I was in Acapulco for a few days already, and I was getting itchy. I just broke up with my new, Mexican girlfriend, and I had nothing to do.

I met the girl in Oaxaca, Mexico and we traveled together to Acapulco. She treated me really nice while we were on the road, going from one small town to another. But once in Acapulco, she turned cold on me because I interacted with other Americans. One day I wanted to order pizza to eat. She really got upset and went ballistic on me. She screamed out she wants to eat Mexican food not Greengo food and went to slap me. I caught her hand and slapped her. That was a bad move.

She called the police on me and I got arrested. They brought me, together with her to a local police station. They put me in a small cell with other guys. Luckily I spoke some Spanish, so I was able to converse with them. They were telling me, I would be locked up for years for hitting a woman. I knew they were just trying to extort money from me. I said she is my girlfriend and we just had a fight. They tried to play hard nose, but I did not cave in. Eventually they said give them dinero – money. I said I do not have any. They relented, “Just give us money to put your girlfriend on a bus back home to Oaxaca.” I agreed. I gave them 20 usd and they let me out of the cell.

I was happy to get away clean from the cops. I was a bit of a bad boy then. I use to smuggle American goods over the border from San Diego to Mazatlan. I also traded currency, buying dollars from tourists and selling pesos to Mexican gold shops. I figured I would try trading money in Acapulco as well. There were many tourists hanging around the beech. I first tried in hotel lobbies. I approached the tourists and asked them if they wanted to change their dollars into pesos. They thought I wanted to buy pesos and sent me to an exchange house. I tried telling them, I will give them better rate than an exchange house, but it was a hard sell. After a few attempts hotel security guards came by and asked me to leave.

Changing money for tourists worked fine in Mazatlan, but it was a bit more difficult in Acapulco. In Mazatlan there were not many exchange houses, and security was a bit lax, so I had no problem approaching the tourists. I was honest, and offered better rates than exchange house, but it was hard to get people to trust you with their money. Thrown out of a few hotels I went to hustle the beach. There were not many tourists laying around on the beach, and the ones who were there, were not interested in changing money.

Still, I did not give up and continued to walk the beach. I was a bit tired from walking under the hot sun, and there was a really good-looking Senorita hanging out. I decided to take a break and say hello to her. I just said, “Acapulco is really nice!” She agreed and our conversation started. She told me her name is Maria and she was staying with her aunt up on the hill. We talked about funny things and got to know each other. I proposed to rent a car and drive around. She agreed. We got off the beach and rented a car.

We rented a Volkswagen convertible. My new friend Maria had long red hair, and as we drove the hair danced in the wind. We went up the cliffs and visited a villa for lunch. The villa grounds where sparsely laid out, and the house were white. We went to the pool restaurant to have lunch. The pool overlooked the bay, and waves were rolling and rippling onto the surrounding rocks. It was a magnificent look of the water.

We set down on the soft cabana chairs and ordered a dozen of huge oysters and a bottle of Champagne. I wanted to impress the girl. The oysters were delicious. They slid down your throat. It felt better than sex. The waiter came around and asked us for our room number. We were not staying there, but I figured why not try to be smart. I said my room is 405 and signed it as Frank. The waiter went away but I felt he was watching us. I said to Maria, let’s go. She quickly got up and followed me. We quickly got into the car and drove pass the security gate. We were out of the place and laughing like two children. She knew I skipped the bill, but she did not care. She kind of, like me, enjoyed the frill and excitement. We got away clean.

Our next stop was the Acapulco cliff divers. We pulled up to the rocks and got out of the car. There was a slim tan good-looking guy ready to jump off 100 feet cliff into the churning green waters bellow. One, Two Three, he ran back a few meters and catapulted forward into the abyss with his hands extended forward. It was a beautiful somersault and he disappeared into the waters bellow. Oh, what a spectacle. I would not even dream of trying something like that. It is so easy to hit the rocks bellow and crash to your death.

Back in the car, we drove down the cliffs road to the beach. At the beach, we saw a small island not too far away. We tried to hire a fisherman with a wooden boat to take us to the island for a few hours. He would need to wait for us and bring us back. He would not agree to wait for us. We gave up. I do not know why, maybe it was the oysters but I was horny as hell. I took Maria behind the rocks, on the side of the beach. We started kissing like crazy. We were both wearing shorts, and I found it no problem penetrating her. We went down on the sand and made passionate love. At on point a few Mexican Federales came around and started watching us. They were giggling and pointing fingers at us. I did not pay attention to the Mexican police and kept making love to Maria.

After we finished making love I drove Maria to el Bario. She hung out with me for a while but would not invite me to her aunt’s house. I guess the Mexicans are ashamed if they have a relationship with an American or another westerner. I said goodbye to her and returned the car back to the car rental shop. With nothing to do I strolled around the beach. I helped the local fisherman pull in a net of fish. It was really hard work. A boat went out and dropped the net into deep, and people on the beach had to pull it in. The life of a Marinero!

After a few days lingering on the beach, I decided to try the money exchange thing one more time. I got an idea, why not got to the airport and see if I can buy Mexican Pesos from tourists leaving Mexico. I took a bus to the airport and went over into the gate area. There were no exchange houses there, and I had no problems buying Mexican Pesos from the departing tourists. I had a big wad of Dollars in my hands and was buying lots of money at a good exchange rate. Shit, all of a sudden a few policemen came to me. They grabbed my money from me and dragged me to a room.

They kept screaming at me, and saying where did I get the money and why am I at the airport. All together I had a few thousand dollars on me. I told them that I needed Mexican money and was buying it from the leaving tourists. I said, I did not know that I could not do it. Right away I requested to call my Israeli Embassy. They would not let me make a phone call but kept intimidating me. They said I must go with them to a central police station. They put me in the car and drove around the airport a few times. Then they stopped and said get out. I cried, “Give me my money or let me call my embassy!” After a few minutes of negotiation they gave me back my money. They asked me for a few dollars for cerveza – beer. I said no and left the car.

