many areas like this.  We found a restaurant, ate some dinner, and then went back to the hotel.

The next day we went to Ocean Park with Taru, which everyone raves about.  Um... Let’s see... We lasted maybe three hours, saw a couple pandas, rode the two worst roller coasters ever, and ate some pretty crappy park food.  There was nothing really special about this park, and the roller coasters? Um, I think the people that live here are wussies.  They were both super slow, breaked at every turn, and barely made it over the one and only loop.  Though others on the ride were freaked out of their mind.. Eh.  

We left the park and went over the Stanley, which is a market right on the waterfront.  Stanley was very nice and definitely worth it.  It is located on the opposite side of the island near Repulse Bay.  It is a funky little market next to a modern shopping center.  The market had all sorts of gifts, gadgets, local art, etc.  We hung out there for a few hours and caught a taxi back into town.  We had a language barrier with our cab driver and ended up off Hong Kong island and clear over in Kowloon.  That set us back 45 min and taught us a lesson on how to tell drivers here how to get back to our hotel.  We had a low key night, explored around the hotel and ended up on King’s Road, which is like Nathan Street, and found a little local joint that served Congee.  This is where we got our $7 dinner and it was actually pretty good.  Kinda funny, we have had to use chop sticks here way more than we ever did in Japan.  We are chop stickin’ pros now!  Ehh, not really.  I fake it, but it gets the job done.  Stabbing works well too ;).

Next day was a city day.  We explored downtown and The Peak ALL day.  We started by taking the metro to Central which is pretty much downtown.  We ended up at the IFC Mall, which is the base of the IFC towers (International Financial Center).  ICF Two is the second tallest building in Hong Kong.  The tallest building in Hong Kong is actually in Kowloon off the island.  The mall had some places to visit on the list we got from Taru’s friend who lives in Hong Kong.  One of the places was a really good coffee joint called Fuel.  Dang it was good.  There were a couple of restaurants in the mall that were suggested too, but we skipped them this time around.  We explored the mall a little, checked out IFC One and Two, and then made our way to SoHo (South Hollywood Street).  You take escalators up to Hollywood street which they call the longest escalators in the world.  Well we were expecting a very LONG escalator.  It is like 10 of them all in a row... Pftt.  It was still neat I suppose and it got us where we wanted to go.  We made it up to Hollywood Street and found a Mexican restaurant called Tequilas.  We were not planning on going there but HAD to check it out when we saw it.  Always curious, but a very risky move half way around the world.  Actually it was not bad at all.  The margarita I had was a little TOO strong, but the food was pretty darn good.  It actually fulfilled our Mexican food crave, which is unheard of over seas.  Well, Hong Kong has a Mexican food restaurant.  Now don’t get me wrong, it was no Efrain’s or Casa Alvarez, but it was better than Mexican food joints we have tried in other cities in the states, so that says somethin’ ;)  After lunch we ventured up a little more on the worlds biggest escalator (pfttttt) and then walked over to the Peak Tram station.  This was kinda a disappointment.  The tram was supposed to be something to ‘not miss’, but I kinda wish we had ‘missed’ it.  It was super touristy and busy.  Everyone was pushing and shoving like the tram was going to leave and never come back.  It was kinda like a tram we took in Rio that is a train pulled by a cable vertically up a mountain.  The one in Rio was more fun, old, and scary.  This was refurbished, crowded, stinky, and took FOREVER!  We could have ran up the friggen mountain faster... ;)  However, the top of the Peak was nice.  There is a mall, couple restaurants, and neat tower at the top, along with trails around the peak itself and amazing views of the city.  We looked around and then met back up with Taru with her friend at this restaurant called The Peak Look Out.  It was a really nice restaurant, but SUPER expensive.  All we got was dessert and it was more than a nice restaurant in Boulder, yikes!  But the ambience and views were nice.  After we said goodbye to Taru because she was flying home the next day and we took the lovely tram back down.  From the tram station we started our ‘hike’ around Central to look at all the famous buildings and parks of downtown.  We didn’t realize we would end up walking around for hours on end.  It was fun, but we were a little beat.  We ended back at the IFC Mall, had a snack, and then took the metro over to Kowloon back to the Avenue of the Stars.  We went over there to hang out at a bar we saw earlier and watch the 8pm light show, but didn’t make it to the bar.  We saw the light show, and then got caught in a crowd of people watching the setup of the red carpet of the Asian Film Awards.  This is like the Academy Awards of Asia and we had no idea it was going on.  It was pretty cool to see it all setup and getting ready for the show the next night.  We decided to take the Star Ferry back to the island instead of the metro to get another view of the city.  It was ok, but not too exciting.  We got back to the island and took the metro back to our hotel and zonked.

