The view out D3 of the road to Kunming.

Photo by Todd Borgie

Sign at the Lao/China border.

Photo by Nancy Olson

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Fish, but not THE fish.
[Photo by Nancy Olson]

Journal by Colin McAuliffe

My most disgusting blog ever. (Do not read if you have a sensitive stomach)

China is amazing, over a billion people, thousands of food dishes, cities that stretch as far as the eye can see, and rice patties that do the same. But in this blog I am not extolling upon the virtues of China (and there are so many), rather, in this particular entry I would like to discuss a little known fact about china. Here it is: China has the most disgusting bathrooms in the world. I’m serious. Dis-fargen-gusting. I mean, these are the kinds of places you wouldn’t even imagine existed. These commodes make up a land inhabited mostly by flies and maggots. In fact, judging by the amount of people I’ve seen urinating or defecating on the street, I think that Chinese people don’t use public toilets at all; they just put them there as a very cruel joke to westerners like myself.

Anyway, I avoid the aforementioned lavatories at all costs. Sometimes, going more than twenty-four hours in between clean toilets is a tough business, but luckily, the powers that be blessed me with an iron will and I was doing fine, I repeat, I WAS doing fine. That is, until I got a little loosey-goosey in my gut. So, a few days ago, I was forced to use a public toilet, and it was one of the most disturbing experiences of my life.

OK, this is when it gets really bad, so if you think you’re going to be grossed out, just quit here.

So there we are, at a restaurant off the highway on our way to Kunming, a major city in southern China, and I get the call of nature. Now, this is not one of those calls from a boss or telemarketer where you just look at the caller ID on your cell phone and decide to just let it ring. This, that’s right folks, this is one of those “I’m sorry, I really have to take this one” calls. Well, I picked up the proverbial phone and trudged off behind the restaurant towards what I was told was the bathroom. Ankle deep in mud, in the pouring rain, I trudged toward the shore of a big green pond. Situated upon said shore was a small shack. Knowing the Chinese symbol for men told me that this, unfortunately, was the toilet. I shuddered, I really did. It was dilapidated, almost about to collapse into the lake/pond. So, against my better judgement I entered my little private hell.

When I ducked into the building, I was actually pleasantly surprised; there was no human waste visible to the eye, and no fumes were burning my eyes. “Ok” I said to myself “This is a good sign.” Now, this commode functioned in a very unique and interesting way. I do not actually know if my readers are acquainted with the Asian “squatter” toilet, but let’s just say this is an interesting take on that basic idea. Basically, inside the small square room, at the back, on the lake side, was an eight –inch-wide slot that dropped straight into the pond. Now, I had seen similar toilets before, but the water was always six feet or so down; this water was about nine inches away.

OK, this is REALLY when this story gets graphic, so you can still back out now; however, those that stick around will be rewarded with a hilarious anecdote that won’t be easily forgotten.

So, I took my place over the modified squatter and began to do my business. Everything was going well, that is, until I looked down. I was disgusted. I was shocked. Startled, grossed out, yukked, appalled, revolted, dismayed, think of a bad adjective, and I was it. What I saw will never leave my mind’s eye. What I saw was a horde of catfish eating my poop. Ughhhhh. I finished up and vowed never to eat fish in China, never ever ever.

Ok, hold on to your chairs, this is the funny part.

I got back to the restaurant and announced to the group that I vowed never to eat fish in China. Of course I had to explain my reasons, and I did so in the most genteel manner possible; however, when my explanations were through I noticed that Todd was smirking. “Todd? What’s up?” “Oh nothing, it’s just a funny story” .

So, I asked what we were eating. Since in China, no one speaks English, we are forced to have a guide with us. His name is Ma, and he is a great guy. He orders our food, bargains for souvenirs, whatever we need, he’s there for us.

But I digress, I was getting to the meal, and as you’ve probably guessed by now, Ma told me that this particular restaurant was famous for its fish soup, and that was our main course. People, if you could only have seen the look on my face. I’m sure it was priceless. Everyone had a good laugh and all, and assured themselves that there was no way that they would be catching fish from the poop pond; they must get them somewhere else. I, however, was not reassured. I thanked God that Chinese meals consist of tons of courses and swore to myself I would not be taking part in the main course.

The meal arrived and I think most of the other people were avoiding it as best as they could too, but eventually Nancy and Nick gave in, telling themselves that it would be rude not to eat it. Adam eventually had some too. They all said it was yummy, but I was still not convinced. I had to ask Ma and know the truth. “Ma? What type of fish is this?” “Catfish” was his reply (not good). “And where, may I ask, do they catch these from?” “Oh, you know, from the pond out back.”

Lesson learned, no eating fish in China.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Laos kids gather to say hello.

Journal and photo by Nancy Olson

Lao has just maneuvered itself to my Top-Five All-Time Favorite Countries list. It’s a beautiful country with smooth, winding roads sandwiched between bright-green rice paddies and picturesque mountains blanketed in a patchwork of green forest and white mist. It’s breathtaking.

But Lao’s greatest treasure, I’m quite certain, is its people. As we drove past the rice paddies and hills of Laos, the roads began to climb. The team went on full alert as we entered a territory that had a history spotted with rebel activity, which, at its worst, has been responsible for the deaths of several tourists and a busload of Laotians. We didn’t know what to expect, so we prepared for the worse.

We drove into the countryside, and as we passed through the hills, the roads became speckled by little outcroppings of villages and settlements situated along R13, one of the country’s main arteries. In every single settlement, naked babies and young boys and girls with no need for any clothing below the waist stepped out of the jungle, peeped out of irrigation ditches, and scrambled out of modest little dwellings to wave (usually with both hands) and scream with pure glee the traditional Lao greeting of “SAH-BYE-DEEEEEE!!!!”

The kids have perfect little Chiclet teeth and wild, sun-bleached hair, and the young women sport broad smiles with Kewpie Doll dimples and brightly twinkling eyes. Young men carry long-barreled bird-hunting rifles and smile brightly as they wave at us with strong, sinewy arms and hard-working farmer hands. The elderly are just as happy to wave to the convoy as we drive through, but they are a bit more stooped and slower on the uptake. These country people are some of the most beautiful in the world.

Sometimes we stop briefly to hand Hella key-chain lights to kids, and when we do, we are swarmed by the whole village. These stops have to be brief, indeed, lest we give out our whole supply of lights in one shebang. Everybody smiles, waves, poses for photos, and says , which, of course, means “thank you.” As we pull away, we are barraged by dozens of screaming byes.

I’m convinced that the Lao people would do anything for someone in need, and that’s a comforting feeling when driving through this barely developed country. Whether we are checking into a guesthouse, walking through the streets, shopping in the markets, or stopping for gas, the people we encounter are polite, cheerful, and bedecked with big gleaming smiles.

This country has made me realize some things. One is that I would like to come back here with my own kids someday so they can see how people here live so free and happy in their simpler lives away from video games and traffic signals. Nobody dotes over the kids and worries about them doing tasks that would have American parents horrified. Secondly, people everywhere just love people, and family is the most important thing in the world. No matter how tough things can get, when you have family and community working together for a common good, life is just grand. Thirdly, everybody, no matter what their facial features, ethnicity, bone structure, height, or weight, is beautiful when they smile. Try to notice this sometime. You might be surprised.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Monks walk past the LONGITUDE vehicles on their way through town. Every morning, the townspeople give them food for their meal buckets, and this feeds them for the day.

Today was a busy day, starting with a hospital visit. Tracking down information on Parkinson’s disease, in a country where the average life span is less than 60 years and the leading cause of injury is unexploded bombs, is tough. Luang Prabang, one of the biggest cities in the country, was once the Capital of Laos, the seat of royalty. Although I couldn’t find anything online about Parkinson’s disease organizations, doctors, or research in Laos, I still didn’t give up. When I can’t find anything online, or don’t have any contacts, my last resort is to show up at the hospital and see what I can discover. I arrived at the provincial hospital a couple of days ago, and found out that it was not the place I wanted to be. Although it was a hospital and made good use of the few resources it had, it certainly wasn’t a place where I would have wanted to end up. Everyone was friendly, but upon walking in, I knew that I would not find the information I was looking for there, as I saw people walking around caring their own I.V. bags.

I talked to a young med student, and despite the communication barriers, he managed to tell me that there was a bigger Chinese hospital just south of town. It took me a while, but I finally found the Chinese Hospital after taking some back roads. I was impressed; the place was beautiful. Apparently, it had been built just one year ago. The only strange thing about this hospital was that there was nobody there. I was able to walk in, talk to a few people, and find myself in the director’s office shortly thereafter. The director loaned me a book on health care in Laos, and I was able to set up an appointment for this morning, and here I am.

When I arrived I was startled. The person I had made an appointment with wasn’t around, but apparently he had left word with someone, and people had been gathering data about Parkinson’s Disease. A wonderful Lao woman named Singkham helped me find the information and people I needed to talk to. By consulting the computer, they found that there is one person with Parkinson’s Disease in the Luang Prabang area. He was once an official of some kind and is being treated for the disease. With some help, I managed to track down the Dr. who made the diagnosis. We were unable to meet, because he was busy at the time, but I hope to communicate with him later via e-mail. I wasn’t able to track down the patient, unfortunately, but hopefully I will manage to contact him in the future.

After leaving the hospital, I was on my way to locating the UNESCO office, as Luang Prabang is an official UNESCO site. This city is amazing! It is flanked on two sides by rivers, the Mekong being one of them, and mountains. The land is carpeted by a jungle landscape; it seems as though any seed you could toss on the ground here would become a giant lush, green work of art. You can walk down the street and see French buildings, traditional houses (built on stilts), and golden temples. All this beauty, the availability of cheese, the relatively quiet feel of this place, and the somewhat romantic remoteness of this place is a great combination. I will definitely come back here.

The city’s small size doesn’t mean that things are easy to find. In fact, I struggled with almost everything I was looking for. Our hotel manager, Tom, helped me find the UNESCO office. Although it seemed obvious when we got there, it took us about ½ hour to find a place that was about a five-minute walk from the hotel. In our defense, we had asked a least half a dozen people where the office was, and we got a lot of different answers. Walks are usually great, but you have to pace yourself in the tropical heat and humidity.