Hustling in Acapulco was adventures and fun. I put my ass on the line and got away with a lot of shit. Looking back at it, my nerves begin to shake. It was dangerous and dumb!

When we were in our twenties, my wife and I went traveling to San Cristobal de las Casas in Mexico. We went trekking in the Jungle around Lagos Esmeraldas, not far from San Cristobal de las Casas. I being hot headed and adventures decided to fling it with a tent and a small bag of provisions of fruit, cheese, rice, and bread. I figured there would be some small villages there where we could easily buy some food. Was I wrong!

We got on the local bus and took it out of town, got off in the middle of nowhere, and crossed into the field. The field was a vast expense of grass, which slowly turned into a hill. We climbed up the hill, sweating profusely, panting like wounded animals.The sun was right above us, and it was very hot. It was about 2 pm in the afternoon. About 5 pm we got down the hill. We arrived at a side of a small lake.

We set up our tent and lied down on the ground to relax. All of a sudden I noticed a small boat approach us. There was a boy about 16 years old in the boat. I said hello to him and found out that he was fishing around the lake. Being that we did not have much food, I asked him if he had some fish to sell us. He gladly pulled out a few trout, for which I gave him a few dollars. We light a fire and barbequed the trout on skewered sticks. They were delicious. We ate and went to sleep.

The next morning we got up to some noise outside. I looked out of the tent and saw a bunch of guys sitting in their boats. They were waiting to talk with us. I asked what is up. They replied, asking us if we saw a young boy fishing on the lake last night. I told them, we bought some fish from the boy and then he left. Not really satisfied with the answer, they slowly maneuvered out of the shallow area looking between the reads.

We wanted to leave, but I knew something was wrong, so it was better to stick around for a while. They came back in the afternoon and told me the boy had drowned. They found his body in the mud. At first the local Indians were suspicious, thinking that we murdered the boy. But I explained we only bought fish from him. Finally they put their minds to rest and believed me that I only bought fish from the boy. The boy must have continued fishing after he sold us the fish and his boat capsized in the dark. I felt really bad, I felt we were to blame for the accident, because we bought fish from the boy.

We slowly packed our stuff and said goodbye to bereaving people. We climbed up a hill and kept walking away from the accident. We were really scared that the Indians might kill us. As I was climbing up the hill, my heart was pumping really hard. My wife asked me to slowdown, but I said to her, “Kayo we must move!” Frantically moving up the hill via a small footpath, after a few hours, we felt that everything was okay.

We got to the top of the hill, and the footpath became flat. There was some open dirt road, but it was getting dark. We walked for a while on a flat road, and within 30 minutes or so, we came upon a small aluminum shack. I asked the owner to sell me some food and if I can sleep on his grounds. He gave us some beef jerky and told us to sleep inside because it was really cold and windy at night. I gave him a few dollars for his hospitality. There was some hay in the corner that we lied down on. They gave us some horse blankets to cover ourselves.

In the morning we got up fresh and rested. I asked which way is it to Lagos Esmeraldas. They told me that I would need to go down the Mayan trail to Tiera Blanka village. We thanked our hosts and said goodbyes. We walked a bit down the dirt road and the road turned into a path trail that passed through the woods. I found a huge white mushroom and some berries. We saw some local girls picking the barriers, so I figured they were safe to eat. The mushroom I held onto, but the berries we ate while walking down the trail. We came down the hill into a small village.

In the village we came to a small house. I asked the lady if she could sell us some food. She said she has pork and she can fry it for us. I asked her to fry my mushroom also. Pork and sliced mushroom were delicious. After eating our lunch we were back on a small path trail. The dirt path trail turned to cobblestone trail. It was like a ravine filled with huge slabs of stones for the floor. The sides of the ravine had moss, fungus, and other green growing on it. It was very misty, but pleasant to walk. This trail must have been a thousand years old.

After walking the Mayan Trail for about four hours we made it out into the open. We saw little girls walking out from the fields. They were smiling and laughing at us. It was all very innocent. I do not think they have seen westerners before. We walked into the village and were greeted by a few men. They showed us an area to sit down. There was a huge wooden organ with steal pipes protruding out of it. A young boy was playing the organ. We set down and relaxed.

We said we were hungry and wanted to buy some food. They said that we must wait till the evening and that we can join them for dinner. It was around four o’clock. We set down on the wooden chairs and relaxed. The boy was playing the organ, and the music was soothing. It turned dark and they started bringing out the food. They came to ask for money. I was ready to pay for the food, but they said just pay for soda drinks. There was not much food, but it was enough. There were corn tortillas, corn on the cob, and fried chicken. The native Indians put on some sort of performance. It was a church inspired gospel music and dance. These were Christian Indians, and they shared their hospitality with us.

We slept in our tent that we set up in their straw shack. The next morning we were back on the Mayan trail. The trail turned into a path. At one point we had to cross a shallow river. Just before we came to the river I saw a huge python snake. It was about 3 meters long and as fat as my bicep, maybe 15 centimeters in diameter. The snake just quietly weaved across the dirt road. The python was light green, with beige and brown spots. It was scary and beautiful at the same time. The snake crossed the road and went into the river. After the snake crossed, we waded into the river and slowly crossed while keeping an eye on the snake. Our hearts were thumbing from fear.

After crossing the small river, we walked for a couple of hours down the jungle path. The air was warm and moldy. We finally arrived at the first lake of Lagos Esmeraldas. The lake was beautiful. It was not really big but the color of the water was emerald green. I came over to swim in it, but there was no beach, just all of the sudden the water got deep. I could not see the bottom of the lake. I took off my clothes and jumped into the lake. It was freezing cold. After a few minutes in the water I climbed out back on shore. My wife decided not to swim. She was scared that she could not reach the bottom.