We decided to sleep in the next day and just ease into the day.  After we got up and got moving we took a taxi to the Macau Ferry Station and took a Jet Boat to Macau Island, which is basically a little Las Vegas.  The Jet Boat was an experience.  This sucker moves really fast and the seats look like airplane seats.  You get an assigned seat and have to put on a seat belt... But on a boat?  Well, the engine on this sucker is made up of two jet engines, made by Boeing.  I am not sure how fast we were going, but it only took an hour to get to Macau.  Honestly, overall we didn’t care for Macau.  Now, we didn’t see the city really, or its historical sites... We ended up just seeing the friggen casinos.  Some were neat to see, like Wynn, and MGM Grand.  We also saw the largest casino in the world... The Venetian Macau.  All three of these are the same casinos in Vegas, just their Macau versions... Totally wild.  We also visited the Hard Rock Hotel and ate at the worst restaurant on the trip.  We basically had butt nachos and crap hole burgers (sorry for the bad language, but you would ALL think the same thing after eating it).  The Venetian was crazy.  For those who have seen the Venetian in Vegas, this is basically the same thing but 10 times bigger.  Everything is bigger... The hotel, the casino, the canal shops, and front.  The casino looked like a convention all filled wall to wall with games.  It was a tad too big honestly.  You look at it and have no clue where to start.  We were also very under dressed.  Apparently you need to be wearing formal wear to gamble here.  Ehh, not fun.  We figured we saw what we needed to see, got our passport stamp, and decided to go back to Hong Kong.  We got back to the city, took a cab back to the hotel, got room service, and went to bed.  This was kinda a butt day.... But OH WELL! ;)

Today was Disney day!  We also lucked out with weather.  It had been overcast everyday until today so us wearing our jackets and jeans kinda sucked once we got to Disney.  It was very hot and humid, but much better weather.  We were excited.  Hong Kong Disney was very fun.  You took the metro a little ways out of the city to Lantau Island where you switched subway lines to the Disneyland Line.  The subways had Mickey Mouse windows and Mickey Mouse hand grabs for standing while on the train.  There were also character statues through out the train and old vintage pictures... Too cool!  Disney must have made some sort of deal with MTR of Hong Kong to do this.  Disney has their own subway station, which was pretty much the more fancy subway station we had seen yet.  All Disney themed and all marble.  You walked out of the station and right into the entrance walk way.  Hong Hong Disneyland is the smallest park of them all, but it was still very fun.  Disney built the park smaller with an expansion plan over the next 10 years.  I am sure they did this after the Disneyland Paris (EuroDisney) disaster experience.  Start small and then grow based on demand.  Well it was supposed to expand a couple years ago, but the demand wasn’t there.  However, they broke ground last Dec on the expansion which won’t open until 2012.  The park is missing all of Frontier Land, but the new expansion will include a ‘version’ of Frontier Land, but with a new flare.  It actually sounds kinda cool, so another reason to come back to Hong Kong!  But, I won’t go on and on about that... And all of you know I could :D.  Anywho, the park is small so it isn’t open late.  It closes at 7:30 after the fireworks so we had the entire evening after the park as well.  The park was pretty dead, so we were able to do every single ride.  Now keep in mind it has only a third of the number of rides of Disneyland in California.  Adventure Land for example has 1 ride... Jungle River Cruise.  One friggen ride!  No Pirates of Caribbean, no Haunted Mansion, no Thunder Mountain... Oh well, we rode SpaceMountain 7 times which made up for the lack of other rides ;).  Actually it is probably one of the best Space Mountains compared to the others!  This park is only 5 years old, so everything was brand spankin new as well.  After the park we went back to SoHo and ate dinner.  We ate at a good pizza joint and then went back to the hotel and zonked.