After I made to the UNESCO office (which was the old French Customs house), they were willing to talk to me about what they were doing. I talked to Emmanuel, and he shared with me his excitement about historical preservation and what they were doing in Luang Prabang. He said Luang Prabang was unique in how the city’s architecture seamlessly flowed from French architecture, to traditional, with gardens stitching everything together. He encouraged me to walk down the back alleys to appreciate the real beauty. It was exciting to hear how he loved his work.

On the way out, I met an intern, Laura, a young French woman. She was heading home for lunch as I was leaving the office. It was fun to talk to her, as we gave each other a hard time for the stereotypes of our countries. I asked why French people complain so much, and she asked me why Americans talk so loud. We had a good time hanging out.

I spent the rest of the afternoon (per Emmanuel’s advice) driving and walking around the city, looking down the back alleys, and genuinely enjoying my own company. There was a place you had to climb 190 steps to overlook the city. This was a great perch, and there was even an old Russian anti-aircraft gun sitting up there, a distinct mark of an era that is hopefully gone by!

Tomorrow we head toward the China border and more adventures.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

The monkey's name is Rambo, and Nancy VERY nearly bought him for $15...

Photo by Todd Borgie

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Local farmers pick rice in a Lao paddy.

Journal and photo by Neil Dana

I don't know if you read my account of Cambodia in the World Bytes section of our website by clicking HERE. , well you should. Just click on the "Neil's Cambodian Adventures" to read it. The reason being that Cambodia was the most amazing country I have visited this entire expedition.....until now!! Laos is more than I ever imagined. Talk about smiling people and a countryside that is overwhelmingly scenic. It is truly spectacular, and the single greatest thing about it all is that it is still relatively untouched by westerners. Of course, I do say relatively because there definetely is foreign influence, like the French colonization and the small number of travelers who do frequent Laos; however, in comparison to everywhere else I have been, except Cambodia, it is light years behind the globalization boom.

Stepping into Laos is like diving into a tropical island reef out of a 40-story building in the middle of New York City. You immediately enter a slow, peaceful, and different flow. Everywhere you go, your senses are peaking, from visually stunning rice fields amongst towering mountains, to the smells of lush tropical rain, or feeling the changes in climate as you climb up three thousand feet from sea level, and even the slight fear of the rebels who have killed tourists and locals before and who live in the next three-hour stretch of winding roads through the steep hills that harbor them.

Rebels who have killed tourists? I met a woman yesterday who flew to Luang Prabang from the border because she was scared of what she had heard about the road we were about to drive. She had heard that there had been killings on this road, Rte. 13. She must have received some wrong information, or maybe the tour agencies just try to scare tourists into flying in order to make some more money? Either way, from what I have read and researched, there are rebels in the hills that we are passing today, but they have not murdered anyone in about a year. However, when we awoke this morning, we heeded warning to our guidebooks that said the next stretch of road is the location of the rebels. So we didn't stop to set up convoy shots and take photos.....unfortunately!

The sights and people we passed today were magnificent. Waking up to a rice field reflecting the warm morning sun's rays, lush green foliage, clouds, and dew was quite a serene scene. Then we piled into our cars and headed into the "rebel" mountains. We all agreed to radio silence so we didn't warn anyone we were coming, in case they were listening! I guess it doesn't hurt to be overly cautious. However, what we discovered in our five-hour drive was quite the opposite of any threat or danger. We saw small children everywhere waving at us, screaming "sabadi!" which means hello, with immense smiles and wonder in their eyes at the vehicles we were driving. We saw woman carrying goods and cooking food. We saw many people just sitting around and relaxing, or just stepping outside of their small house to see what all the commotion was about, four Land Rovers driving through their peaceful neighborhood.

Now of course, since this is "rebel" territory, you are guaranteed to see your fair share of gun-totin' Laotians, and that is just what we saw. I saw a small child, literally about 10 years old carrying a semi-automatic rifle (an M-16). We also saw many other young men, or teenagers, carrying guns, some rifles with extremely long barrels, most likely meant for hunting birds or some mountain animals, and some machine guns. But with every gun came a nice genuine smile. These people were not a threat to us; they were very friendly and even let us slow down to a stop to take a couple pics. Even though all these people are so nice and friendly, I guess it only takes a few bad people to give a whole area a bad name, which must have been the case in the past. The Lao people are wonderful, and even though we get to spend a week here, I really want to come back and spend months and months in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. I guess on some other trip. As for now, as you know, we only have a limited amount of time due to our schedule and goals.

So after driving through fantastic countryside, we arrived at Luang Prabang. This town is a very special place, as it sits along the Mekong River, and is also the old Royal center of Laotian history. As we sat at the riverside, gazing into the chocolate-brown Mekong River, which is a quarter mile wide, we drank some iced coffees and sat back and just relaxed. Aaahhh, what a peaceful place. Luang Prabang is filled with Buddhist Temples and is a very small town. There are plenty of restaurants, cafes, and places to buy all kinds of Laotian goods, which are some of the coolest I have seen yet. There is also a really cool Red Cross where Colin and I walked in the pouring rain for 1/2 mile, getting drenched and loving it, to receive a massage and sauna for $4. The sauna was the best part, I must admit. I was floating around Luang Prabang all night after that sauna. We went and ordered some food, and I ended up drinking two pots of smoked Laotian tea, which was delicious, mmmn, mmmn.

Then we went and perused around the night market, which is a beautiful display of vendors on the main street selling goods. However, like said before, these items they have for sale are the most beautiful and ornate things I have seen yet. The silks are plentiful, the quilts are very intricate and colorful, there are beautiful paper lamps for lights, vases, wood carvings, and all kinds of shirts and wonderful clothes that will turn any non shopper into a mall rat. The coolest part of this market, though, was the overall feeling that was present. It was very peaceful, with people walking here and there at a leisurely pace, and the Lao people smiling at you and saying, "sabadi", hoping you will buy something, but not insisting, just calmly letting you look and enjoy what they have to offer. It was a feeling I have not felt at a market before; usually people are yelling at you to buy something, or tugging at your arm, or begging. This was what shopping should be like everywhere: you walk around a place that is very scenic and peaceful, and the people working don't come up to you and try to sell you something. You literally get to look around and see what they have and also get a very fair price. There isn't much haggling or bargaining going on since the prices are fair and the people aren’t here to play games and try to rip you off.

Another great thing I have noticed about Laos are the children. They are clothed, have food and shelter, and are in the streets all day playing soccer, laughing, riding bikes, eating and just having a healthy young life. These people have a very good life here and are not going hungry or "poor." Even the hill tribes in the extremely remote areas have enough rice and crops to eat.

Lao is a very special place, and having only been here for two days now, I do not know it extremely well by any means, but I definitely know I love it. In fact, tonight, after the market, I was in such a peaceful and mellow mood, I walked back to our guest house, picked up my guitar, and walked to a temple that was lit up by the half moon and some lights. There were two monks at the entrance to the grounds. I walked in and asked them if it was ok to walk around and play guitar, and "yes, sure, no problem" was their answer. There were four temples here and many other stuppas, and they were all along the Mekong River under the moonlight. It was precious, and I played guitar for hours and hours, just chillin' in one of the most serene and beautiful places in the world.

Neil

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Nancy and Chanda try to escape a giant man-eating statue in Vientiane's Buddha Garden.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

A Buddah in Vientiane.

Journal and photo by Justin Mounts

Sawasdee khrap! Parlez vous Francais?

Welcome to day 267 of the LONGITUDE Expedition. Today we are in the capital of Laos, Vientiane. Now, just a walk down the street will leave you somewhat confused. Glancing around at the buildings, you will see several different styles of architecture presented, which may leave you wondering exactly where you’re standing. First, there are the traditional simply styled buildings and elaborate temples that one associates with Southeast Asian cities. A twist of the neck in one direction will present you with visions of grand French architecture, and a turn in the other direction with put you face-to-face with the cold, hard lines of communist-style bomb-shelter-like buildings.

Vientiane is completely different than what I expected. Here in the middle of Laos, you can find some of the best French food outside of Paris. Plus, they have a Scandinavian bakery that is out of this world. Who knew that in the capital city of Laos, I would find some of the world’s best cuisines? I mean, sure you usually expect to find great food in a capital city, but this is only a city of 133,000 people.

I spent the day wondering around the city past many different types of shops and restaurants, and after adopting a dog (Chauncey—who later ran away), I got caught in a rainstorm. After the rain passed, I continued through a myriad of temples and wound up face-to-face with an arch that sits in the middle of the main thoroughfare. This arch, styled similarly to the Arc de’ Triumph in Paris, is an impressive cap on top of the other buildings in Vientiane.

After a final stop past the local souvenir market, I decided to call it a day. After all, tomorrow we’re back on the road heading north, and I need some rest.

Until next time, I wish you well from the far side of the world.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

A tiger chomps down on some chow in Laos.

Journal and photo by Colin McAuliffe

Sa Bai Dee from Laos, which coincidentally is one of the friendliest, most beautiful places I have ever travelled to in my life. The people here are ridiculously warm and friendly, even the little kids with M-16s are excited to see us; in fact, even the grown men armed with weapons are excited to see us.

Laos may not be a country with a lot of money, and some people might tell you it’s an extremely poor nation, however in my view, people from Laos lead a charmed life. Never is there a problem with food shortages, and money isn’t even really needed in the villages. Sure, villagers might not have televisions, mobile phones, or easy chairs, but when you drive through a small village and you see the smiles on everyone’s face, you can see that these frivolous things are not necessary. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to denounce all my material possessions and move to a small mountain village; I’ve already been programmed by the western media, however, it’s nice to see that there are still those that can resist the draw of modernization and really enjoy life to its fullest.

