Jum Jum Okalo! UPDATED

Port of departure... New Delhi... Port of arrival.. Kathamndu... Purpose of visit... trekking. The visa registration form said it all, we were in Nepal for one reason.. to get into the mountains and see Mt Everest in all its glory. At that stage we had no idea of the friends we would meet and the challenge that lay ahead.

Waiting in the lobby of the hotel at 5:30 am on the 27th of December we were met by our guide and directed into the back of a minivan to begin our journey into the highest mountain range on earth, the himalayas. Bim.. or Mr Bimbastic as he was later named seemed shy, reserved and conservative at first, moving us to board with great urgency when our flight to Lukla (three hours delayed) finally arrived and not showing much involvement in the banter of the first days trek from Lukla to Phakding. But looking back now I realise that even in those early days... Mr Bimbastic was itching for the spotlight under the facade of Mr Bim.

The hike to Phakding was a very kind intro to the trek, taking us no longer than 2 hours we reached the sleepy little riverside village before lunch where we enjoyed our first dahlbhat... rice, lentil soup and vege curry. We all enjoyed the seemingly limitless supply of vege, soup and rice and settled into an afternoon nap after our early start. At dinner we were told afternoon naps were against the rules as we wouldnt be able to sleep at night... Mr Bim was laying down the law and all three of us were finding it much easier to get along with the two cheerful porters than our guide. The next day was a little different... a couple of hours of similar up and down stuff before a long stretch of fairly steep walking before we arrived at Namche Bazaar at around 1:20pm... The first little challenge of the trek but we took it nice and slow and it was pretty relaxing strolling through the pine trees and over the bridges of the sub alpine Himalaya. The hotel in Namche was one at which we were allowed to eat meat and being slightly traumatized by the incredibly salty and slightly kerosene flavoured dahlbhat at lunch I was already off the traditional mountain dish and into a nice hot sizzling piece of chicken.

The following day was an acclimitization day where we went up a few hundred metres of altitude to a hotel which provided our first clear view of Everest. The amply named Everest View Hotel was charging 5 times the amount of the hotel in Namche for a cup of tea so we saved our lunchtime brew for our return. At 11:30 the day was young and we being in a village at 3500m above sea level with little to do provides itself with a different, less physical challenge... how to pass the time. With an afternoon nap taboo, playing cards, reading or just sitting there pronouncing how many hours and minutes there were until dinner filled that afternoon and the next 10 or so to come.

Now, acclimatized to 3500m we were to climb to the next point of rest.. Phortse. About 1-2 hours into the journey we were a (wo)man down.. Kris had succombe to a chest infection and was unable to continue... A small discussion took place as to whether or not Adam would stay behind to look after her but with her blessing and allegedly a little bit of moisture forming in the corners of the eyelids a three man party consisting of Mr Bim, Mr Money, Adam and myself continued on whilst Mr Harry and Kris went back to the nearest hotel to rest. After 5 or so minutes the big fella was back in a right state of mind, the pace had heated up and the three of us were now an extremely efficient trekking unit with a clear mission at hand.. get to basecamp, kalarpatar and then get back down to Kris ASAP. The hotel in Phortse was brilliantly clean and warm. The owner obviously took pride in the way he went about things as he had been to the top of everest and placed 2nd in the gruelling 42k everest marathon where they travel the distance from Basecamp to a valley near Namche Bazaar (which would later take us two days) in 4 hrs. I was impressed to say the least. That night we heard tales of breathlessness even when drinking tea at over 5000m and a for a moment or two the trek became serious. This mood only lasted until the next passing of wind and ridiculously concise announcement of minutes remaining until dinner when further uproarious laughter would turn the mood around and even Mr Bim was starting to show signs of loosening up.

The following day was a fairly easy but a little bland and we were definitely happy to arrive in Dingboche for our two nights of acclimatization at 4400m. I was 300m higher than when I summited Mt Toubkal, the highest mountain of North Africa and we were in a valley! It was through this thought that I realised what a seriously remarkable place I was in and what seemed like a movie set surrounding us suddenly became real.

That night at Dingboche would be birthing ground for Mr Bimbastic who when one of the other guides around the pot belly asked if Adam and I were a gay couple nearly wet himself, coming close to falling off his chair and onto the pot belly's stove! We would later catch him falling asleep by the fire which all the other guides thought was hilarious and the whole place had turned from near silence when everyone was refueling their exhausted bodies to a plethora of laughs.

