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.