So yeah, that’s Laos, it’s like stepping back in time, at least that is, once you leave the cities. One day in particular Justin and I did just that. We hopped in D4 and headed 35 kilometers out of Luang Pruabang to a waterfall. We had a blast. We swam, we relaxed, we ate, we met some Spaniards, you know, the usual. Oh yeah, and Justin got bitten by a bear, an Asiatic black bear to be exact. It’s not as bad as you think, the bear didn’t just come tromping through the woods and chomp on to Justin’s leg. You see, the bear was part of a family of bears that had been recovered from a poacher and were being raised in an enclosure near the park. Anyway, we kind of wandered into their home and their care taker told us it would be fine to hang out there. Within minutes the bears were right there with us, begging to be pet. Justin was more than happy to oblige(as was I), and was quickly surrounded by a few of them. Eventually, I think he pissed one off a little and it nipped at him. Nothing major, no broken flesh. They were pretty cute and all, but when they got snippy I got the heck out of that enclosure.

After the whole bear attack thing we were walking up back towards the waterfall, when we came upon another enclosure. This one was bigger, but we couldn’t see anything inside it. After walking along the outside of it for a while, we came to another caretaker’s house. I looked inside and there it was, a tiger, and a hungry one at that. Her name was Phet (Thai for spicy) and she was also captured from a poacher. It was feeding time, and she was very hungry, pacing back and forth in her enclosure looking at me like she wanted to eat me on a platter. Luckily, her caretaker was more than happy to let us watch her feed the cat.

Watching Phet wolf down chunks of raw buffalo meat was amazing, I’ve never been so close to a big cat; I was within inches. But seriously folks, the grace and power of the beast, I can’t even describe it. The first few minutes I just kind of sat there with my jaw dropped open, awed by the animal. Eventually the shock kind of wore off and I just grabbed a chair and sat back and kind of hung out with her while she ate. All in all, I probably spent an hour hanging around Phet. It was a great experience, and I don’t think I’ll forget it anytime soon.

So, now we are on our way to China, where I’m really curious to see what awaits the team and me there; we’ll find out soon.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

A boy in a Bai village in Dali, China, shows off his Hella light.

Photo and journal by Nancy Olson

What’s brighter, their new Hella key chain lights, or their smiles?

In an earlier photo blog, we showed you images of some Cambodian kids who had just received some key chain flashlights that one of our sponsors, Hella (they make accessory lights for vehicles, especially off-road vehicles) gave to us to hand out to people who need them as we drive around the world. It is difficult to describe the amount of joy those tiny gifts have brought to the hundreds of kids and adults we have bestowed them upon throughout the LONGITUDE Expedition.

At the start of our expedition, we each had, I think, [500] lights per vehicle to hand out as we saw fit. The developing nations that we drive through all have villages set up along the roads, and few of these roads or villages have the luxury of streetlights. Some don’t have electricity at all, and the ones that do certainly don’t have enough of it to use on streetlights, floodlights, or even outhouse lights. Bulbs are burnt out in dark toilets and alleys all over the world. It’s amazing to us Westerners that so many people spend so much of their time in the dark. Hella’s generous donation has brought the gift of light to hundreds of people who otherwise would have none.

It is heartening to witness how much joy something as common as a teeny flashlight, something as simple as a keychain, and something no bigger than a silver dollar can bring to someone who has likely never owned any of those items before. At times, you’d think we’d just handed them a 50-dollar bill. The joy is palpable.

We have had to establish very strict rules to govern the handling of the Hella lights in order to prevent unmanageable situations from occurring enroute. For example, nobody is allowed to hand out any “Hellas” to kids at borders until we are leaving. If the crowd is too big, we cannot hand out Hellas to anybody. We must be very discriminating when handing out Hellas to adults; they’re meant to be for the children.

If you hand a light to a lone little kid who has been hanging out with you at a border, he or she will run off to show it to a friend or sibling. That one kid will point to you, or describe you to the other kids, and soon throngs of children, parents, grandparents, border agents, shopkeepers, and taxi drivers will be on your tail like moths to a flame. We want to give them to the needy kids and the occasional cute little old lady, but we don’t have enough for those others, and we can’t have everybody seeking us out and distracting us from the business of crossing a border with their pleas for a light. So we wait until we are ready to leave. And when we hand them out, it’s magical. Never has giving been such a selfish pleasure. I live for those smiles.

Whenever possible, we give the lights to the parents, so that they can have the pleasure of giving the lights to the kids. Sometimes the parents signal to us that it’s ok to hand the Hellas to the kids directly, and they always make sure we get a “thank you” from the pint-sized recipient.

Hella has given us an amazing gift with the donation of these key chain flashlights. Our friend Yvonne Pratt and the amazing people at Hella also gave us accessory roof-rack lights (we call them our alien abduction lights because they’re so bright), bumper-mounted Xenons, backing lights, and map lights, and those pieces of expedition equipment are indispensable to our team. They even gave us cash toward our cause. But of all the gifts that Hella has given us, our most beloved is the key chain lights.

With that gift, we get to elicit smiles across the globe, and those smiles are what light our way. Smiles, and freakishly bright Hella off-road lights…

Favorite Hella moments:

1) Walking down a very dark and uneven sidewalk in Antigua, Guatemala, we passed a poor, elderly man walking in the other direction. I felt in my pocket and realized I had a Hella light, and I ran back to hand it to the old man. His voice, his eyes, his whole body, were full infused with such gratitude and disbelief that he seemed younger as he bubbled out a hearty “muchas gracias!” and continued down a suddenly well-lit path.

2) During a photo shoot near a tiny village in Cuzco, Peru, the villagers wandered down to our location to watch what we were doing. We were taking pictures of the team with the vehicles and our equipment, and we showed them our cars and “stuff” and laughed with them as we tried to communicate with hand gestures. As dusk began to fall, we began passing out the Hella lights. Soon, everybody in this village of not more than 50 had a Hella key chain. They were amazed. As we packed up to leave, the villagers began to disperse, and we were delighted to see a line of lights like Chinese lanterns moving through the hills toward their homes.

3) At the roadhouse just before the intersection of the Great Central Road and the Gunbarrel Highway in Outback Australia, I met an Aboriginal man who wanted to sell me an ornate snake carved out of a stick. I didn’t have much cash on me (I never do), so I offered him three Hellas, two Red Bulls, and a dollar bill. It was a fair trade, and that snake stick is now in the back of D3. Since then, I have used Hellas as currency (in a pinch) on a couple of occasions.

A Lao boy shows off his new Hella light. (Check out his Land Rover Camel Trophy T-shirt...)

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

A LONGITUDE Expedition Certified Land Rover Discovery gets a thorough cleansing.

The team has one last hurrah on Khao Sarn Road in Bangkok.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Here's another clipping of Drive Around the World in the Bangkok news!

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

The team made several of the Bangkok papers recently, including this one written in the Thai language.

Waaa, waaaaaaaaa, waaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!! Waaaaahhhhhh all up and down the island on a 125 four-stroke motorcycle was what I did during my day on Ko Samed! It was a blast! The island was really small, only about 11 km long, and 90% of it was dirt road along the coast. It was so beautiful and free to be whizzing around an island in the south of Thailand. The other thing that was really nice was that the island wasn't crowded with tons of people, so you could be on the roads and not worry about hitting other cars and trucks. It was relatively safe, although, Colin did hit a huge rock and flip over his handlebars, ooops! He was alright, though, just some scratches and a big raspberry.

These were really supped-up mopeds, more than actual motorcycles, which was ok, as it was safer. During my rides, I would go back and forth from one end of the island to the other, and back and forth, and back and forth again, and so on. In between, I would stop at a secluded beach with a reef, clear-blue water, and a couple cabanas selling delicious Thai food, and eat and drink some milkshakes, mmmnnn. Tropical fruit shakes in the sun, swimming, and motorbikes...sounds like Heaven doesn't it. Well, it was!

It was a nice break between all the days on the Internet researching all the info for driving through the rest of Asia. We are about to embark on the wildest and most dangerous part of our entire expedition. It will be incredibly interesting, and a bit scary. Right now, India is having the worst flooding in 20 years, and we are supposed to be heading right there. And, Manipur, where we are heading is having riots right now too, with the military and guerrillas having warfare. So we will see if we end up actually sticking to this route or not. There are still quite a bit of factors left to decide whether we will do it or not.

So slipping away to tranquil paradise on Ko Samed was perfect. I am sure if you ever come to Thailand, you will end up on one of the small beaches in the south of Thailand, and when you do, rent a moped and zip around and have a blast!

Neil

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Water buffalo graze alongside the road in Thailand.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

A wall at the Grand Palace in Bangkok.

[Photo by Todd Borgie]

Journal by Justin Mounts

Today I am locked inside, working like a madman. The weather outside is nice, well nice enough by Bangkok standards, but I have much to do. Today I am sorting through literally hundreds of photos that have already been taken on the expedition as part of my efforts to revamp our pressroom photo gallery. As the expedition garners more and more coverage (five newspaper articles and one TV appearance in Bangkok alone), I need to be able to easily point journalists right to the heart of the action for what they need.

Keeping on top of all of one’s tasks on the road can be quite challenging. I mean, as you know, each one of us wears many hats on a daily basis, and it’s not uncommon for one task to jump to the forefront and overtake everything else that you’re doing. To tell the truth, this is a task that should’ve been completed a long time ago, but due to one thing or another kept getting pushed off.

So, here I am. Buried in photos of great memories and funny stories that the pictures remind me of. The problem now is that there are so many great photos—which ones do I choose?

Until next time, I wish you well from the far side of the world.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Colin and Neil joined the moped brigade at Koh Samet, where the dirt roads are fun and the rental fees are cheap.

[Journal and photos by Colin McAuliffe]

Bangkok can make a man crazy, or a woman for that matter. It's fast, loud, intense, and odiferous, and don't get me wrong, I love it, but every now and again a man needs a break from the ol' hustle and bustle, and my preferred break spot is Ko Samet. Ko Samet is an island about a four-hours drive and a half-an-hour boat ride from Bangkok, and it's just a great place. Sun, sand, beach chairs, what else could a man ask for? So anyway, Neil, Chanda, Nancy and I all took off there for a nice long weekend of good times. We made some great friends and had some great laughs (and a few milkshakes too). We ate, we slept, we danced, we relaxed, you name it, we did it. The trip lifted a huge weight off all our shoulders, and now the team is ready to roll. One more week and we are out of Thailand, and I think it was a great idea to spend some of our last days in a beautiful tropical setting rather than a bustling metropolis.