... The following day we had to option to rest or to use our acclimatization to to a"climb"atize up a "hill" that provided a further 300/600m of elevation and therefore a decent enough change in air-oxygen concentration to be beneficial to the rest of our trek.

The morning started nice and late as we could see (what we thought was) the top of the "hill" from our lodge and were in no rush. Bim, Mr Money, Adam and I started off nice and slow up what was fairly step terrain. We had earlier elected to go straight up the face of the mountain and therefore there was no track so we were following the lead of Mr Bim. Once we got to the first tibetan flag covered post (about 300m above the lodge) we decided to press on to the top. What looked like a 30 minute maximum add on would prove to be an extra hour++ and the incline would become steadily steeper. But after a little bit of hard stuff we were perched pretty on the top of this "hill" and had fantastic views of surrounding mountains and frozen lakes. Adam was then informed by a man we named "Captain America" that he had burnt around 2000 calories on the climb and I could see he was itching to get down and stuck into a big plate of cheesy macaroni. We had also made it for the first time to just over 5000m which was a great feeling. Having said that, the common preoccupation with altitude and how high you have climbed to the meter etc was at this point in the trek starting to get on my nerves. At the end of the day it is just a number and I have much more respect for those who just get the job done, enjoy the scenary and have a laugh rather than being a massive tool over the fact you climbed to 5382.754m and love the way you look in your bright coloured skin tight trekking pants with black patches on the knees. Anyway... it was a bit of fun on the way down with Adam slipping all over the joint and Money running down with us chasing him. Having never had a little brother I felt a weird natural urge to chase him down and belt him up a little and I now completely understand why older brothers do this... When we reached the lodge it was time for two big bowls of macaroni with tomato and cheese (our staple) and two extra plates of rice with tomato sauce. Brilliant. We slept well that night in relatively warm temperatures compared to what was to come.

The following day was an easy 3.5 hour walk along fairly flat, arid, almost moonlight terrain to the camp of Lobuche. That night at dinner we were confronted with a group of 20 odd possibly intrepid, diamox popping lemmings all wearing the exact same down jackets and beanies. We did have to feel for the poor bastards though as we looked out the window to see their accomodation... I row of yellow tents with two purple tents for toilets. Good luck we thought as we engulfed our egg fried rice and settled in by the fire for another night of laughs, this time peaking when Mr Money taught us some apparently hilarious swear words in Nepali. The events of that night post bedtime were strange and unexplained. Both of us reported very strange, scary dreams that resulted in one of the worst sleeps of our lives. Adam had people standing at the foot of his bed telling him how to sleep..."right hand up there".... "roll over!".... "knees up!"... I on the other hand felt trapped in my sleeping bag and had amounts of rupees in my head that I had to pay for things to eventually get better... "its alright max, hang in there... just another 500 rupees my head would tell me." You could lose yourself up there in the night. No laughing matter.

The next day was planned to be a big one. I fairly easy 3ish hour walk through more moonlike flat stuff to Gorak Shep before lunch and an accent through more of the same to Base Camp which was estimated at 5 hours round trip from GS. To be honest Base camp was not much to look at but we both agreed that you need to get there to complete the trek. Because of this slightly anticlimatic trek up we didnt stay long and hit the track hard on the way back down to be back at GS in a total time of 3 hours. Needless to say we were both absolutely wrecked and had to lie there in the resaturant and sip on milk tea for a good 30minutes before conjuring the strength to get changed. Picture of devastation post basecamp round trip above..

Now, with only one more thing to do before it was "all down him from here" was to get to the top of Mt Kalapatar... The following morning we opted out of the common approach which is to hit the mountain before sunrise and watch the sun rise over everest