After the swim, I was really hungry. We had nothing left to eat except a bag of rice that needed to be cooked. We also brought a pot with us, but we forgot the lid. My wife put the rice inside the pot and I light a fire. I tried to make a lid for the pot out of aluminum foil, but it did not work. The rice was so bad, that we could not eat it. For some reason we were very horny, and we just made passionate love to each other. After making love and smoking a cigarette, I said to my wife, “Kayo, lets go back home. I am hungry!” She agreed.

We walked for about 30 minutes on a dirt road, and we were on paved road. After one hour walking the paved road we hitched a ride off some Mexicans who came to see the lakes and were going back to town. We took the jungle trek to get to the lakes, but there was a convenient way to come in by taxi.

I lost my Twitter account @igorthetroll because of Robert Scoble’s @Scobleizer Flame Game!

I stood up to defend Shel Israel @Shelisrael against Loren Feldman @1938media. He did not ask for it, but as a Jew, I could not just stand there and do nothing, especially that Loren Feldman is another Jew! SAD Loren Feldman bought my domain name and abused my dead mother.
I filed an ICANN complaint Loren Feldman terrorizing my dead mother on Twitter

Robert Scoble knew about this and he Flamed me against Loren.
VERY BAD

@1938media and his Social Media friends Brian Connolly aka @amandachapel and team have been attacking me for about 6 months now. They created fake account to make fun of my Dead mother Ninel. One account was @trolldick that abused me and my mother for one week, before Twitter suspendedit yesterday. There is @igorthetool http://twitter.com/igorthetool It uses my piture, and Twitter did not suspend it. This is very bad. There is nother account @igorthetroII THe capital I not L
http://twitter.com/igorthetroII

I been under attack every day from this people while supporting Israel

Now that I complained to Twitter the fake accounts are being suspended!

Why are they being suspended now? Does Twitter want to hide their criminal activities? If Twitter knows I was Cyberbullied, why do they not restore my account?

My Twitter account got suspended because of my support for Israel

My last Tweet was to @Scobleizer telling him that he is Hamas supporter. That was when I lost my Twitter account.

Twitter condones pro Hamas Twitter account like
http://twitter.com/AJGaza

VaBeachKevin had his Twitter account suspended one day before the US presidential elictions, because of his support for Senator McCain for President.

I requested Twitter to reistate my account but have not heard from them. Ticket #4373 the assigned person is Crystal.

I have over 500 followers on Twitter, and some of my followers requested Twitter to reinstate my account. But nothing happened.

I filled a Getsatisfaction complaint Twitter still not responded to me officially.

Twitter can you please reinstate my account?

Noah David Simon and I have been fighting Hamas supporters on Seesmic since the Israeli Hamas war. I posted a very viral video to show people the Evil of Hamas. Scoble played a Flame game with me and Loren Feldman from 1938media to descredit us and Israel. After I outed Scoble my Twitter account was suspended and Loren’s account was hacked. He started following all his 5,000 followers, before he only followed 40 followers. Loren Feldman, Noah and I are Jewish. US goverment needs to investigate Robert Scoble.

Robert Scoble Flaming Loren Feldman from 1938media

Rober Scoble Justifies Block of Loren Feldman from 1938media

Robert Scoble Flaming Igor Berger aka Igor The Troll

Igor The Troll Twitter account Suspended

Hamas is Evil - Seesmic Parody video

The Hamas is Evil video was Censored on Seesmic, but it is now on Metacafe!

Robert Scoble likes being The Social Media Whore

1) “Israel’s response in Gaza is disproportionate”

Since when is war a mathematical equation? The basic objective of any warring party is to inflict maximal damage on the enemy while minimizing its own casualties. Was there anything proportional about the US war in Iraq? Or about Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait for that matter? Or about Russia’s recent war against Georgia? Israel is doing exactly what any other country has done in the past. This is how war works.

Would a British citizen complain that “too few” British soldiers are being killed in Iraq? Probably not.

And on a more elementary note: Palestinian military inferiority is not an indication of moral superiority. Palestinian insistence on resorting to violence despite this military weakness is an indication of poor judgment perhaps – yet it is by no means an indication of moral virtue. Being militarily weak does not make the Palestinians right.

2) “But Qassams don’t kill”

Actually, Qassams do kill. Not too often, perhaps, but dozens of Israelis were killed and wounded by rocket fire in recent years. Moreover, at this time the Palestinians are firing long-range Grad rockets with even greater explosive power. Such rockets killed 2 Israelis Monday.

Yet beyond the casualty figures, the psychological damage caused as result of living under an ongoing rocket threat is immeasurable. Would anyone in the West agree to have their family live under constant rocket attacks and be regularly woken up by sirens in the middle of the night? Would anyone living under such conditions appreciate being told that “these rockets don’t kill?” Probably not.

3) “It’s all because of Israel’s siege. Israel should allow aid into Gaza.”

Israel has allowed goods into Gaza regularly throughout the “siege”. Palestinians have been able to complement these deliveries with supplies smuggled through hundreds of tunnels (of course, they would likely be able to bring in even more food had they not used the tunnels to smuggle in missiles.).

The day before operation “Cast Lead” got underway, Israel allowed dozens of trucks carrying aid to enter the Strip. On Tuesday, another 100 trucks – double the normal number –are expected to enter Gaza after Defense Minister Barak approved the move.

In short, Israel is allowing aid into the Strip (but guess who has kept Gaza crossings mostly closed thus far? That’s right, Egypt.)

4) “Why didn’t Israel just agree to renew the Gaza truce?”

First, what truce? Terror groups continued to fire rockets throughout the lull, even if somewhat infrequently, and even if the world didn’t seem to care too much. Nonetheless, Israel clearly declared that it is interested in extending the truce. Our top officials made it clear time and again.