Colin met some cute-and-silly little kiddies on the beaches of Koh Samet.

[Photo by Colin McAuliffe]

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

The Michelin Man in a Buddha pose, Bangkok, Thailand.

Journal and photo by Nancy Olson

Today, I basically worked on my computer most of the late morning and early afternoon, and then I remembered my broken computer. I’ve been using Nick’s old laptop, one that has already been around the world once, because the HP I bought in D.C. broke several months ago. I think there’s an issue with one of the bulbs in the screen, because it simply does not light up. I can just make out the screen, if I view it from the right angle, but it is extremely difficult to see. It’s quite frustrating to have a dead laptop, and I certainly won’t have the cash to buy one when I get home.

Because we’re in Bangkok for a few more days, at least, and because Bangkok has an HP Service Center, I decided to have the folks there take a look at my screen. I’m at least two, maybe three years beyond my one-year warranty, so my plan was to see if we could get lucky. Maybe it’s just a loose wire, or maybe it’s the world’s cheapest repair.

Todd went with me, because 1) I’m not well-versed on the inner workings and hidden mechanisms of my computer, and 2) I’m not at all good at groveling for a good deal on such things as T-shirts, produce, or computer repairs.

We had to take the sky rail to the right area of town, and then we were supposed to “exit the skyrail at the big Black Canyon Coffee sign, walk up Silom Street, turn right on the corner, and it would be on our right, beyond some hotel, and in a big office park.

Ok, great, but walk up the street in which direction? If we went right, a right at the corner would mean we’d have to cross a bunch of traffic. If we went left, we wouldn’t have to cross traffic. Deductive reasoning told me we’d need to go left. We started walking, we came to a corner, and we turned right. We looked for the hotel as we walked, but we didn’t see any hotel at all. And then we came to a dead end. Either we should have gone right when we went left at the beginning, or we turned right at the wrong corner. Still convinced we weren’t supposed to cross all that traffic, I had a feeling we’d turned at the wrong corner.

Todd and I decided to hop into a tuk-tuk and have him take us to the hotel. We could walk to HP from there, and asking a Thai-speaking driver to take us to HP, I knew, would be impossible. Drivers know where hotels are, and they know where the party areas and temples are, but that’s about it. Unless you speak Thai. He asked somebody where the hotel is, and he took us around the block. We had been very close. Had we turned right at the second corner instead of the first, we’d have found it.

Anyway, we walked inside, vadered (took the elevator, or “vader”) to the third floor, and walked up to a receptionist. And here is the beginning of the most mind-blowingly incredible example of customer service greatness that we have ever experienced. This is where HP officially took the cake. She asked us what the problem was, and I told her my laptop screen doesn’t light up. I was expecting her to start asking about warranties and the age of my computer right then. But no; she walked us right back into the guts of the building to a room that was labeled something like “Repair Technician Room.”

WOW! She walked us back, told the young guy in there what was wrong, and he went to work. He opened up my laptop, plugged it in, saw that there was no screen, and plugged my computer into a desktop monitor. Bingo. The hard drive is perfect. Only the screen is non-functioning. He and the girl walked out of the room. She explained, “I will go get the engineer now.”

The three of them came back with another man, and that man went to work. He opened up the computer, took something out, plugged it back in, screwed the tiny screws down tight, and tried to turn the screen back on as I held my breath. No dice. He explained something to the first guy, and he explained to us that there was a bad bulb, or something, and that the screen should be replaced for 20,000 Baht, or about $500 USD. Yikes! We don’t have that kind of money!

Todd stepped up at that point. He asked if they had an old computer lying around that could be pirated for parts. They checked. I mean, they actually really checked. No. No spares. They felt very bad, and one of the guys went to get his supervisor. They head of the repair division came down to meet us, and he explained the problem, and that they were sorry they didn’t have what was needed to fix it. They were very sorry. Genuinely. They checked on that part again, and they realized there wasn’t one in Thailand and that it would have to be ordered from Singapore. We’d said we were leaving in about four days. The part won’t be here soon enough.

They tried and tried for quite a while to come up with a solution, but nobody could. They gave us the part number, and they told us we might be able to get it at our next big-city stop: India. We had told these guys about Drive Around the World, and how this laptop is what we use to update our web page, etc., and they truly wanted to solve our problem. But they couldn’t. So, they supervisor went and got a little box and handed it to Todd, saying it was a gift for us from HP. Whoa! They felt bad, so they gave us a gift. It was a Swiss Army-style pocked knife, with lots of gadgets. How cool. Unfortunately, we didn’t have anything to give to them. I’m going to go back with some stickers and Hello key chain lights for them later.

I am stunned by the amazing service we got there at HP. I never would have expected to walk in, go directly to the repair guy, and stand there and watch as three engineers opened up my computer and tried to get it to work. Never. I was certain we would walk in, be told our warranty is up, and then be told they can perform a diagnostic (no guarantees) for a large fee in order to see how many hundreds of dollars a repair or replacement would cost. Instead, they just jumped right in with hardly a word spoken. And when they couldn’t help, they felt so rotten that they sent us away with a nice gift.

Unbelieveable. Thanks for the experience, HP.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Inside the Grand Palace, Bangkok, Thailand.

Journal and photo by Todd Borgie

After a wonderful excursion to Cambodia, the team is now back in Bangkok, and back to work. Now that we have another legal 30 days on our visas, everyone seemed to pick up where they left off.

Everyday we hope to have definitive word on when we will begin driving again, but what we are waiting on is news on the Manipur permits (Manipur is a state in India on its eastern side). Once we have the paperwork in order to leave Myanmar and enter India through its Eastern Border, we will be ready to start driving again. The reason we are waiting is that if we don’t get permission we will have to drastically alter our course in China; this will mean more time in China, and more money we will need to spend. We keep our fingers crossed everyday that we will hear a favorable word, and our ears are still poised and ready. There is a reason that no one has driven through Myanmar in over 50 years: these permits are really tough get.

In the morning I helped Chanda with some banking stuff as well as preparing our medical bag with new supplies. Our upcoming trek will take us through places where malaria is endemic, as well as areas of steep altitude climbs (in the Himalayas). The odds of us getting malaria are not very high, but we bought eight treatments for the team, expecting the worst. It is kind of like buying insurance: you most likely won’t need it, but if you do, you do. We hemmed and hawed at spending the money, but we figured safety was more important than money.

We also bought a medication called Diamox for altitude climbs. This drug helps you adapt to higher altitudes, as when we leave Katmandu, we will quickly climb the foothills of the Himalayas and find ourselves driving at 15,000 feet atop the Tibetan Plateau. Serious altitude climbs can bring with it serious medical problems; this drug will help in our adjustment to life at 15,000 ft. Hopefully we will quickly adapt to this change, but we bought plenty of tablets in case we have any trouble. Hopefully, the worst that will happen as a result of the altitude change is a couple of headaches, but in any case we really have to be careful; we also need to keep a close eye on each other. Once you are in the middle of the Tibetan Plateau, there are not any quick ways to descend if someone gets ill.

The rest of my day consisted of tracking down the Laos embassy and securing visa paperwork. I was totally excited when I got home and the whole team managed to get additional passport photos taken. I just have to fill out the forms and I should be set for the morning.

I guess I don’t have a lot to report on this time. Until next!

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Hella, who has provided us with auxilliary lighting for each of our vehicles, including huge Xenons for our front bumpers and "alien abduction" lights for our roof racks, has also given us thousands of keychain lights to hand out to children along our route.

The following is a photo tribute to Hella, just to say "Thanks" for one of the most incredible sponsor gifts we have received: Smiles, smiles, and more smiles."

Mom and boy say thanks for the flashlight.

1) This little cutie poses for a picture with his new light.

2) He investigates its possibilities.

3) And decides maybe this light can fly! Whoopee!

4) Look Ma, no hands!

The boy's sister tries out her light.

From Cambodia: Thanks, Hella!

[Photos by Nancy Olson]

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

These Cambodians at Angkor Wat demonstrate the best means of transportation available.

[Photo by Nancy Olson]

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Gas stations in Cambodia consist of no more than a little stand with pre-measured Johnny Walker Red bottles of fuel manned by Cambodian families. We believe the bright-yellow litres of fuel we purchased at one stand might be responsible for Vehicle D2's burnt-up catalytic converter!

Journal and photos by Neil Dana

I am back in Cambodia again, this time with our team, and it has been a short-but-sweet adventure. I was here a couple weeks ago for about seven days by myself, not knowing we were to return here as a group, and I am really happy we all did come back as a group. Cambodia is the most amazing country I have visited on our expedition so far, and now that we have all come together, the rest of the team realizes how special Cambodia is as also. You can also click on this link [coming soon] to see what I wrote about my six days in Cambodia before, which I highly recommend.

Oh, and before I describe what happened today, I have to tell you a story about something that happened yesterday, since it only happened to Adam, Colin and me, and Adam and Colin's log days are later in the week, so I might as well write about it. So anyway, we are in the Ta Prohm ruins, which are the magnificent ruins that have become one with the jungle, completely overgrown with huge trees that have destroyed half of the ruins. The ruins are not built up or renovated, they are left just as they were, incredible, with moss growing all over the stones and rubble, and broken Buddhas, and all kinds of interesting, ancient pieces just lying around unassembled.

So as we were filming myself talking about the ruins, we noticed that this very old man was chillin’ just behind me. And who was this old man, but the man on the cover of the Lonely Planet 2002 edition of Cambodia, which we happened to have with us. So instantly we went over to him and showed him the cover, and I said, "Wow, this is you!!, you are famous!!" And he smiled at us and said, "Yes," and kept nodding his head. So I began to sit with him and talk with him for about 20 minutes about his life. He comes to these ruins everyday and sweeps up the ruins, so he has good karma when he dies. His name is Niem, and he is 83 years old! He had six children and a wife, but four of his children were killed during the horrible Pol Pot regime, and his wife just passed away a year ago. His other two children are married and living nearby now. I asked him if it was ok to talk about his experience with the Khmer Rouge and said I understood if he didn't want to due to painful memories. But he was willing, and luckily we had Saomonk, our translator with us, because Niem didn't speak English. He explained much of his horrible experience, which was very similar to a few of the different stories I have read in a couple other books since my first visit to Cambodia a few weeks ago. I am always amazed at the people who survived and the horror they lived through and how they can continue to have such big smiles on their faces.