.. which Bim told us was far too cold. No arguments from us as we started our climb at around 7:30... It was about halfway up which in typical Himalayan tradition looked like the top from the bottom that I started to feel the thin air.. A bit of pressure around the thoracic cavity seemed to restrict the depth of my breaths. This resulted in my legs saying "where's the oxygen?" and my lungs saying... "ahhh... nope.. none up here.. but they both dealt with it and we were up the top in just under 1.5-2 hours... the best views of the trek were found up there on KP... 360 degrees of mountains, lakes and glaciers. After a good 20 mins ontop, completed with the consumption of an organic bar we were on our way back down and it was "all down hill from there"(nearly)... Starting to get a little sick of Macaroni and beggining to contiually fantasize about returning to the hyatt we decided to cut the 4 day trek down to namche into 2 and get the hell out two days early. This worked well with nice gradual downhills through a breathtaking valley on the first day and then some step downhill (Oralo) (where Mr Money taught me the art of bolting down from rock to rock) breif step uphill (Okalo), followed by a nice undulating last sector. In this last sector it was agreed that we would have a "mountain marathon" and race from a town just outside namche to our hotel in Namche... Mr Money carrying 3 bags.. one big one containing both of our clothes and sleeping bags.. and Adam and I carrying our day packs.. It wasnt long until it was clear that the handicap on Mr Money's back was providing him with quite a bit of trouble as I took an early lead... Running on the "Oralo" and flat parts and walking as fast as possible on the "Okalo" parts I found myself with a handsome lead accompanied by a crushing stitch in my chest that caused me to slow down to a walk.. Thinking Money and Adam would be just around the corner I pressed on after a breif break to be the first home.. a slightly empty victory knowing that I was carrying one quarter of Mr Moneys load and Adam wasnt keen on the idea of racing but a bit of fun nonetheless. The last two days were full of little downhill races... Mr Money shooting off down narrow side paths and me slipping, sliding, stopping and propping all over the place behind him. And on the second last night a little Rakshi(Home made millet wine) drinking in Phakding with Mr Harry. On the last night we had one final rendition of the nepali trekking song "Risham Firiri" and an everest beer before saying goodbye to Mr Money who was off to carry a ridiculous load of wood through the jungle, probably a ridculously long way. It was sad to part from the little mountain man who Id had great fun with the previous couple of days.

The final obstacle between us and the hyatt breakfast buffet was the notoriously scary plane ride from Lukla to Kathmandu... Down the 200-300m runway which slopes considerable down the slide of the mountain and up through the surrounding mountains we went on a relatively uneventful flight back to KTM. I had one of the times of my life with great friends and spectacular terrain and Ill definitely be back to tackle another trek in Nepal, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Turkiye

During my time overseas I have found there are some consistant factors that determine whether or not I like a city or town... The food, the people, culture - development balance and the availability of free wifi internet access(but not neccasarily in that order). With tasty cheap food, incredibly friendly people, a great mozaic of modern development, trendy cafes and jaw dropping mosques as well as wifi in almost every cafe both Istanbul and Turkey in general rate highly in all four criterion.

Tonight I went for a jog with the intent of picking up some dinner afterwards. I brought with me 10 Turkish Lira which is roughly 7 Aussie dollars and challenged myself to find a protein rich meal and an ayran (turkish strangely a bit salty yoghurt drink) inside that budget. I found a place where I could get a chicken shish plate with salad and an ayran for 9 lira leaving me an extra lira for a baklava type treat on the way home. This is just one of many examples of the delicious and cheap food options available in Turkey and its safe to say I have been eating very well!

The people have been great aswell. Despite the constant....Gday mate.... which has gone close to driving me over the edge at times they are incredibly friendly and always helpful when looking for directions or advice. I was able to gain a non tourist insight on the Turkish people when I was asked by the boys at the hotel I stayed at in Cappadocia to help them move house. Now.. this was at about 10:30am and I was happy to help them out for what I thought would be a few hours of work as I had nothing else planned and they had promised to look after my meals for the day. We started work at approximately 11:30am... broke twice before lunch for a drink... broke for an hour at lunch(at which stage I was under the impression we were finish)... broke numerous other times throughout the afternoon for tea(at all these breaks I as under the impression we were done)... It then came to about 7:00pm and we stopped for yet another break.. this time at a pide shop for food and I was absolutely certain we were finished at this stage so I relaxed my mind and let it look forward to having a beer with the people in my dorm after dinner... So Max... we are going to eat pide... go back to the hotel..rest for one house.... and then do one more trip from the storage place to my house.... No worries Ramazan I said through gritted teeth as my hopes of getting that beer sunk into the lap of the stray dog that was sitting at our feet scouting for fallen food... So back on the tractor... (yes we rolled in a tractor between storage space and target house).... to the hotel where we did indeed rest for one hour before travellng back to the storage space loaded the tractor for the 7th or 8th time of the day and headed for our final trip to Ramazan's new abode. Now let me tell you.... Efes (the local turkish beer) is not the best beer in the world, but after near 10 hours of fantasizing and craving it was the goddamn best beer I ever did taste! Even if it was consumed in a smokey basement bar filled amongst 20 to 30 Turkish men. To the hard earned thirst went the big cold beer!

Istanbul itself has two main sections to visit... well two main sections that I have seen anyway. Sultanahmet in the old town where all the mosques and sightseeing is and Beyoglu in the New Town where Taksim Square and Istaklil street are which is the modern cosmopolitan hub of the city.