Yet Hamas leaders clearly declared that the truce has ended on December 19th, and proceeded to bombard southern Israeli communities with dozens of rockets daily. In short, it is no wonder that even the Egyptians are blaming Hamas this time.

5) “But Hamas was elected democratically – why can’t Israel accept it?”

Although Hamas won the Palestinian elections, it took Gaza by force, in the process hurling rival Fatah members down to their death from high-rises and shooting others in the knees with the declared aim of maiming them. Some democracy.

In any case, Israel in fact “recognizes,” de facto, Hamas’ rule in Gaza, which is precisely why it is justified in attacking the Hamas-ruled Strip, recognizing that it is indeed being governed by a terror entity. Israel did not launch the operation because Hamas is in power there – rather, it did so because Hamas is a terrorist organization that has deliberately targeted civilians with thousands of rockets over the past 8 years.

6) “Israel is targeting civilians”

You mean to say that “one of the most powerful armies in the world” has been bombing Gaza for days, deploying massive air power, dropping hundreds of bombs, and ultimately killing a grand total of 50 civilians or so in the “most crowded place on earth?”

There are two options here: A) The Israeli army is not targeting civilians, or B) Israeli pilots suck. We tend to go with option A.

Indeed, Israel goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties, by deploying precise ammunition and specialized techniques. In fact, nobody in the world does this better than the Jewish State.

War Israel Gaza

YnetNews Yigal Walt

Does Hamas want peace or war? Israel makes peace with countries that want peace, like it did with Egypt and Jordan. Israel makes war with countries that want war! Israelis and Palestinians want peace, but Hamas wants war!

I rented the motorbike in Phnom Penh and planned to ride to Sihanoukville via Kampong Speu province back roads. Buying a local map at the market I set out to challenge the dirt roads of Cambodia. I laid out my trajectory, filled the motorbike with gas, picked up some bottled water, and set out for an adventure.

At first the roads where not too bad it was gravel and dry dirt, which I navigated with no problems. But the dirt was blowing in my face, so I picked up some Terminator sunglasses at a local store. The reason I refer to them as Terminator sunglasses because they were huge, sort of like the ones Arnold Schwarzenegger wore in the movie Terminator. They prevented the dirt from coming into my eyes, but at the same time made the desolated dirt roads look surreal, because of lack of light.

I tried to keep my speed around 60 kilometers at times going 80, when the surface was smooth. There were a few isolated houses between one small village and another. I kept the momentum going because I did not know how long it will take me to get to a major town, and did not want to get stuck in some isolated village. A village may not have a hotel. So, where would I sleep? At some points I had to cross small rives and streams. The best way to do it was to pick up speed so you do not get caught in the muddy bottom and slip.

After 5 or 6 hours on the back roads I came to a small village where I tried to ask directions. My reason for asking directions was that the road seemed to end all of a sudden. It became like a small walking path. I stopped by one house and asked a local man if I can go forward. I pointed to the direction that I wanted to go. He waved his hands signifying I cannot ride that way. He pointed in the direction that I just came from and in his limited English advised me to turn back. I was very tired, and it was turning late. I asked him if I could sleep at his wooden shack house. He vehemently objected. I was too exhausted and just plummeted to the ground next to my motorbike. I put my head on the grass and laid down quietly

After a few minutes on the ground a bunch of kids gathered around me. They were saying hello to me, trying to practice their English. I was a bit tired to talk but squeezed out a few friendly words. The kids were wearing school uniforms and looked really cute. In no time, the lady of the house came out of the wooden structure and started waving me to go away. I really did not have power to drive and took out a few dollars from my wallet showing that I am willing to pay for a bed. After a bit of comprehension and discussion with her husband, she invited me into her wooden shack. I was relived.

I moved my motorbike onto the property and walked into the wooden structure. I was surprised that there was no furniture and only a couple of hammocks. I set down on the floor and begin to communicate with my new friends. I learned that they are Khmer Rouge people. You know the ones that caused a revolution in Cambodia with Pol Pot. They did not speak any English and we were talking with our hands. I made a sign to my mouth and then to my stomach saying food. They brought out some dry fish and beef jerky. It was very little but I was grateful to get something to eat. There was one guy there with half a leg blown off by a land mind. He brought some rice wine. I drank some and felt like I was drinking diesel fuel. The stuff was crazy strong.

After my one legged friend had a few drinks of the homemade whisky, he started pointing to my bike and to the directions I wanted to go. He signified that there is a huge hill there with no road and all grass slope, but he can ride it. I knew it was the whiskey talking not the man, even though he did know a few English words. After talking for a few hours the family turned off the lights to get ready for sleep. They gave me a bamboo met to lie on.

In the morning I got up and decided to challenge the big hill. I gave a few dollars to my hosts, got my motorbike back onto the small path, and I was gone. The road was really a walking path, so I had to weave and zigzag in and out from one side to another trying to avoid rain puddles. Bang, the bike hit a puddle and I started sinking in the mud. I tried to maneuver it out. I tried to press the accelerator, but I felt the bike was stalling. I tried switching gears from second to first, but it was too late. The bike stalled. I came plummeting into the mud on my side.

I worked hard to pick up the bike, because the engine and the manifold were kind of hot and the bike was heavy. After managing it to upright position I restarted the beast. I got on top of it, gave it gas, but the wheels just kept spinning. I put some leaves and wood sticks under the back tire; but when I tried to go forward the debris was just kicked out and I was back sinking in the mud. After a few attempts I was loosing strength. The bike fell back on its side. I tried to pick it up and start it again. The starter made some clicking noise, but the engine would not start. I tried pushing the bike, but it was too heavy and had no traction. The bike slipped and fell into the mud again. I knew the battery was dead, frustrated I gave up.