It was a fascinating and very touching time talking to Niem, and afterwards, I asked him if he would sign our Lonely Planet book, and he said yes. He can't write, but can etch out a name. And he also said that this was the first signature he had given. I was astonished; however, maybe he meant just today. But it is a nice romantic notion to believe that it was the first book he has ever signed. Anyway, I hope Niem lives for many years to come, and continues to sweep up the peaceful Ta Prohm ruins and keeps his smile until the day he passes into his next life. I also overpaid for a Buddha head, and some cowbells from Niem that he had for sale. However, no amount of money from me is too much when it comes to helping this man have food on his plate everyday.

And now to today...

So today, we awoke and began our drive back to Thailand from Siem Reap, Cambodia. Our drivers, Chan, Pho, and our translator, Saomonk, drove us back on the dirt road, the main highway, Route 6, back to the border. This main highway isn't what most people consider a main highway due to the extreme road conditions, with dirt, potholes, bridges with missing planks, and beautiful, rugged Cambodian people scattered alongside the roads, standing on bridge railings waving and staring at us. We were surrounded by rice fields, on both sides, for as far as our eyes could see. The majority of Cambodia's land is rice fields, and has been since the Khmer Kingdom started back in 800 A.D.

So after driving through the country for five hours, we reached the border town of Poipet and dropped off our drivers and guides, which was a sad goodbye, as they were really nice guys. We could really only talk with Saomonk, and he would translate to the others for us. Yeah, as sad as it was to say goodbye, we were also really glad that we could drive our own vehicles again. It was a bit nerve-racking at times with these drivers. They would drive with the brights on all the time, and when a car would come, then they would turn off and on the Hella Halogen lights, making it even more difficult than it was before for the oncoming vehicle to see. We tried to explain the situation to him a few times, but he just couldn't understand; it was pretty funny.

Also, as we were approaching the border, our car started to lose energy, and the engine was sputtering and jerking. The "check engine" light was flashing, and we seemed to have a legitimate problem on our hands. We had to fill up our tank a few times with roadside gas, which were small houses on the side of the road in the middle of the countryside, which had "Johnny Walker" bottles filled up with gasoline for sale. The family would attend your car and fill up the tank. Many times, the family members who were filling up the gas and getting gas from the canisters into the bottles were small children. It was a bit disturbing to see young children, only about 10 years old filling up gas tanks and having to breathe in gasoline fumes all day.

The other problem with this roadside gas is that we didn't know what type of gas we were getting. We tried to explain that we needed unleaded gasoline, or petrol, and pretty much whatever we would ask or try to explain, they would say, "yes, yes." So as our car started having problems, we assumed that this must have been caused by bad gas, maybe we were receiving leaded gas, or even some diesel.

Well, we made it to the border, ate at the casino, and pushed on into Thailand to the first gas station we could find. We filled up with unleaded gas and then drove for another 6-10 miles hoping that the new gas would clear up any problems we were having. Unfortunately, it wasn't working, and our vehicle kept struggling. So we pulled over at the next gas station, and Nick and Todd spent an hour changing all the spark plugs, hoping that would solve the problem.

After replacing the spark plugs, it was dark, and we decided to push on to Bangkok, another four hours away. Right away, we realized the spark plugs weren't the problem, as our car was still feeling as if it was running on a missing cylinder. So we went a steady 50 km/hr and were trying to keep the RPM's at 2000, as it seemed run a bit better at 2000 RPM's, until suddenly, five minutes into our drive, Nick from behind us in the following vehicle YELLS, "Stop the car and GET OUT, you are on fire!!" They had also just seen huge chunks of glowing metal skip down the street towards them out from under our vehicle. Wholly sheep shmibblies! We pulled over and jumped out of the car, and we saw a huge glow under the Land Rover. As some of us ran away, and some grabbed valuables, Adam looked under the car and saw that the entire catalytic converter was bright red and glowing. So we got our stuff and stayed away for a few minutes and waited for the glowing to go away. It literally looked like a red light bulb underneath the car; the metal had melted and even dripped off onto the road! So much for getting to Bangkok tonight.

FREELANDER TO THE RESCUE!

After it cooled down and we had looked at it, Nick and a few others went back into town looking for a towrope to bring us back to the gas station. We stupidly brought the two vehicles that didn't have our tools and recovery kits inside them. Well, we learned a good lesson. Anyway, after an hour, Nick had borrowed a towrope from the police and came back to tow us back to town. However, during Nick's search for the tow rope, he happened to meet an extremely nice man who had a Freelander (Land Rover), who owned a very nice restaurant in town and told us we could leave our vehicle in his lot for the night until we figured out what we were going to do. Wow, thank you! So when we arrived at the restaurant, which was closed now, due to it being 1:15 a.m., but the man with the Freelander and a couple of his guards were there. They greeted us and brought us ice-chilled water. And as it turned out, the guy had a roadside service number for Land Rover, and he called them for us, and they arranged for a tow truck to drive five hours from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet, pick up our Land Rover, and bring it back to Land Rover in Bangkok. The tow truck was to arrive where we were at 6 a.m. And all this for $125; unreal!!!! What luck, to have broken down just inside Thailand and to have met a man with a Land Rover who helped us out, and to find a tow truck driver who could come all the way out and bring it back to Bangkok for such a reasonable fee. We must have good karma working for us.

So we ended up staying the night in a very nice hotel near the border. When we awoke at noon, our other Land Rover had already arrived back in Bangkok and was being worked on. Now that is service. Land Rover worldwide has helped us out tremendously, and we are so grateful to have Land Rover as our sponsor. Thank you, Land Rover!

As of now, we assume that we had gotten leaded gas and the lead had clogged up the catalytic converter. We'll find out for sure very soon.

Take care, and if you want to read a lot more about Cambodia, please go to this link and read about Cambodia. [coming] Cambodia is truly a fascinating country, and is also extremely happy now that they are finally enjoying peace and freedom, which only came as recently as 1998. While I was a child growing up in California, playing soccer and having three meals a day, Cambodia was experiencing the genocide of the Khmer Rouge, where the entire country was put into labor camps to work rice fields, be malnourished, and die in doing so. So I urge you to read more about Cambodia, and their history, and be inspired to come here some day and see the beautiful people and help spur their economy with tourism and knowledge and education from abroad. Have you ever considered teaching English in a foreign country, helping out the local people, experiencing a brilliant culture and also get paid? It is an opportunity that is good for all. Think about it.

Caio,

Neil

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

One of the Certified Land Rovers at the temples in Cambodia.

[Photos by Nancy Olson]

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Nick and Todd snapped this photo of a live pig being transported by moped in Cambodia. "They were all carrying pigs," said Todd. Nick and Todd had been out and about talking with customs officials at another border in order to arrange for the Land Rovers to drive in Cambodia.

[Photo by Todd Borgie]

Without a doubt, I have reached a new level of laziness. In fact, I think I should win an award or something. I am usually an overachiever, and those of you who know me well know that I tend to bite off more than I can chew. Plus, I never seem to learn my lesson regarding how much I can handle at one time.

But today was a different story. Today is dedicated solely to discovering how lazy I can be. I started by deciding to have a little bit of a “lie-in” to catch up on some much needed sleep. I slept so well in this little resort town that I barely managed to get up before noon. After a very lazy shower, it was off to the restaurant to have some phad thai noodles and a fresh pineapple shake for lunch. Afterward, I adjourned down toward the beach to catch a little bit of afternoon sun. Besides, when you’re being lazy, isn’t getting a tan part of the package? While I was there laying there reading a fascinating book about Myanmar (Burma) and listening to the gentle waves caressing the shore, I decided to take a nap—I mean, it’s hard work being this lazy.

Once I woke up (with a bit of a sunburn), I went back to the restaurant for another delicious meal. It was then that I got to do something I have always wanted—learn to play backgammon. At first, it was a bit confusing, and I was playing a master at the game. But after a few quick losses, my backgammon lesson was over, and I started to play for real. I sat there for over two hours playing, and by the end of the evening I was fairing pretty well for myself—well, at least for a beginner.

And that ended the laziest day of my life. I headed off for bed with a sense of accomplishment, knowing that tomorrow it’s back to Bangkok and the work that awaits me.

Until next time, I wish you well from the far side of the world.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

While waiting to cross the border from Thailand to Cambodia, Adam and the gang passed the time playing with the border kids. They were cute enough to keep.

[Journal by Colin McAuliffe, photos by Nancy Olson]

Thailand lets you stay in their country for 30 days. No more, no less. After my first 30 days, I took a trip to the local immigration office and got a visa extension. It cost me 50 bucks for ten days, so, when that extension was up, the team and I decided to do what is known as a "visa run.” Now, a visa run is basically a quick trip over the Thai border so that when you reenter the country you get another 30 days to do whatever it is you want to do. We decided on Cambodia for our visa run for many reasons: It's close, it's cheap, and it has Angkor Wat, a huge complex of Khmer ruins.

So, it was with smiles on our faces that we headed towards Cambodia in two Drive Around the World vehicles for one night. Little did we know that we would be dealing with logistical nightmares and worse. Anyway, we got out of Bangkok and to the Cambodian border town of Poi Pet without a hitch; however, when we got to the border, we were disturbed to discover the customs office for our cars was closed, so we were forced to spend the night in the no-man’s-land between Cambodia and Thailand, which consists of only one type of thing, which is a good thing and a bad thing. These things are something that I love and hate. These things can be tons of fun or a pain. These things...are casinos, and tons of them. So the team, plus one, this funny English guy Tom that I met on Ko Samet, and I, all booked ourselves into a casino for the night, with plans to move on in the morning.
So, the next morning, wallets just a little bit thinner, we wake up to discover that Nick and Todd have run into some difficulties taking our cars into the country and have gone off to the next province to talk to some bigwig type guy. The team was told to stay close by, which basically meant stay in the casino, which I took to mean "keep gambling." So I did, and I broke even once again. Eventually, Todd and Nick returned and handed us the shocking news that we would not be able to drive our cars into Cambodia, but, and this is a big but, Cambodians could drive our cars into Cambodia.