The first night I had booked an airport pickup from Ataturk airport and when I arrived and saw it was pouring with rain I thought the 25 euros it was going to cost a steal! Thankfully however I had not yet paid the said euros...... I exited the arrivals gate and saw my man with a sign the read Max Roberson... close enough I thought and sure enough it was me he was waiting for... Now I am not sure if the following events took place because he had been waiting for my delayed flight but after quite a bit of thought Im not sure that was the reason.. Anyway, the man is not the friendliest in the world but not rude and when I asked to use an ATM he was happy to point me in the direction of one and waited for me to get cash out. We then walked to the carpark I hopped in the van and we started our journey to the hostel... now, upon reflection I think that if he was upset about having to wait for a delayed flight he would have shown more than just being slightly unfriendly.. as we continued down the freeway away from the airport he took a phone call and as we drove through the bucketing rain the phone call almost in unison with the weather became increasingly agro... we then pulled over and with his shouting reaching a maximum level I began to plan my escape plan for the event in which his anger was redirected towards my position! He then hung up the phone and we proceeded along the highway but only seconds later he started to mumble under his breath.. the mumbling turned into a grumble and suddenly we had pulled over again with him now yelling... Taxi Taxi Taxi pointing at the road. With me still in the van he proceeded to take my bags from the back of the van (at this point I was out with him trying to ask what had happened to which he replied Taxi Taxi) and shortly after I found myself on the side of a highway in the pouring rain having only arrived in the city moments earlier. I taxi soon arrived and delivered me to my destination at which point I was redirected to a different hostel where I was to stay for the following two nights. Welcome to Istanbul.

Gallipoli was the first stop on my circuit of Turkey organised by a travel agent at a sister hostel to the one I ended up in on that faithful first night and the tour of the peninsula was something that exceeded my expectations. The stories of Australians fighting for an independant Australian identity and turkish soldiers leaving the safety of their trenches to carry ANZAC wounded across open ground back to the ANZAC trenches were moving and inspirational. I didnt know the details on the history of the WW1 battle and found myself not wanting the tour to end. One of my favourite stories was that of Percy Black, an Australian machine gunner who positioned himself in the thick of the action at the top of what was called shrapnel valley. From this position he was successful in defending the ANZAC lines from many Turkish attacks. At one point he was hit on the left hand which he was using to feed the bullets into his gun... but he pressed on, using his teeth to feed the bullets and his right hand to aim and fire his weapon. Then his weapon was hit and damaged beyond proper function so he trekked kilometers back to the beach with a gunshot wound to his left hand carrying the damaged machine gun in his right. When he reached the beach he asked for another gun so he could continue fighting. Unable to carry the gun back to his position he recruited a group of young soldiers who had been overcome by the task of fighting and had stayed on the beach to help carry his gun back to the top of shrapnel valley and got back in the fight. He survived Gallipoli but was later killed in action in France where despite his peers telling him to stay behind as he was too valuable to the army and with the last words... we started this together, so we will end this together... he made a charge into direct fire and certain death. This was one of many examples of honour, bravery and perserverance that came out of Gallipoli and as I said earlier was absolutely inspirational.

I then went to Pammukale where calcium has been leaking out of the mountain for thousands of years forming what appears to be snow but is in reality a hard substance covering the cliff face. This initially had a wow factor about it but half a day in this tourist hub was enough for me!

I then went on to Fethiye where I was able to relax. Have a few good workouts, a scooter ride through the picturesque mountains and a day at the Oludeniz beach where the water is blue and crystal clear. There wasnt much else to do in Fethiye as the season had ended for the famous full day boat trips but it was a good place for relaxation and reflection as well as catching up on some much needed physical exercise.

From Fethiye it was onto Goreme a little town in the area of Cappadocia which is famous for its fairy chimneys which are tall rock formations caused by volcanic eruptions together with erosion results in what literally looks like a fairy chimney! I had a free day which consisted of the above mentioned removalist training and two days of tours which shed light on a little bit of the history of Cappadocia as well as the geography of the place.

From Cappadocia it was an overnight bus to Beyoglu Istanbul where I had a night in the park hyatt istanbul, a great end to what turned out to be a pretty exhausting week shooting around Turkey.. my day in Beyoglu consisted of a walk to Taksim square and down Istaklil St, numerous coffees and some good food in what is a fantastic part of town Istanbul with its trendy laneway cafes, designer and boutque fashion stores, many kebap and kofte stalls, pubs, patisseries and various parks.