I decided it would be best to walk back to the tiny village and get help. I left the bike behind and ventured back on foot to the village. After a few kilometers, I found an Ox carriage carrying timber to give me a ride back to the village. In the village, I found a guy with a motorbike. He spoke some English. I bagged him to come with me to my motorbike and help me start it up. After a bit of imploring I convinced him to help me. He borrowed a car battery that they used for electricity for lamps, and he and his friend took me on their motorbikes back to my bike. I set with one of them, while the other carried the big battery.

When we arrived at my bike, it was still there. I picked up the bike and pressed the start button. It worked, and the engine started. Apparently the starter contacts where wet, and after drying up for a few hours, the starter worked with no problems. I tried to move the bike out of the mud but failed again. That is when one of the local guys got on my bike. The other guy and me pushed the bike from behind, while he maneuvered the bike out of the mud. I was very grateful for their help. They asked me for a few dollars for gas, which I gladly gave them. I thanked them. I decided not to attempt crossing the big hill through mud and grass and turned back to where I came from.

I rode my motorbike back to a big village, got some gasoline, and had lunch there. I did not want to go back all the way to the highway, so still looked for a way to head south on the dirt roads. I asked the local people at the restaurant if I could go straight down from where I was to Kampong Speu city. They said yes. I got back on my bike and drove to something that looked like a bridge. The bridge was bombed out and only had the beginning parts protruding into the river. I saw some locals on the other side. I screamed out to them if I can cross through the river. They motioned to go ahead. I rode down from the levy to the river beach and accelerated into the water.

The surface was sand, so I head traction. But I knew if I would slow down I would be swept by the current and would fall. As I was crossing the river, the water got really deep. At one point the water got up to my chest, but I kept going. The locals on the other side were standing there looking at me with amazement. I think they knew that it is very deep and did not think I would attempt to cross. For them it was more of a challenge to the dumb tourist. With a little luck I passed the deep section of the river and started coming closer to shore. All the locals started to applaud me as if I was some sort of a hero. I made it to dry land!

I drove all the way through the night. It was a bit scary with only headlamps gleaming the dirt road. Had a few raccoons cross my path at times. In the morning I came onto a paved road, had breakfast, and headed toward Sihanoukville. On the highway I realized my gas tank was leaking. It had a small crack and gas was sipping out at the rim, where the cap is. Worried about having a spark ignite the fuel, I applied a temporary solution. I bought some adhesive glue and patched it up. It did not last too long. Every 20 or so kilometers I had to redo the treatment.

In Sihanoukville, I took a bit of a break. I got my gas tank welded and replaced the back breaks. I ate good food and took a walk on the beach. I only stayed there one night and headed out to Kampot. I was told there is an abandoned casino at Bokor Hill Station, on the way to Kampot. I decided to visit it. It was located in the national park. I had to pay 30 usd entrance fee, but I was too cheap. As I was driving to the entrance gate, I picked up speed and winged it. No problem, the gatekeeper did not bother going after me.

I drove up the 3,000 meters mountain to the top. At first the road was asphalt, but it quickly turned it to gravel and small boulders with mud. Towards the end it started to rain. The raindrops were a bit painful beating my skin. I arrived at the top of the mountain. The place was desolate and engulfed in fog. There was a few abandoned buildings:. An old radio station still had its antenna protruding into the air, looking ominous. There was an empty skeleton building that used to be a casino. I walked into it to dry myself a bit. Inside I found a guard who advised me that there is a guest house where I could sleep. It was getting late, and I could not see myself riding back down the mountain today.

It felt creepy! The rain kept falling, at times very hard at times light. The wind would raise its ugly head making it almost intolerable. I do not know, I was just going in circles or something. I had to drive for about a half an hour or so until I came onto the guest house. Once inside the guest house, I got out of my wet clothes and put on some damp clothes that I had in my backpack. I set down by a stove and wormed myself up. The place had very little food. The people who stayed there brought their own or reserved food to be prepared. Being that I did not have a reservation, but showed up all of a sudden, I can only buy some instant noodle soup. It was better than nothing; I also scavenged some chicken from the other guests. I was dead, and I went to sleep.

The next day, after getting up I headed off the mountain. There was no food to eat at the guesthouse, but it was a great sunny day. I was energized. I slowly weaved down the path trying to avoid jagged rocks. I was on the asphalt road. I picked up speed. I figured being that I got in without paying, I might as well go fast through the exit. I did not want trouble. I was going very fast, I pressed the front break to slowdown. I hit the ground. Ouch, it hurt badly. The front wheel got locked, because I applied the front brake when I was going down hill. I only tapped it a bit, but because I was using it a lot on the way down, it overheated and locked.

My shoulder was dislocated and the bike was damaged. The front fender was crooked and the mirror was broken. Persevered I got up. I was full of resilience. A park ranger saw me fall and came to check if I was alright. I told him, I am fine as, I got on the bike and slowly limped away from the accident scene. My shoulder was in excruciating pain, but I knew I had to keep going. I rode the motorbike past the park’s gate. I was free.

In pain, I slowly drove to the nearest town. I checked into a small hotel. It felt a bit better. I took the bike to the repair shop and for about 20 usd got it fixed really well. They fixed the fender, replaced the mirror, and put new front brakes. I felt relieved. I decided to slow down for the rest of the journey. I visited Kampot beaches and ate delicious barbequed seafood on one of the beaches. The trip was coming to the end, and it was time to return back to Phnom Penh. The next day I drove about 200 kilometers back to the capital.

Off road motorbiking in Cambodia was one of the best adventures I have ever had. I was wild. I was free. I was innocent. I knew I did a bad thing by trying not to pay the park fee, but I did it as an act of civil disobedience. The price that they were charging was very exuberant compared to the Cambodian economic living standards.

Off Road Motorbking

We started out in Pai. It was a small town in the North of Thailand around Chang Mai. We asked a few locals how to get to the trek, but they did not provide us the information. They were keen on selling us a trek program, which was done in a group with a guide. After some perseverance we found one guy who just said, “Get on the bus at the market going towards Pitichai and get off at marker 19 kilometers. Once you on the trek keep walking to Camp Chang – The Elephant Camp!”