So off we went to look for some Cambodian drivers, and actually it wasn't tough. We managed to very quickly find two drivers and a guide who could communicate with them. The guy who drove our car had a name we couldn't pronounce, so we called him Mr. Moon, and the guide's name was Ank.

And so they drove us all over Cambodia in our own cars for a few days, and it was actually pretty cool. Outside of having five people crammed into our vehicle on all types of ridiculously bumpy roads, having a driver was very cool. Anyway, we saw a bunch of the Angkor temples, which were very interesting and photogenic. I'm not the biggest temple fan, so I tend to lose interest after the third or fourth one, but we got some great video footage of the team, and I managed to snap some cool pictures. Neil, Adam, Ank, and I even managed to meet the guy from the cover of the lonely planet. Yes, things were good, but there were problems yet to come.
So we went to the ruins, and they were great big old temply things, just like you'd expect, and it was good. We went out and went to a Cambodian nightclub, and it was good. We ate food, and it was good. We drank milkshakes, and it was good. I slept, and it was good. Then we went to drive back to Thailand, AND IT WAS BAD! Ok, actually it wasn't bad until after we already got through the border, but let me just put it this way, we ended up broken down on the side of a Thai highway in the evening and there were tons of mosquitoes all vying for my attention. Thank God for Gameboy is all I can say. So it was a very long ordeal, and if it wasn't for a friendly local Land Rover enthusiast, I’d have no idea what would have happened. He took us in, made some calls for us, and got us situated in a nice hotel for cheap. I don't remember his name, but three cheers for him (glass raised). Anyway, all in all, Cambodia was an extremely interesting/hectic experience for me.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Nancy and Chanda explored one of Bangkok's popular modes of public transportation: the canal taxi. These long boats zip up and down the canals that bissect portions of the city. Passengers have only seconds to board and disembark, and side skirts keep spray from drenching everybody when boats meet in the narrow canals.

Journal and photo by Nancy Olson

The longer this expedition goes on, the crummier my writing gets. For whatever reason, I am having trouble with my creativity, especially when it comes to writing. Have you ever sat down at your keyboard to start typing out a paper and just stared vacantly at the screen without a single coherent (or even incoherent) thought in your head? Well, I have. I just did it a moment ago, and, oops, I did it again.

I’m not sure what the problem is, exactly, but I have a couple of guesses. Part of it, I think, is that I have loads of writing to do. There’s about five or six feature articles I’m supposed to write, I have to caption a bunch of photos, I have these weekly journals, I have e-mails to answer, I have to proofread everybody’s journals and company correspondence, and I have to dress up my resume in preparations for my return home and my reintroduction to the “real world.”

I think being here in Bangkok for so long is cramping my brain a bit, too. I don’t do many exciting things each day that I think you’d be interested in hearing about. I’ll have to wait until we get going again to dazzle you with my literary brilliance. Maybe I’m getting lazy!

There must be something I can tell you about…

I know, I’ll tell you about the pomelos. Every few days, I will see somebody on the street selling big pale wedges of something on a Styrofoam meat tray covered in plastic wrap. Well, I took a close look at those wedges, uniformly fanned out on their tray, and I discovered them to be a type of citrus fruit.

Imagine taking a grapefruit, peeling it, pulling off little wedges, and then removing the skin so that only the little pulpy bit remains. You know how oranges and lemons and all citrus fruits, for that matter, have those tiny little kernels of pulp all stuck together to form the fruit, right? Well, now imagine a grapefruit (not a red one, but rather a sort of chardonnay color with a hint of blush) the size of a bowling ball (or a Size 3 soccer ball). The skin is actually green, but after peeling off an inch-thick layer of rind, the pale fruit part is exposed. But you can’t eat it yet. Even once it’s peeled, the fruit is inedible. You still have to segment it out and then peel the sheath off of each little segment, or wedge. Don’t worry, though, because the pulp bits are huge, too, and they stick together rather well if you are careful. The sheath bit tastes incredibly awful, with a bitingly strong, bitter, chemical-ish nastiness to which I have found no equal in nature. Um, and, like, I’ve heard it can wreak havoc with one’s innards and send one running for the super-squatter (toilet) like a madman (or woman). This whole process (not the bathroom bit, but the peeling and preparation bit) can take up to a half hour, which is why vendors do better selling it already prepared.

Anyway, I used to see these things on occasion and wonder what they were and whether I ought to investigate by purchasing some to take home, but I’d always decide not to. Finally, when Adam and Todd and I went to the Bridge over River Kwai, I decided to take the plunge. Holy schmockatolly, am I glad I did! My first bite of that sweet, delectable fruit was like discovering the nectar of the gods! It was like biting into a dozen exploding little grapefruit-juice bombs, but grapefruit juice that had been sweetened and had had all of the bitterness removed! I’m not kidding! It was incredible.
So I ate two servings of it, which is equivalent to at least two big California grapefruit, and that was the start of my pomelo obsession. Now, I eat it every day. It took some searching, but I finally located a source for this amazing fruit (already peeled, because I have given up on peeling them myself) nearby our hotel at the foodstore section of a store called Tokyu at MBK Center.

Todd tells me pomelos are available in the U.S., and I sure hope he’s right. Now that I’m a complete giant-grapefruit addict, I need to feed my habit. Anybody know where I can find some in northern California?

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

LONGITUDE Expedition leader and
Drive Around the World founder, Nick Baggarly.

“Once you see the world in a different way,
it’s impossible to go back to seeing it how you used to.”

Short intro

My name is Nick Baggarly. My team and I are driving our vehicles around the world…again.

You know the past, but you can’t change it. You don’t know the future, but everything you do changes everything. A famous writer said that. Another famous writer said, “The things we do now have a tremendous impact and even grow in time.” And one of my favorite writers said, “what’s more interesting than people?”

If you’re anything like me you look at our world each day, and each day you regard it a bit differently. Sometimes it’s wonderful and beautiful. Sometimes it’s harsh and scary. A lot of this depends on mood, but if you get in a car and drive around a bit -- you don’t have to go outside your country, just go a bit beyond your comfort zone, whatever that might be -- you’ll come back a different person.

Our projects are about people meeting people. Humans working to achieve something larger than themselves. Humans using the resources at their disposal, a few resources of others, and doing what they love to do, to effect change.

History

It began with a move to Northern California and a vehicle I purchased. A 1966 Land Rover. I became active with an online community that centered around an annual camping trip in the Mendocino National Forest. It was a list server (a discussion group), and if you imagine a virtual campfire with a bunch of fascinating people all sitting around, talking about whatever, that’s what I got caught up in. Mostly we’d talk about the subject of the community—Land Rovers—what we were using them for, what we were fixing, or restoring, anything that came to mind really, and lots of other topics too. A fine bunch of petroheads!

One day there was talk about a guy from Atlanta who was driving to Belize to deliver medical supplies to some villages down there. A bunch of people from different places across the US said, “we want to go too” and this guy said, “OK, as long as you bring your share of medical supplies.” Two months later we were on our way from California to Belize. Our route down and back was different so we called that expedition the “Crazy-8.” Because that’s what it looked like on a map.

And that was it. We had completed our first expedition. It didn’t take long to figure out what to do next. When we returned home we heard about two 65-year old guys from Wisconsin. They’d just driven around the world in a 1954 Packard convertible. I think my response was, “can you really do that!?” And the planning began for the LATITUDE Expedition: A drive around the world from Beijing to San Francisco—traveling westbound for 78 days. We did that too.

Drive Around the World : the group

I have learned that, when people come together, we’re suddenly capable of extraordinary things. We can make amazing accomplishments.

Our organization is really a place where people can bring their projects. If someone proposes something, and everyone likes it, we all do it together. That’s the culture we’re trying to develop.

The team represents a collision of explorers, engineers, and thinkers—all fascinating personalities. Many of them have day jobs that take them in other directions, but we choose to associate here because of an aptitude and curiosity we all possess. And this is a place where fun and interesting projects are developed. I think everyone possesses an interest in exploring or figuring out how something works-- why things are the way they are. This organization helps us develop our skills.

We all enjoy working on something that’s larger than ourselves. Crazy ambitious projects--it’s not driven by personal ambition, but more by a desire to make very large and strange things happen. They’re bizarre, strange, fun, and surprisingly possible.

I believe that our societies and civilizations aren’t bad in general, they just have bugs. One of those bugs is that people need to learn how to rally together to solve tough problems. To get people to understand this, you could say, “hey we need to do something,” or you can simply throw something new and fun out there, give it what it needs, and watch the spark take fire. Then it’s up to the rest of us to keep it going.

The Expedition

Looking back I see a series of events that have slowly been steering us where we are and, based on where you’ve been, you begin to see where you want to go.

We want to get better at exploring—eventually we’ll define new ways of exploring. We want to be an example that encourages others to hear and act on their own intuitions. We want to educate—to leave a good impression and inspire our future explorers. The LONGITUDE project was created with a very clear set of goals that moves us in this direction.

About Missions

A project like this is so empowering because you realize how your actions amplify down a period of time. It’s not empowering, because it’s surrounded with obstacles and challenges and a constant need to persuade those who don’t see it. It gives mission to our lives. Our life may be one great mission, it may be a series of them, or it may be devoid of mission. It’s entirely up to us. We’re hoping to answer the question, “just how good are we at helping people?”

Why Parkinsons?

Click HERE and we’ll tell you.

The idea for LONGITUDE came from my wife, Chanda. This drive is being a fundraiser for Parkinson’s Disease because the disease affects our families. If you’re going to do something extraordinary, why not take more than passengers along? Why not take a cause? It’s a great way to maximize what we’re doing. They way we work is this: We come up with an idea, decide whether we can really make an impact, obtain buy-in from the group, and move on it. This is what I call, “the deep dive”, and we did one on Parkinson’s research and came up saying, “YES, this is something we can definitely do.”