Our last day was very low key.  We went back up to the Peak to shop a little and then we walked back down to the city.  This was fun for a little while until our knees gave out from walking downhill for an hour and Brittany started melting from the humidity so we decided to grab a taxi back to the hotel.  We just hung out all day, getting ready for our flight out.  

That brings me to now!  We will go out to Causeway Bay tonight for dinner.  There is a building called Times Square in this area that has a ton of stuff in it, including a good Chinese Restaurant, so we decided to go there.  Causeway Bay is another neighborhood, but pretty much part of downtown.  

Talk to you, and see some of you all soon!

T&B

 April 14, 2010.  Today is our last day in Kathmandu and we fly out tonight to Hong Kong.  We never leave the hotel today, just wander out to see some of the shops just outside.  Most are closed since it’s New Years Day.  We start to pack and get most down, then head to lunch with Taru and Kip.  Kip just got back today after splitting from us in Pheriche to climb Island Peak.  We order lunch by the pool and catch up.  He didn’t make it to the Summit.  He got about 800 feet, then decided he didn’t have the energy to do it.  He had gotten a cold and some other issues.  He seemed happy with his decision and happy to be in Kathmandu. 

Our late check out was for 2pm, but our stupid lunch took 1.5 hours to come.  So at 2:15 we headed up to finish packing and get our stuff.  We settled our bill and had them store our bags, since we weren’t leaving for another 5.5 hours.  We hit the bar with Taru, getting coffee and ice cream.  Then she went to the hotel Sauna and Tyson went to the hotel gym.  I stayed in the bar and surfed the internet and blogged.

At 6pm, Kip met us all in the bar for dinner.  I just ordered fries, and Tyson got Chicken chilly.  It was a really yummy and spicy dish.  We just hung out watching cricket games and waiting to go.  Finally at 8pm, our ride was here and we piled in to the van.  We did see Deana in the lobby as we left and said one more good bye. 

The airport was a chaotic mess as usual.  First, Sagar, our MM person, left us with an airport employee to help with the bags.  I knew we’d need to tip him, but after some confusion (which I think he started) at the checkin counter, he asked for a $20 tip!!  We said no, gave him about $7.  He then followed us to the security point, asking for more money.  Ugh!!  He finally left us alone when we came to the point where the police check your ticket.  

I am shocked that the Kathmandu airport gets any flights in and out, especially big planes.  There are no instructions, no anouncments, nothing to tell you what to do.  We thought we were in the correct area to board, but it turns out we had another security line to go through.  So when we had 25 min till our flight was leaving, we had to get in line again.  Taru and my line was short (men v women) but Tyson had about 50 people in front of him.  We got through and had to wait in another stinky, hot room with about 300 people.  I showed an employee my ticket and asked if we are boarding since we only have 15 minutes now.  He says no, they will announce it.  

After 10 min, we see some others with our tix, and they are going in another room.  So I ask a different employee and she says yes, we’re boarding!  SO we get in line, have our tix torn and then wait in another room just outside the tarmac.  We can see our plane, and I don’t think anyone is boarding, but our flight is at 11:15 and it’s 11:20.  Finally, after 20 min, they make us go through one more men/women security line, then usher us out onto the runway.  There are buses and cars and luggage vehicles all over the place.  It’s dark and strange, but they push us out towards the huge jet for Dragon Air. 

We walk up the steps and get on the plane.  Whew!!  Our flight will stop in Dhaka (Bangledesh) again to get more passengers.  Then we’ll arrive in Hong Kong the next morning at 7am.  The flight we crappy but uneventful.  Tyson and I get about 2 hours of sleep.  Finally, we arrive in Hong Kong. 

The first thing I notice is the quiet.  Even in the massive, huge airport filled with thousands, it is quiet.  We’re defiantly on another planet now.  I imagine what some of our Sherpas would think seeing a place so modern and clean.  

Anyway, we get through immigration, get our bags, and head out.  Taru meets her friend Han, and we find our shuttle.  We need sleep and food, then we’ll continue on our journey. 