Harnessed with the rudimental directions, we got confidence to do the trek. We picked up some basic provisions like cheese and bread at the market, and set out to the trek early in the morning. We got on the bus and get off at marker 19 kilometers, as was recommended. A few minutes late we disappeared into the jungle. Walking the small path we were alone. The path weaved around small hills crossing brooks and streams. At times, we waded through the water or other a bamboo made bridges following the trek.

We must have walked for 3 hours or so before we came across some indigenous people. They were Lisu girls doing their laundry in a small pool of water. I asked, “Camp Chang?” One of the girls just pointed up the trail. We continued to walk. We walked for 2 more hours. Getting anxious that there was no villages around, all of the sudden, we saw a couple on a moped bopping up and down on the trail ahead. That was when we knew we were close to a village.

We continued up the trail and in no time we were upon a small village with maybe 30 houses sprawled out a small valley. We must have walked for 7 hours straight and were too tired to look around. We stopped at the first house. There was a gentleman smiling at the entrance of the house. I motioned to him if we can sleep on his property. I put my two palms together sort of in a praying position and placed them under my head. Then I took my tent bag off my shoulder and pointed to his compound. He understood us, and beckoned us to come on to his ground.

We were really tired but we had to set up our tent. I was very hungry and tried to explain to our host, who spoke no English that we wanted to eat. I brought my fingers to my mouth and then to my stomach. He did not understand me. Then I saw a chicken running around the grounds. I pointed to the chicken and then to my mouth. The old gentleman went into the house and came out with a rifle. He pointed to the chicken and then drew a diagonal line with his finger across his cheek. I smiled and showed him some money. The rifle was a flint type that he loaded up with buckshot. Bang, the chicken was dead!

The lady of the house picked up the chicken and took it in the house to prepare. Half an hour latter we were called into the house to eat. We walked to the table that was set up just for two people, and the fried chicken was laid in front of us. I felt bad to eat the chicken by ourselves and motioned our host family to join us, which they gladly did. The chicken was really delicious, and the old gentleman brought out some rice wine. Wow, that stuff was really strong. It was home made moonshine. We ate our dinner and went to sleep. We were exusted!

The next day we got up early in the morning. In front of us we saw a sprawling field that looked like puppy flowers. I pointed to the field, looking at our host. He waved his hand pointing to another direction. I realized they were growing drugs there and that we should not go there. We thanked our host and paid him 3 usd for the chicken and sleeping on his grounds. He smiled and waved us goodbye.

We walked through the village, passing a few houses while the natives looked at us with curiosity. A few minutes later we were out of the village, back on the trail to Camp Chang. After a few hours on the trail we came upon a Mong village. Mong people wear colorful embroidered clothes with silver coins hanging on them. The village was really rustic and old. A few children were running around naked playing around. It was really primitive. We did not want to bother the serenity of the village, asked for Camp Chang, and continued up the trail.

Four hours latter we crossed a river and were at Camp Chang. There were a bunch of elephants feeding on grass. The people there spoke some English and told us it cost 10 usd a person to ride an elephant. We explained we want to go to the place were you can take a bamboo raft back to Pai. They said no problems. We slept under a bamboo awning, and in the morning we were ready to ride.

I always wanted to ride and elephant, but was a bit scared to get on a 3 to 5 tons beast. We were brought to a raised platform from which I climbed onto the beast. The elephant slumbered slowly down the path wading through the river. In the river other elephants were taking a bath. They seemed to enjoy the frolicking, spraying water on themselves. The ride took 2 hours and was really boring. I had no driver guide, my lady did. The stupid elephants were really slow. I almost fell asleep.

We arrived at the bamboo rafting area, paid the elephant guide, and were met by the bamboo raft guide. He told us it is 10 usd for the raft to go back to Pai. We said ok. We got on a bamboo raft that was made of bamboo trees tied together. The raft was about 6 feet wide and 18 feet long. The river started out calmly but turned violent down the road. There were small waterfalls that we drooped down on. It was really fun and exhilarating. The guide was in front with a bamboo rode guiding the raft. I was in the back stabilizing the raft. My lady was in the middle enjoying the ride. At one point we were moving really fast and jumped a waterfall. I fall off the raft! The guide slowed the raft down, and I climbed back on board.

After 3 hours on the bamboo raft the river current got slow and we were approaching Pai. The guide said he needs to park the raft by the bridge and we can wade on to the shore. As we approached the concrete bridge we hit a pillar gently to dock. All of the sudden the raft bindings snapped and the raft felt apart. Our bags and all our stuff went sinking into the water. The water was not deep, so we were able to quickly recover our stuff and get onto the dry ground. The guide apologized fro the raft breaking down. We paid him and socking wet limped back to the village.

Back it the guesthouse, in our room we took our stuff out of our bags to dry. Our money, traveler checks, our passports were laid out in the middle of the room to dry. I even took a picture of the wet loot. It was really funny to go down the river for 3 hours with no problems, but for the raft to fall apart upon arrival. Life is strange!

Bamboo Rafting

Walking up and down the old steps of the wall was very tiring, but the panoramic view was magnificent. I was panting like a wounded dog, because I smoke two packets a day. Nevertheless, we had a great time, but it was getting dark and we could not find the exit. It got so dark we where barely able to see the cobblestone steps.

There was a small path and we decided to take that to see if it would lead us to the exit. The reason that we decided to take the path was because we saw a house in that direction with some lights. So, we walked down a small path that at times seemed to disappear altogether. I even fell down on my ass as we were descending down a small hill

Clearing the bushes, exhausted we came across a small farm. As we came closer a huge dog jumped at us. Not wanting to show that we were scared we continued towards the house screaming, “Excuse me!” A farmer came out to great us. We did not speak any Chinese, but he spoke a bit of English. We explained to him that we got lost walking the wall and we needed help to find the exit.