The idea of LONGITUDE is really to come up with, and encourage new and innovative fundraising ideas. We’ve chosen to focus our team, our vehicles, and our ideas on Parkinson’s research, but we hope people will adapt it to other areas. Whatever personally affects them.

Why do I get involved in these things? A few elements need to exist for me to get excited about anything.
The project needs to be unusual, it should be ambitious, and it needs to be extremely forward looking and offer a lot of encouragement and hope. These are the elements that make it easy to give one’s best, day-in and day-out.

The expedition event is a carrier of sorts, kind of like a drone in a melody. When we get up every day, we know what we’re supposed to do. We’re driving around the world. That’s our focus. But it is our programs that make the difference. They weave in and out of each day and the constant moving of our team ensures the programs move along, too.

Will it work?

I won’t be surprised if it works. I’ll be surprised if it doesn’t work. When you have an idea that you’re passionate about, you envision the outcome very clearly and you plow ahead toward it. You might not see it entirely, but it comes to you as you go. I’m occasionally surprised when we reach a different outcome, but when you stay on top of things, it’s surprising how you can steer your ideas in any direction you want to go.

Why a drive around the World? Why LONGITUDE? Why not? You have to focus your efforts somehow. People say it’s unsafe to travel right now. They said the same thing before our ’99 LATITUDE Expedition, but our timing then was perfect. The Middle-East is now a hotspot, and you just can’t do now what we did then. Maybe in a way they were right, though. The world is a bit unsafe, and that means the world needs people like us now more than ever.

The Vehicles

The key to completing an extraordinary undertaking is to approach challenges with a childlike perspective and always keep it exciting and fun. Traveling at this pace is refreshing. There’s a certain slowness to this sort of travel, and I like that. We used older Land Rovers before; they were forty years old, low-tech, and slow. But in countries with undeveloped or poorly maintained road systems, they actually clip along at a reasonable pace. These vehicles are easy to repair because few special tools are required and parts are interchangeable and available most anywhere. They run great on low-octane regular or unleaded gas and they don’t overheat. The older Land Rovers are low in power, high in reliability, and seldom travel over 60 miles-per-hour, so if there’s an accident, we stand a good chance of walking away. They rarely break down, and their age makes them inexpensive to insure or obtain import bonds at the borders. Their appearance allows them to sail through border crossings, and people love them! Ok, this ends my tribute to vintage Land Rovers. Let me tell you a little about our Certified Discoverys!

At first I wasn’t crazy about this model. A 4.6 liter V8 engine? We need economy, not power, right? Air conditioning? Comfortable seats? Not what we wanted…or did we? I have always said that this expedition is a “charmed project”, and things just seem to work out for our team, and the Discovery follows this theme. When you’re on a two lane undivided highway, as much as we are, on mountain roads winding up steep switchbacks, and it’s nighttime, and it’s raining, and that dog-of-a-semi in front of you signals that it’s ok to pass (uphill around a blind corner), well… you don’t (unless you’re a fool!) You wait until there’s a safe stretch and then you gun it. Now what happens next really depends quite a bit on what you’re driving. Our Certified Discoverys have a strong V8 engine with plenty of get-up-and-go power to get us around slower vehicles safely and pacify these hair-raising moments. Even in the foulest weather we feel safe and stuck to the road in these vehicles. Looking back, I suppose safety was the most important factor in my decision to take the Discovery II.

And that’s just the beginning. This vehicle has a feature list a mile long. Take Hill Descent Control (HDC) for example. As an off-road enthusiast, and an engineer, I thought this feature was invented in a board room and placed straight to the marketing brochure. But seeing is believing. After witnessing this feature in action one word describes HDC: ‘Ingenious.’ Wait, I’ll give it another word. ‘Clever.’ If you like driving off road, you’ll smile like a twelve-year-old when HDC kicks in and the vehicle just inches down the hill. The same goes for Electronic Traction Control; Just like driving the legendary Land Rovers, you can really feel the vehicle sensing and grabbing the ground. Reduced wheel spinning is what any off road driver wants and it doesn’t tear up the place so it’s good for the environment as well. Wouldn’t it be great to be a fly on the wall when the engineers came up with that one! The smooth ride is unprecedented. I could go on an on in a chat room about the benefits of a coil suspension over leaf but I’ll spare you. (You’re welcome.) The A/C is awesome (dual controls!). Everything is right there in front of you and the interior is especially comfortable—again not what I though we needed but, in retrospect it’s exactly what we needed. Talk to the rally drivers and they’ll tell you all about their bad backs but when this 50,000 kilometer endurance drive-a-thon is over we definitely won’t be at the finish line with back problems, that’s for sure.

Life has a way of making sure you get what you need and with these vehicles, we certainly did. We still have a low-tech approach to solving problems. I believe the most elegant solutions are simple ones, but don’t let that fool you. To support our ideas, a technologically rich infrastructure is required to provide advanced communications, navigation, and imagery. I’ll talk more about that next time.

Until then, drive safely.

Nick Baggarly

p.s. I’d like you to support us. Make a donation to Parkinson’s research and maybe you’ll win one of our Land Rovers in the raffle at the end. 100% goes to research, so click HERE and do it today.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Todd's family meets the new baby.

When you think of expeditions, armies, or sports teams for that matter, you generally think of all action, the big battle, or the big game. It is true that there are a lot of exciting moments during these events, but there is often a less glamorous, more unseen side to them. In an army it often takes seven people to support one person in the field: logistics coordinators, supply people, medical people, cooks, the list goes on.

On an expedition, although we are out in the field a lot and see tons of cool stuff, there is a lot that goes into making this all happen. We are constantly solving new problems, researching upcoming areas, appraising our current situation, and planning for our future activities and their needs. There is so much to do that it is easy to forget stuff, but undone research or tasks can often lead to delays for the whole expedition, so we must all be very careful.

I woke up to an early knocking on the door. It was Chanda; she was on a task to solve some banking issues. Since a lot of the organizational paperwork was in my name, she thought she might need my assistance, or more importantly my signature and winning smile. It is always fun doing errands with Chanda. Chanda and I always have a good time, as we both share a certain determination to get things done (we don’t lollygag), but also a playful spirit while we are going about our errands. We always seem to get into some kind of trouble, but nothing that doesn’t make us laugh, and generally nothing we can’t solve. One of the best things about doing errands with Chanda is we always treat ourselves to coffee, desert, or some kind of good food; this was a tradition we started in Argentina. All this to say, when Chanda knocks on the door asking help with some of her errands, I never know what I am getting into, but I know we will have fun doing whatever needs doing.

Off course, we started the morning with coffee and breakfast, but we soon investigating our banking options. Essentially we needed to wire money here to Thailand, but Western Union prices were through the roof. We knew that was an option, but an option that we preferred to avoid. We investigated international banking account options, wire transfer regulations, and a number of other things. We tried three different banks, and we constantly had the problem of no work permit in Thailand, no bank account; who would have thought it was so difficult to open an account? Well, the third bank we went to was the charm, and after waiting for about 45 minutes for a bank representative, we were in business. Banking issue solved, and the need for food was at a critical stage.

A nice little Italian place that I had eyed while I was working on the Russian visas was just the place. Although, I love Thai food, Italian was a welcome change. Seeing the cheese plate on the menu, there was no turning back: bleu cheese, parmesian, brie, and another one made my day, or so I thought.

After lunch we returned to the office (Starbucks with free wireless). I checked my e-mail and the first thing I saw was a note from my mother that said,

Howdy uncle,

You have new niece. Megan Karen, born July 5 at 2:00 a.m., 14 hours after I arrived. All is well and she was 8lbs 1 oz and 19 inches long. She is beautiful and reminds me much of Lauren [my first niece]. Sonja [my sister, Megan’s mother] popped her out after a short labor. All of us were surprised when Sonja's water broke, as we were about to sit down for dinner.

Wow, I am an uncle again! I first got the news that my sister was pregnant when we were first leaving on this expedition. Nine months later, I am in Bangkok, and she is having a baby. Sometimes it is easy for me to believe that time stands still back home while we are on the road, but the fact is it doesn’t!

It hurt me to be away, as a family we always make time to go visit the new parents and see our new relative, but now I find myself more than 10,000 miles away, almost completely on the other side of the world. However, it will be kind of cool to remind her when she is 15 or so that I as in Bangkok when she was born.

Best regards to my sister Sonja, her husband Andy, my nephew Nathanial and my new niece Megan.

Well back to work on sorting out the Russian visa process.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

The Drive Around the World team visited Thai Ultimate Car in Bangkok to have the brake pads checked and replaced in preparation for the impending journey into the Himalayas!

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

The crazy Bangkok traffic.

Journal and photo by Neil Dana

Where are you from, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, or maybe Dallas? Well, wherever you are from, if you get frustrated with traffic or road conditions, then I urge you, never drive in Bangkok!! Today, we had to bring our Land Rovers to the dealership in downtown Bangkok, yikes!

Looking at the map, we figured out our route, and it didn't seem like it would be so bad. We could take tollways most of the way and then end up right by it, no problem. Well, there is no way to get around in Bangkok without a problem if you are driving here for the first time. As we left the hotel, we had to make a right turn onto a road which was extremely busy, and they drive on the left side of the road here, so we had to cross two lanes of traffic just to get into the traffic going in the same direction we wanted to head. Luckily, there was a guard there to blow his whistle and try and stop traffic for us. It eventually worked, and we were on our way. So I was leading, and Adam was following behind me, just the two us. We got onto the road, then came to the next road where we were suppose to go right to cross a river, only you can't go right there. We had to go left and then do a U-turn. However, in Bangkok, the opportunity for doing a U-turn, or even making a right turn, only presents itself every once in very long while. So we had to drive about a mile down the opposite direction just so we could turn around and go the correct way.

