Finally uploaded some videos

Hi All,
We're still here in good old Nelson unpacking our stuff and packing it back up again trying to get ourselves situated for an easy flight home. But really we're just trying to keep ourselves as busy as possible.

Right, so I got around to uploading some more short videos from various places. So please enjoy this lot.


These first 2 are from Vietnam, specifically from Ho Chi Minh City. I really liked HCMC but one thing that was particularly cool was that every time you crossed the street you risking your life. There are very few traffic lights or anything else to govern car vs. pedestrian flow so you basically remove all fear and just start walking. This clip is of me simply walking across the street. Notice the Vietnamese woman coming the opposite way toward the end of the clip.


This next clip is of me coming back across the street towards the camera. Unfortunately the traffic had died down a bit so not as dramatic.
Note: No one was harmed during the filming of these clips (so mothers or potential mothers-in-law needn't worry).



Ok next up is short clip from Japan. One of the things I wanted to do while in Japan was ride on the Shinkanzen which are the superfast or bullet trains. Luckily it just so happened that one of the first things we did after getting of the plane in Tokyo was take a Shinkanzen to Kyoto. I think we took about 5 bullet train rides during our stint in Japan. So this clip is of a sleek Shinkanzen train coming into the station. Sorry, video a bit shaky throughout.


Ok next 2 clips are from China so of course a little strange. Anyway we had spent a day touring the Summer Palace in Beijing during our first week in China. It's basically a super posh summer resort that royalty used to use back in the day. Anyway this guy sets up and starts playing some music with his buddies. I thought the singing was just awful and I couldn't tell if he being serious or not so I took a shot of him. Note: you really need audio for this one.


After spending more time in China I realized that he actually wasn't joking and that style of singing is a legitimate Chinese folk style. My fears were reaffirmed after we saw this outdoor talent show in Xi'an where this man began to do his thing. Sorry a bit dark but it's really the sublime yelling, i mean singing, you're meant to look out for.


Last clip for now, this one is a drum performance given at the massive drum tower in front of the Forbidden City in Beijing.


Enjoy...Jon

Back in New Zealand + Lots o' Pictures

Hi All,

We've made it back to New Zealand safe and sound. I didn't want to mention it too early in case we got jinxed but, now that the trip is over I can safely say that; miraculously the only thing we managed to lose, or get stolen from us, was 1 pair of sunglasses. Unbelievable really, considering we had to basically pack and unpack our bags every time we were in a new hotel.

It feels like we've been gone for years but we're quickly settling into our old routines; Gay's already back to researching wedding dresses and I'm back spending way too much time in front of a computer.
All the little things give us thrills now, for instance; we were walking around downtown Nelson and we couldn't figure out why it seems so dead and empty like a ghost town. Then when we were meeting up with our travel agent and we asked her about it and she's like "Hello! you just came back from Hanoi where the population is 3.1 million and little old Nelson is 41,000. That's going to be noticeable." So maybe she's right.
Also, when we got into Auckland airport we had to walk about 10 minutes to get to the domestic terminal to catch our flight to Nelson. As I was crossing the street I noticed a lack of a million motor-scooters but I did see 1 car coming so I stopped and waited for it to pass. To my amazement the car actually stopped for me! I don't think that happened once in all 7 months of traveling around Asia. You're usually spending time dodging cars.

So enjoy some pictures from Cambodia and Vietnam below. I still have some good videos to compress and upload plus more stories to tell, so stay tuned for that.

What's Next...
Tahiti in about 10 days, then back to America on Jan 11th! I spend about a week with my family in Arizona, I have no idea what Gay is planning. After that it's back to where it all began, in SF; where the rental market is apparently a nightmare, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Pictures...
Cambodia
Angkor Wat
Ok this first lot is all from the Angkor Wat complex which is where we took most of our pictures in Cambodia. The charm of some of the temples is seeing the overgrowth of these massive trees over the temple structure. If you've ever seen Tomb Raider the movie you may recognize one of the shots.

Other
These pics are still from Cambodia but basically everything but Angkor Wat. Toward the end is a cool floating village plus a trek to see some war-torn buildings. And, surprise, another shot of Gay eating.

Vietnam
Mekong Delta
Boat trip down the Mekong and we visited some local artisans and stayed in a nice little guest house. There's a shot of me drinking some snake wine, which is alcohol fermented with a big dead king cobra in the jar. Also I later realized there was a dead crow in the jar as well. It tasted a bit like tequilla, but I could have done without the dead bird. Not my proudest moment anyway.

Ho Chi Minh City and Na Trang

Cu Chi Tunnels, Dalat
The Cu Chi Tunnels was this bewildering tunnel complex that the VC would use when fighting the non-VC forces (ie American, Autralian, South Vietnamese). The tunnels were tiny and people would live down there for months, even have babies in the tunnels in their little tunnel hospitals. I tried to walk through a portion and I got too claustrophobic and had to turn back. Later, our guide told us that the portion they let people walk through was made larger to accommodate Westerners with "big happy buddah bellies." Dalat was a nice and chilly resort town.

Hue and National Park
Look out for the shots of the monkeys in the national park. Unfortunately in cages (they were rescued from people wanting to eat them), but these were the most beautiful monkeys I had ever seen.Like something out of a Spielburg movie.

Ha Long Bay
Pictures don't do this place justice. Amazing rock formations coming right out of the water. Best part of the trip, we even slept over in a house boat. Look out for the shot of a person selling crap from her boat. Even in the middle of the water you can't get away from them. I can even hear here now..."Hello! Sir! Come look my shop!"

Hanoi
And our last stop. First shot is the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum where we got to see the old general himself. Only more pickled then he used to be. However, he was just back from Russia where the experts in preserving old Communist leaders had just given him his annual check up and given him a fresh dose of creepy; or whatever it is they do. Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures inside the mausoleum.

And here is a shot of us on the plane back to Auckland.