He was a kind older gentleman. He offered us water to quench our first, which we gladly accepted. He also asked if we were hungry. I did not want to impose on him, so I kindly declined. He let us rest in a room and said he will take us to the exit. All of the sudden we heard him arguing with his younger mate. A few minutes later his mate comes in asking us for 200 RMB to show us to the exit.

He was standing with that big ugly dog barking very loudly. I really did not want to spoil the Chinese farmers, so I adamantly said we have no money. That is when he went into the house. The older gentleman followed him in, and we were left outside the house by ourselves. I talked to my mate for a while and we agreed to find our way to the wall by ourselves and look for the exit.

It was pitch black, and I was using my mobile phone screen as a flashlight. We were sweating and the air was cold. I started worrying about catching a cold. We weaved through the path back up to the wall barrier. At one point I was pushing through the bush. We clearly got off the path. We made it to the wall but there was no entrance to get in. We turned back on the path but again wined up in the thicket. All of the sudden we saw a light from a distance.

I was feeling scared and started to scream, “Help, help us, we are lost!” As I screamed the light got closer to us. I thought the farmers felt sorry and came to find us. Eventually the light was upon us. I heard a voice, “What are you doing here?” I panted out that we are lost and looking to get off the wall. It was not the farmer but a guesthouse owner. He said he saw our flashlight earlier and came to see if he can help us. He had a guesthouse not far way. We implored him if he could take us to the exit of the wall. First he offered to take us to his guesthouse, but with a little pleading he relented.

Climbing up and down the path he brought us back onto the wall. I was barely able to move but I really wanted to get off the wall. I garnished all my strength and walked up and down the wall stairs for about a half an hour. Finally we came to a sign that said, The Exit. We thanked the guesthouse owner and descended down an asphalt walkway toward the parking lot.

It was never about the 200 RMB, but the principle of paying someone money to have them show you were a path is. Traveling through China on number of times, I have met many Chinese people who were very kind and invited me for dinner or gave me a lift in their car. I just did not want to be The Stupid Tourist paying a bribe for something that is free.

I hope not all Chinese farmers want to get rich and move to the big cities in China! But the Chinese economic growth engine is drawing a delusion of what is wealth, and what people should do to get it. I think as bloggers we might be making the same mistake as the Chinese farmers. Our Websites are not going to become Google and Yahoo of the Internet.

Greedy Chinese Farmers

Terracotta Army

Xi’an Muslim Quarter

Xi’an Modern

I found me a cheap ticket on Air Thai that ran about 40,000 Yen and I took a train to Kansai airport to board the plane. I was kind of worried that I may not have enough funds to spend a week in Thailand. I only had 20,000 Yen and that would have to carry me over for the week. As the plane was landing I was thinking about how I would manage on such a tight budget. I got off the plane and proceeded through immigration. No questions asked I was given a 30 days visa on arrival.

I am in Thailand I said to myself. I was very happy to start my adventure. I was told that the cheapest and the most interesting place to stay in Bangkok was Khao San road. I decided to go there. I went to the taxi stand to get me a taxi and I was told that it would cost me 1,000 Yen to get there. I waited, if I am to enjoy Thailand with the money that I have I must be economical. So I decided to find ways that I can save money! I looked around and found another fellow traveler who was also looking to get to Khao San road. We got into the taxi and drove through a busy road onto our destination. Arriving on Khao San road we found ourselves surrounded by many people. There were older ladies pushing wagons with chicken kabobs, frying noodles with soybeans, a fruit seller cutting up a pineapple, peddlers with baskets full of things. There were many other travelers all around us. Young Thai people walking by were shopping for clothes from the street shops. The street was alive. It was great! But it was getting late and we needed to find a place to stay.

We looked around us and saw many hotels and guesthouses. There were Sweety guesthouse, Sawasde, Buddy, Khao San palace, and Privacy. They all nearly looked the same. Before coming to Thailand, one of my friends recommended Privacy to me. So I said to the guy who I shared the taxi with let’s go check out Privacy. His name was James and he was from England. He as well as I were traveling on a shoestring budget. So he proposed we share a room. I just met him but I sort of felt comfortable staying with him for the night. The room had an air conditioner, a private bathroom, and two beds and it ran us 500 Yen each. We threw our bags into the room and went outside for some food. We bought some noodles with prawns for 100 Yen and a few bottles of Shingha beer then climbed up to the fourth floor to have our supper in our room. After eating, we went to sleep. We were so tired.

Next day we awoke ready to explore Bangkok the capital of Thailand. I had a Lonely Planet guidebook for Thailand. James and I started browsing though it looking for interesting places to visit. We prepared a schedule for the day: first we will go to the Grand Palace - Wat Prakaew to see the Emerald Buddha, latter Wat Arun on the Chapraya river to see the colorful pagodas, finally head down to China town for dinner. We ran down to the street and hailed a Tuk Tuk and instructed the driver to take us to the Palace. It was magnificent with gold covered stupas and magnolia trees in the courtyard. The palace was covered with a teak wooden roof and sand stone carved pillars. As we entered the main building we were surprised to see wall paintings covering all the four walls of the palace walls telling the story of the Siam history, the different kings, the wars they fought, and the gods they worshiped. As we proceeded to the inner room we saw the Emerald Buddha the size of a small child in a glass cabinet. It was great, pure emerald, respected and prayed to by millions of Thai people and foreigners. We lit some incense and said our prayers. After visiting Wat Prakaew we boarded a ferry not far away from the palace and headed over to the Wat Arun pagodas. The ferry’s price was a bargain of 50 Yen. We got off from the boat and climbed the pagodas to get a look of Bangkok city. After site seeing we were very tired and lied down on bamboo mats for an hour or so. We were getting very hungry and it was time to go to China town.