After that, we drove across the Taksin Bridge and looked for signs to the RAMA IX tollway. "OH, there it is!" I say to myelf, as I try to merge into three other lanes of traffic to move over in time to get onto a road that I am not even sure is the right road, because the sign for the road is just after the actual turn, but seems to indicate this is the correct turn. So I go for it, and luckily, it is the correct turn, and we drive under the expressway for a while before there are signs that actually lead you to the side to pay a toll and enter a ramp up to the expressway, which is a second level freeway that loops around parts of Bangkok, intertwined with other tollways that are a bit difficult to understand at times.

So we pay 40 baht, $1, and get on the toll road. As I am driving and looking at the map, constantly trying to figure out which lane of six to be in for the next set of overpass signs to follow, I narrowly avoid brushes with other cars. Eventually after winding around for 10 miles, I find the correct off ramp and exit. However, when we exit, there is an option to get on another tollway which goes in the same direction as the road we want. The map shows the road we want and the toll road as the same, so I choose the toll road. Oops, wrong choice. Once we pay another 40 baht to get on, we realize this toll road doesn't have any exits for miles. So we pass where we were supposed to see Land Rover and keep going and going and going, and finally, there is an exit! Phew, we exit and are now under the tollway, but we can't turn around, there literally is no way to turn around, so we just go straight under the toll road, filled with tons of traffic, until we can find a way to turn around.

Well, finally, after 15 minutes and a few miles more, there is a ramp that is called the "U-Turn" ramp, so we take it and go up and over the current traffic jam, around and back into the traffic jam going to opposite direction, back towards where we want to go. Well that's good, at least we are going the right way and we should come across the Land Rover dealership within 15 minutes or so. We were supposed to be there by 5 p.m., and now it is already 5 p.m., and we are pushing our luck. So as we near where the Land Rover dealership should be, we realize that it is still on the other side of the road. Well, how the heck do we get over there? By the time we have already passed the dealership, we finally see an option to go somewhere other than under the tollway. We enter, and it is another tollway. So I ask the lady how to turn around and get on the other side of the road. She tells me to get on this tollway and exit to the right and turn around. All right, sounds simple enough.

We get on the tollway, another 40 baht, and there is no exit to the right; what was she talking about? So we go and go and go, and turn onto other loops and are heading in a strange direction so that I have no clue where we are going. I am not using the map at this point, as I am just using my instincts to get us back. So I finally exit after a few miles, and then we deal with turning around again, which is a nightmare in itself, then pay another 40 baht toll, while getting upset with the lady because we are driving in circles. It's not her fault, I know, but I am getting a bit perturbed!!!!!! So we get back on and luckily, I see signs for Rama IX again and we are on the original route we began with, so now I know that when we exit, to stay to the left, and not get back on the tollway, and we will find Land Rover. And sure enough we did. It was about 5:45 when we got there, but they were still there and we were happy to see them. They gave us coffee, sprite, cookies and chips, and we were happy campers. Just another day driving around Bangkok.

Gees!

Neil

D3 in front of the Imperial Palace.

Journal and photos by Neil Dana

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Happy 4th from the team! (Sorry, no pictures of sparklers, hot dogs, red/white/blue, etc. Couldn't find any!) The team went on a photo shoot last week with a group of reporters from the local paper. Here's a picture of the LONGITUDE team in front of the royal palace.

Photo by Kwanchai Luangsathit

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

After a trek into the jungle, Justin finds his elephant, Ms. Pang Lawann.

Journal and photos by Justin Mounts

I’m in a taxi on my way back to the Marriott Riverside Hotel in Bangkok, and my driver is vigorously slapping himself on the face and neck to wake up. How worried should I be?

I have just stepped off a plane from one of the most unique experiences I have ever had—I have been deep in the rainforest in northern Thailand learning how to be an elephant Mahout.

I started by heading out into the jungle at 6:30 am to find my elephant. Actually, we’re looking for four of them, and although I am with a small group of people, this experience seems seductively private. Small butterflies dart playfully through the thick morning air as the sun burns down on the grass and ponds filling the air with the scent of fresh flowers. The only drawback to the morning is that he mosquitoes are heavy and the mud is sticky, making the trek into the rainforest a little challenging. The sweat pours from my scalp across my face making it difficult to see, but there’s no denying that 20 meters in front of me is about 8,000 pounds of female elephant.

After chatting with Pang Lawann the elephant for a bit, we lead her back to camp where we find the other three elephants waiting for us. We begin the day by giving the girls a bath and some water (actually a LOT of water) before we give them a morning snack of bananas from the local jungle. With the girls fed for the moment, it is now time to begin our training. We start by learning how to mount an elephant. One of the first mistakes to be made is thinking that getting on an elephant is similar to getting on a horse. The difference here is that elephants are about ten feet tall. With the help of my Mahout, I grab hold of the elephant’s ear and walk up her leg to a position where I can jump onto her back and lay on my stomach. From there, I can easily swing my body over the top and reach a sitting position near the base of her neck.

Now, a skilled Mahout can guide an elephant with around 70 soft commands and light touches behind the ears. This short lesson will only give me the basics, but within minutes I know the commands for forward, backward, turn around, and stop. The thrill of riding on the back of this magnificent animal is incomparable, and being the only person on the elephant tests your ability to remember the commands in Thai.

I steer Pang Yom around the mahout village practicing what I know:

“Pai” (nudge behind both ears) – to go forward
“How” (squeezing knees together) – to stop
“Baen” (nudge behind the opposite ear) – to turn left or right
“Sock” (rocking backwards) – to walk backwards
“Tak lung” (putting feet over the head) – to lower head and dismount by sliding down the elephant’s trunk

With only a few exceptions, Yom takes me where I want to go, and to reward her, I steer her toward the trees to pluck some leaves off with her trunk. After dismounting, I give her a few more bananas and a soft rub on her side to thank her for her patience and a wonderful experience.

I could easily spend days here learning how to be a Mahout, but my schedule demands a return to Bangkok later today. Regardless of where I travel next, I can be sure the feeling of riding an elephant for a day is one that will not be soon forgotten.

Until next time, I wish you all well from the far side of the world.

An elephant gets a bath in Thailand.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Bangkok skyline.

[Photo by Todd Borgie]

Journal by Colin McAuliffe

My guru says I shouldn't cut my hair, nails, or wear black cologne on Fridays.
My guru says that I will be famous in a few years.
My guru says I am Mr. funny face man.
My guru says I make people laugh and smile.
My guru says that there are two women at home thinking about me.
My guru says I make one man jealous.
My guru says that all the women in my life are bad for me.
My guru says I should grow my beard longer.
My guru says I need to cut down on the chilli powder.
My guru says he abstains from coitus and alcohol.
My guru says that on the 26th of this month I will meet my soulmate.
My guru says my soulmate will be cream and coffee.
My guru says my soulmate and I will be together for eternity.
My guru has a sweet beard.
My guru says he is a holy man.
My guru told me the name of my ex-girlfriend.
My guru knew my life's goals and current mental/emotional state.
My guru knew my favorite color (green in case you were wondering.)
My guru knew about the current events in my life.
My guru was funny.
My guru was overly curious about my bathing habits (really).
My guru hangs out at the Siam Interchange Skytrain station in Bangkok.
My guru approaches people like me for a living.
My guru has 200 baht of my money.
My guru made me smile.
My guru may not actually be a guru, but he was interesting to talk to anyway.
I'm glad I met my guru.

Love,
Colin

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Located on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, the Bangkok Marriott Resort & Spa is the only true resort on the River of Kings. www.marriott.com/property/photoTour/BKKTH

Journal by Nancy Olson, Photo by Marriott

I would like briefly to explain the incredible mental and physical health benefits a simple workout can bring.

We are staying at the Marriott Riverside, thanks to a very generous donation (four free double rooms for five nights) from the hotel. Everybody calls the place Marriott Riverside, or Malliott Liverside, if you are speaking to a Thai taxi driver, but its official name is the Bangkok Marriott Resort and Spa. That adds a whole new umph, I think. Resort and Spa. Ahhhhh…

Well, the hotel is gorgeous. It is five-stars-worth of gorgeous. When we arrived, a bellboy whisked our bags away and tagged them so they could be brought to our rooms, while a hostess greeted us and seated us on a couch so we could fill out a short guest form. (Note: Not a short-guest form, because we are not short, and that would be rude, anyway, but rather a form that’s not long which guests fill out. This illustrates the importance of a strategically placed, double-modifier hyphen.)

After checking in, Todd and I went upstairs to find our new room. It is big and clean, beautifully furnished, with wooden floors and an amazing view of the river. Most importantly, it has a television that has National Geographic, Discovery Channel, a new adventure network called A1, and, most importantly, Fox News. I love Fox News, and I found myself fixated by all the reports about the Iraqi handover and Saddam’s custody turnover and trial. I just love the reporting on Fox, and I felt soothed and refreshed by it. Of course, I am the only right-winger on the team, and being that my Peace Corps roommate cannot stand to listen to the “sword shakers” on Fox News, I can only watch it when Todd is not in the room. Haha. (We don’t talk politics on this team, so we get along just fine.)

Not one minute after we’d arrived in our room, a man came by to see if we liked it alright and if we needed anything. Then another man came by right behind him to see if we’d like our beds turned down. He left us cookies, so we’ll invite him to turn down our beds every night. A minute later, our bags arrived. So, this is five-star service, eh? Not bad.

So, we settled in to enjoy our five days at the Resort and Spa, and I went to check out the gym and the pool. And this brings me to my point. Finally. While staying here at the Marriott, we have access to a gym, and that gym has treadmills, weight machines, and television. Every day, I go for an intense 30-minute run, lift a few weights, stretch, and head outside to the pool. At the pool, I soak in a few cancer beams, swim some laps, sit on a pool lounge to scan the area for beautiful people, and then sit in the hot tub to soothe my wonderfully achy muscles. Later, I often have time to get in another run and/or swim in the evening.

All of this working out and pool gazing has put a smile on my face and a spring in my step, and I feel like a new woman. A workout a day makes Nancy a pleasant girl. So, thanks, Marriott. I love your gym, your pool, and your comfortable rooms. May I continue to borrow your treadmill after we check out of our free rooms tomorrow? Please?

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.