 April 13, 2010.   One last full day in Kathmandu.  Today we took it easy.  Breakfast buffet, then hit the pool.  The water was really cold, so they must chill it.  The sun was really hot, and Tyson got a sun burn.  We order a Greek salad with a basket of breads.  Yum!  Everest beer, of course.  Then inside to the bar for lunch and to cool down.  I get a grilled cheese and fries and a margarita.  Tyson a club sandwich.  After lunch we head back to the room and crash.  Too much beer and sun!  Tyson takes a long nap and I surf the internet and blog.  We have dinner plans with Taru at 7pm.

Right before 7pm a huge thunder and rain storm rolls in.  It was quite pretty.  We catch a cab on the main street with Taru.  We’re headed back to the Roadhouse for a yummy New Year’s dinner.  Yes, it’s the Nepali New Year tonight.  So the streets are busier than usual.  It’s hard to get a cab as well.  Nepal has about 5 New Years: Buddhist, Hindu, Nepali, Western, and one other, I forgot.  The Nepali New Year is 2067. 

The Roadhouse is packed with foreigners and balloons.  We order and have a great time.  At 9pm, the restaurant closes and they shut us in with these hung metal gates.  Umm…  we havent’ gotten all we ordered yet.  But we finish up and they guide us out the back.  Normal I guess.  The streets of Thamal are crazier than normal.  So much so they’ve closed certain sections.  There are hundreds of New Year’s revelers, but most of them young men.  We get a cab back to the hotel, but because of the road closures, we have to take a long way, on the outskirts of town.  It is a little scary, but we make it back.

Our hotel is having a New Year’s thing, but it’s lame.  We all just say good night and head to bed.  We are all on the same flight to Hong Kong at 11pm the next day, so we have a whole day again in Kathmandu.  

 April 12, 2010.   Another day in Kathmandu.  Tyson and I slept in until 10:30am – yay!  We missed the free breakfast buffet, but by the time we get ready it was lunch time anyway.  We headed out to Thamel again, armed with Tyson’s laptop for free internet.  We tried to get a cab outside the hotel, but the cabbies were giving us terrible deals.  We walked down to the main drag and just kept walking.  Thamel is really only about 4-5 blocks from the Yak & Yeti, but walking means you have to cross all the crazy roads filled with crazy drivers and people.  But we did it and had fun.  It’s just a blur of hot, dusty air mixed with constant noise.  Honking, talking, honking, screeching.  We follow other groups for safety.  There are no real crosswalks or street lights.  And if there are, chances are they have no power.  Everyone just drives in the general area and if everyone knows that how it works, I guess that makes it work.  To cross a street, you just wait for a small opening and go.  The cars will come up to you fast, but they don’t hit you.  Then you weave in and out of stopped cars until you make it to the other side.  Imagine Arapahoe Ave in Boulder filled with about 100 times more cars at rush hour with no power to the lights, 95 degrees and no traffic cops or rules.  It’s that every day in Kathmandu. 

We’re headed back to the Roadhouse for lunch.  We know it will be good food and we need that comfort right now.  Just outside Thamel 3 beggar children pull at our pockets and ask for money.  It’s terrible to see these thin, dirty kids, none more than 7 years old sleeping on the sidewalk and asking for things.  It breaks your heart.  But the truth of the matter is they only hit up white tourists for a reason.  Most of these kids are not homeless and don’t need food.  In a lot of cases, their parents send them out to get extra money from tourists.  When this has happened with Deana with us, she will stop and ask them where they are from, where their parents are, etc.  They always answer honestly: their from Kathmandu, parents at work, they don’t like school, just collecting money.  She then yells at them in Nepali telling them to go to school.  They are always shocked at a white woman speaking such good Nepali.  This isn’t to say there are not impoverished children in Nepal.  Of course there are, it has a lot of poverty.  But Kathmandu has a lot of children’s homes and tries hard to help this problem, as do the various religious organizations.

Just inside Thamel I see a cute clothing shop.  The man invites us in and it’s full of various shirts and summer dresses.  I want a pretty shirt, and find one, but also find a summer dress.  It has an Aeropostle tag in it, but who knows.  The man tells us it is made for the company in Nepal, and these “fell of the truck” before exportation.  If this is true, this dress would sell for $50-60 in the US.  He sells it to me for $7. 