We took a taxi over Chapraya’s river bridge into China town’s main street Yawarat road. There were many shops and restaurants on both sides of the street. We got out of the cab and walked around trying to find an inexpensive place. We found an outdoor seafood restaurant with crates full of tiger prawns, cattle fish, and blue crabs displayed next to each other. A man in a white apron was putting the stuff on charcoal flamed grill with smoke and barbeque smell feeling the air. The seafood was sold by the weight. We did our calculations and figured out it would be in our budget to eat here. We ordered a dozen of prawns, a bunch of crabs, a large cattle fish all barbequed. The waiter brought us a few beers. The food was excellent and it only cost us 400 Yen each. After dinner we turned in for the night feeling tired but very happy with our first day of exploring Bangkok, Thailand.

The next few days we hung out on Khao San road talking with other travelers and gathering information as to where we should go next. Some people recommended that we go north to Changmai and Chingrai to do some jungle trekking, water rafting, and elephant riding. But I was interested in going south to hang out on the beaches. James wanted to do some jungle trekking so we had trouble agreeing and almost parted; but fortunately, another traveler who has been to the south of Thailand recommended a great place for jungle trekking in the south, the place called Kaosok. Finally we were set. We went to the nearest travel agent and booked the trip to Koh Samui, the main island in the south. We paid 600 Yen per person for an overnight bus ride with a ferry from the mainland to the island. We were off.

We checked out off the hotel and boarded the overnight bus south. The bus ride was easy. We stopped for a food break on the way and in the morning we were in Suratani. From Suratani we took an hour ferry ride over a calm blue bay water to the island Koh Samui. On the boat, young boys, invited us to stay at one place or another. After looking over the different brochures that they showed us we decided we will go to Lamai beach; but we will do it by ourselves without having one of the boys take us. After the ferry arrived at Nathon beach we got off it and caught a shared pickup ride, called Songtem to Lamai beach.

At the beach there were many hotels, bungalows, and resorts. We referred to our handy Lonely Planet Guide for advice, and it gave us a few choices. We checked out the bungalow places that it recommended to us. After a few trials we picked a nice place right on the beach called Marina bungalows. The place was a bit run down, but it was right on the beach. It had the basic needs a hut with two beds, a fan, and a bathroom. No luxuries, but right on the beach for 800 Yen a day. We put our bags in the room, changed into our swimming suits, and ran into the water. The water was warm. It was blue green and calm. It felt really good to be in it. Just laying on my back with my eyes closed I was able to forget about every thing. That evening we came out on the main street and walked around looking for a place to eat. There were many fancy restaurants with seafood displayed in a fancy fashion. We knew it was a bit expensive so we declined. We looked around and found a small market in the side alley. There were many small restaurants. We checked out their menus and found the prices were very reasonable. We went into one of them and set at a table. After looking around and seeing what other people were eating, we decided on a few dishes.`When the waiter came other, we just pointed to those dishes. I said I want what that person, that person, and that person was having. We wound up ordering Tom Yom Kung a spicy prawn soup, clams with chilly sauce, and Pad Thai - fat noodles with seafood. The dinner was excellent and it only cost us 200 Yen each. We agreed that we would come here every night to eat. The next few days we laid under the sun, took swims, and just acted lazy. In the evenings we ate dinner at our usual place and visited different bars for a few drinks. The place was a paradise. We even rented a motorcycle and drove around the island visiting quiet deserted beaches.

Only having but a week to spend in Thailand, after three days on the island, we decided to move on. We took the ferry back to Surathani. Arriving there, we went to Kaosok National Park. James wanted to do some hiking and swimming in the waterfalls. I was interested in seeing the Fly Eating Plant. We took a local bus to the park. The bus ride was four hours, and it cost 200 Yen a person. Getting of the bus we were greeted by a group of young people inviting us to stay at their places. Our guidebook did not have much on accommodations at this place so we decided to go with one guy. The place that he took us to was right by the river. There were bungalows all around and a nice restaurant overlooking the river. We said it looks great and decided to stay there. After bringing our bags to our room, we took a break for coffee. The restaurant by the river looked onto the towering cliffs. As we were sitting and drinking our coffee, the sun was coming down and there were playful cheerful monkeys climbing down the cliffs to the river. The next morning we got up early and went to the park. We entered the park, paid our admission fee of 1000 Yen each, and began the track. The track took us around the winding river through the lush jungle. We passed a few water holes where we took a dip. I was not able to see the Fly Eating Plant. Supposable there is a season for it, but we were there at a different time. Still, tracking through the jungle was fun, but time was running out and we had to return to Bangkok.

In Bangkok we checked in to the same hotel. I was to go back to Japan the next day and James was heading north to continue his travels. We said good night to each other and went to sleep. When I got up I realized James was gone. I packed my stuff and was ready to go out for my last day in Bangkok. Luckily I checked my flight ticket for departure time. When I was checking it, I realized my passport is missing. I panicked! What am I to do? My flight was at 10 p.m. and I could not fly without my passport. I relaxed for a minute and called my embassy. They said they could give me a temporary passport today so I can fly to Japan. I picked up my passport and boarded my flight.

On the plane I started thinking where did my passport go? Did I just lose it or James took it? I had trouble believing that after James and I had spent a week traveling together he could have done such a thing. I started going over in my mind, why did I travel with him? I just met the guy and I trusted him so much. But then I said to myself, look what is done is done. I had a great time and I enjoyed traveling in Thailand. I really liked James’ company and if he really took my passport than I cannot do anything. But maybe I just lost it! In my mind I went over all the good things we did together and I felt at ease. I really had a good time in Thailand. I was ready to come back to Thailand the first chance I could get. There are many islands to be explored, lots of food to try, and many nice people to meet. Thailand is the land of the smiles!

Backpacking Thailand