I now have a day of sightseeing in which I will see the amazing Blue Mosque and Topkali palace and then its off to Bangalore the next day for the next chapter of this epic journey!

Turkey Workouts... Storıes to come..

WOD 30/11/2010

3 Rounds
10 strıct chıns
10 dıps

untımed, just to keep thıngs tıckıng over.

WOD 1/11/2010 - A Trıplet of Couplets

Warm Up
1 mıle run

Metcon
AMRAP 7
7 HSPU
21 Box Jump
Result: 4 Rounds

(2 mıns rest)

AMRAP 7
10 Tree chıns
10 Burpees
Result: 4 Rounds

(2 mıns rest)

AMRAP 7
10 Squats
10 Sıtups
Result: 10 rounds + 4 reps

Mobılıty
2mıns each hıp prone torso external rotatıon
2mıns lower back flexıon
2 mıns vertıcle shoulder extensıon

WOD 2/11/2010 - Pushup Practıce

Muscular Endurance
100 hands release push ups for tıme
Tıme: 4:49 (Improved from prevıous best of 5:10)

WOD 3/11/2010 - Pullup Practice

Warm Up
1km Jog
Metcon
50 Strict Commando Pullups
Every time I dropped off the bar ran a hard 400m followed by a precise 1 minute rest.
Result: 15:23
Pullups: 14,9,7,7,7,6

WOD 7/11/2010 - Pushing/Mobility

3 Rounds Untimed
Max reps HSPU - 15(PR),(disappointing),5(even more so)
1 min prone external hip rotation
then
3 Rounds Unbroken = rest so as that all sets are unbroken
30 Pushups
20 Squats
then
100 Core Variations
20 x wrist to knee, 20 x 4 count flutterkick, 20 x alternate wrist to knee, 20 x 2 count bicycle, 20 x knees out crossfit situps.
then
Mobility
2 mins each leg sitting external hip rotation in sauna

WOD 8/11/2010

3km Jog
then
21-15-9 reps for time of:
Walking Lunge
Box Jump
Squat
Result: 4:45
then
1 mile jog

Morocco, where everything is posseeble! UPDATED

My Moroccan adventure started with a ferry trip across the straight of gibraltar with an Austrian (Age: 28 Sex: Female Name: Christiana) and an American (Age: 37 Sex: Male Name: Christian). So I was travelling Morocco h the feminin and masculine versions of Chris. Easy to remember on my part but a little too coincidental for my liking (if Im honest). Ill just add at this stage that I am, at the present, enjoying a fine glass of red courtesy of Hyatt Regency Casablanca after chowing down on my fill of canapes. This is the life! Anyway the ferry took us to the port of Tangier the northern most point of Morocco. As soon as the ferry pulled up we were men and women on a mission and that mission was to get to Meknes ASAP. Out of the ferry, straight to the bank to change our euros to dhirams and into a cab to the train station we went. "Three for Meknes please" said Christiana in some seriously impressive french..."Oui, the train leaves...now" said the ticket lady..... and with a 100m sprint that would not even come close to Usain Bolt but would absolutely dominate an 86 yr old woman on a walking frame, we jumped on board the train to Meknes and our Moroccan journey had begun..

At Meknes, our mission was to shoot up to a small to a small mountain village called Moulay Idriss which was in very close proximity to a series of Roman ruins called the Volubilis. With the America in charge of negotiating for a cab we cleary got ripped off but in the scheme of things took a 30 click taxi for the equivalent of 13 euro. Not too bad. Moulay Idriss was a lovely little town... the food was cheap, less than 50 aussie cents for an egg and potato sandwhich and little over two dollars for the spiced mince meat version, the people where nice... dressed in what was our first exposure to the star wars-esque "Jelabas"... and the roman ruins were a pretty magic place to be at sunset. Let me just add that the red wine is going down a treat. On the morning of our second day in Moulay Idriss an event took place that is a story in its own right....