We make it to the Roadhouse and enjoy salad, bruschetta, and Nachos.  Yum!  We look at some gongs for Tyson, but they are so expensive!  $100 for a medium gong.  That’s a ton of money, especially for Kathmandu.  We find our way to Chops Café.  It’s in a new street in Thamel called Mandala St.  The shops look clean and the brick in new.  Chops has free WiFi.  We order some tea, a strawberry  milkshake, and a brownie.  Once again, the brownie was nasty.  Oh Nepal!  We need to open a dessert café with good brownies in it.  The internet is the fastest we’ve seen on the whole trip.  Our bill is less than $10, including some Chow Mein we get at the end.  Not bad for fast WiFi!  The only downside to Chops was their music.  They only played 5 songs, over and over.  Most were cheesy 80s songs, Michael Bolton, some Celene Dion and a terrible James Blunt song.  Over and over and over….

We decide to hit the locals area that Deane recommended for gongs.  We need to go to Indra Chowk, a bustling intersection that will lead us to the metal working area and spice area, as well as a Nepali bakery.  We head to the taxi stand and get hit up by a Rickshaw driver.  We decide what the hell and hop on.  We agree to $250 rupees ($3) and take off.  We barely fit in the tiny basket and have to hold on.  Now we’re flying through all that Kathmandu traffic in an old basket on wheels.  It was a lot of fun, but insane. 

 We pulled up to a massive intersection of old buildings.  It looks like it should be pedestrians only, but every type of transport is there.  We get off and the rickshaw driver tells me $500 rupees.  I’m like, no, $250.  He says it was $250 each person.  I said no, it wasn’t.  He then says he’ll give me a deal of $400.  I say no, here’s your $250.  He then says, but it is hot out today.  He won’t take the $250.  I say, take the $250 or I’m leaving.  He finally takes it and I walk away.  Jeez!  I love Nepalis and this city, but I’m so tired of the haggling.  

We get out and try to find our way.  Not sure we got to the right area, but the shops all seem to only sell metal goods: pots, pans, incense burners.  We find a small shop that has Nepali knives for sale.  The owner invites us in and brushes off some small stools for us to sit.  We negotiate over some knives and then spot it:  a simple, pretty gong tucked up in the corner of the shop.  We ask about it and he’s more than excited to sell it.  It has what looks like a scratch, but he says no.  Then he begin to polish is right there.  After a few minutes, the gong is bright and shiny.  Tyson loves it and we get it for $40.  Great deal! 

We head out and are pleased with ourselves.  There are no other tourists in the area, we’ve found the locals shopping district, along with the deals! 

We head down Indra Chowk in search of the Angan Bakery.  We find it quickly, pick out some goods, and catch a cab back to the Yak & Yeti. 

We have our Mountain Madness final dinner tonight with Deana and Taru.  We get ready for that and head to the lobby.  We have to pick up our laundry first, so we all walk back to Thamel.  Tyson and I have 5 bags!  We then have to walk to the restaurant, luckily not too far. 

The restaurant Deana picked for us was in the Garden of Dreams.  This whole complex used to be the Rani leader of Nepal’s garden home and sanctuary.  He modeled it after Roman architecture.  Built in the 1920s, it was a place for royalty.  But after his fall, it fell into disrepair.  Just as it was about to be demolished, the city and the people wanted to fix it.  Now it’s a preserved city attraction.  It was really beautiful and proof that even in Kathmandu, you can find a secluded, almost quiet area to relax.  One of the buildings is now a swanky restaurant.  We sat outside and enjoyed some Italian food and wine. 

We headed back to the hotel after a few hours.  We said good bye to Deana in the lobby.  She is working after all, and we may not see her again.  She was the best guide and showed us so much more than we could have seen or known on our own. 

We all go to our rooms, but Tyson and I are not too tired.  So we head back down, get some chocolate cake from the bar and Everest beer, and go out to the pool.  We just relax for a while, then go to bed.  It was a long, crazy day!!