7 days

  Salt Lake City, Utah
Sunday, February 25, 2007

Well, its here! The 7 day count down has begun! We've been collecting supplies, getting shots and reading travel books for long enough. Its time for us to actually hit the road. We've come up with a basic itinerary for our trip that we're hoping to follow. We dont have a lot of time, so if we do stick with our plans we'll be running like hell from city to city, but we'll see everything we want to see. We put together a version without all the boring train info and stuff, so check it out.

Rock Asia

5-Mar Depart Salt Lake City United Flight 1177 at 8:55 am

6-Mar Singapore Arrive 6-Mar
· Visit Little India, Changi Prison Museum and Chapel, Clay talks Jeff into G-Max Bungee Jumping with him
· train to Jerantut, Malaysia
· supplies for Taman Negara Rainforest
· taxi to Kuala Tembeling
· jetty and catch boat to Kuala Tahan

10-Mar Taman Negara, Malaysia
Mass of primary jungle over 130 million years old sprawling 4343 sq km.
· rainforest trekking, cross canopy walkways
· deep jungle trek with guide to Gunang Tahan
· train to Kota Bharu
· bus to Jerteh
· bus/taxi to Kuala Besut
· boat to Perhentian Islands

16-Mar Pualau Perhentian Islands
Undeveloped, car free, no phone lines limited electricity, white-sand beaches and the jungle
· snorkeling and light scuba on the reef
· sit on our butts and soak up the sun
· train to Surat Thani
· ferry to Ko Tao

19-Mar Ko Tao, Thailand
Diving and snorkeling mecca, abundant in coral and diverse marine life
· snorkeling and swimming
· spa massages
· ferry to Chumphon
· train to Bangkok

21-Mar Bangkok, Thailand
One night in Bangkok. Really, we've heard there really isn't much to see there.
· Bangkok Palace
· train to Aranya Prathet
· cross Cambodia border to Poipet
· bus to Siem Reap

22-Mar Angkor Wat, Cambodia
Hundreds of temple ruins, built between the 9th and 13th century. The largest, Angkor Wat, would make its European castle counterparts blush. One of the most inspired and spectacular monuments ever conceived by the human mind. The temples are now open for exploring.
· rent motorcycle to get around temple sites
· play Indiana Jones for the three days
· cross Thailand border
· train from Aranya Prather to Bangkok
· train to Chiang Mai
· swangthaew into town

30-Mar Chaing Mai, Thailand
· AIDS treatment center/volunteer
· elephant trek to hill villages
· Clay takes a Thai cooking class at Baan Thai · Jeff studies at the Wat Suan Dok with the monks
· cross border into Huay Xai, Laos

3-Apr Bokeo, Laos
After the 5 hour walk into the reserve, we'll climb into a treehouse and won't touch the ground for three days. There is a network of ziplines all around the jungle to get around. We'll be helping to stop poachers in the area (with the money) and aiding in the rehabilitation of Gibbon monkeys.
· Gibbon Monkey conservation and tree stay in Bokeo Nature Reserve
· cross into China
· arrive Mohan at border
· bus to Mengla
· bus to Jinghon
· bus to Kunming, China

7-Apr Kunming
· See Tang Dynasty Pagodas and Nancheng Mosque
· train to Guilin
· bus to Yangshuo

10-Apr Yangshuo, China
Clay's absolute, favorite place in China. A sleepy, but hip village, surrounded by Dr. Seuss like mountains. However, this time will be better because I wont almost get eaten by an alligator (lets hope).
· white water rafting
· bike through rice paties
· volunteer at the Yangshuo English school
· train to Wuhan

16-Apr Yellow Mountains, China
1200 years as a destination for poets and artists, we'll spend two days hiking to the summit and look down on the clouds from Purple Cloud Peak.
· hike to the summit, spend the night, watch the sunrise
· hike down western slope
· head to Hefei

21-Apr Long Shan
Clay's "home town" in China. The village where he lived two years ago.
· see the peeps

23-Apr Putuoshan
The China you see in postcards and in coffee-table books. Temples, pagodas, arched bridges, narrrow alleys, fishing boats, artisans and monks.
· explore Buddha carvings
· See shrines to Guanyin
· head to Shanghai

24-Apr Shanghai
· Pearl Market
· Black Market
· head to Beijing

29-Apr Beijing
· Tiananmen Square
· See Chairman Mao's wrinkled, raisin body
· Great Wall
· Forbidden City

I feel like there should be some enlightening and profound message included in this first entry. That there ought to be some expressive prose about the beauty and wonder of this planet. But I guess thats why we're taking this trip in the first place.

Instead I'm going to include the message that I want inscribed on my tombstone. I hope thats not bad luck.

"May the sky remain forever blue for you, my young friend; and even as the hour which is now approaching for me, when the woods are dark already, when night is falling fast, you will console yourself as I do by looking up at the sky."
--Marcel Proust

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Clay