Chris the american and I thought it a great idea to take part in an authentic moroccan experience and pay a visit to the local public Hammam (public bath). Faysall from the hotel took us down a series of small alley ways, through an old wooden door, down a couple of flights of stairs and into the changing room of `the oldest Hammam in Moulay Idriss. In the cold, worn down, white painted room sat an ancient, near anorexic Moroccan man wearing nothing but some very loose clothe wrapped around his loin and sporting not more than 5 teeth. We were ordered to strip down to our underwear, led through a series of gloomy, dungeon like rooms, each one slightly more humid than the last and told to lie face down on the concrete floor. The man then left the room and we found ourselves, two men, in our underwear, lying next to each other in a sticky dungeon like room in the middle of nowhere somewhere outside Meknes, Morocco. At this stage my sphincter had shrunk to the size of a bees nostril and immediate regret dolinated my thoughts. Just as I began to distract myself with alternate thoughts I big hairy Moroccan bloke took to my agressively with a highly abrasive exfoliating glove! He scrubbed every last square mm of dead skin from my body venturing dangerously close to the family jewels. The next ten minutes consisted off scrubbing, rinsing and body twisted accompanied by very strange and slightly disconcerting kissing noises but the end result was squeaky clean skin and a nicely limbered musculature. The hammam scene when we were propped up was something that still seems surreal. I sat up to find that we were no longer alone... approximately 20 males had joined us in that room.. all in there jocks, scrubbing, rinsing, stretching and massaging each other in a way that raises a series of questions as to what young Moroccan men get up to when they are not aloud private time with women until after marriage. Chris and I both agreed we wouldnt discuss this experience again but on reflection I think it has to be documented.

Thats it for now, the red wine is going down too well and there are business people waiting for a crack at the computer.. More of Morocco to come.

Thıs saw the start of what was named the Faysall 6 day adventure, named after the man of the house at the guesthouse ın Moulay Idrıss who doubled as a travel consultant.

We embarked on our adventure from Meknes where an overnıght bus took us to Rıssanı whıch ıs the closest busable town to the desert. After gettıng off the bus we were confronted by dudes tryıng to get us to go wıth them to theır hotel from where we could base our desert trek. We fınally gave ın to a guy who seemed to be runnıng a mını monopoly on our bus load and we were of vıa 4 wheel drıve to merzouga where the camels and berbers (natıve desert folk) were waıtıng. Now rıdıng a camel ınto the desert, spendıng a nıght ın a nomad hut, eatıng tajıne and rıdıng back ın the mornıng sounds very exotıc and excıtıng. Dont get me wrong, ıt was a fantastıc experıence and I really dıd enjoy ıt but the essence of the experıence really ıs.... rıdıng a camel.. eatıng very sımple food... sleepıng ın a small hut ın the sand...rıdıng back ın the mornıng, only thıs tıme wıth a sore crotch from the prevıous day. Stıll, ıt had to be done and the mıdnıght clımb to one of the bıggest sand dunes ın the area was a lot of fun...

Our next destınatıon was Ourzazate, a 6 and a half hour drıve from Erfoud, a town neıghbourıng Merzouga. And how do three travellers travel 6 and a half hours across desert and through mountaıns ın Morocco... taxı of course. We hıred a cab for 1000 Dhıram or 130 AUD for those playıng at home. Dıvıde that by 3 and ıts under 45 dollars... Id pay that back home to get from the cıty to Brıghton East.

Ourzazate ıs supposed to be the hollywood of Morocco but to be honest... I could take ıt or leave ıt. Sure some great fılms such as gladıator and ındıana jones were fılmed eıther ın the studıos or the surroundıng desert but the sets are old and delapıdated wıth whats left not exactly ımpressıve.

From Ourzazate Chrıstıana and I saıd goodbye to Chrıstıan as we set off to Imlıle where we would base our trek ınto the hıgh atlas mountaıns to summıt Mt Toubkal. After more "help" from hotel owners at the taxı termınal ın Imlıle.. assurıng us that "everythıng ıs poseeble" we had a hotel, I had a jacket that looked to be to some degree waterproof and the next day we embarked on our journey to the top of the 4000m plus mountaın.

After the fırst hour or so I felt that I was comfortable wıth ıncreasıng the pace and treatıng the clımb to the 3200m refuge as a traınıng sessıon, so wıth my crossfıt traınıng behınd me and a lıttle bravado I charged off up the mountaın leavıng (the sensıble) Chrıstıana behınd. Now, the Max Chrıstıana found pale faced, sıttıng ın the corner of the refuge lounge chewıng on a twıx bar was a very dıfferent Max to the one she last saw chargıng off up the Toubkal track! It was about 40 mıns from the refuge when I felt myself runnıng out of energy fast and as I looked up at the surroundıng mountaıns.... much to my suprıse they had a certaın sway to them... so I sat down untıll the damn thıngs stopped swayıng and marched on once more... looked up... swayıng agaın.. oh dont worry about ıt Max I saıd to myself and contınued on to the refuge.... hence.. curled up ın corner, pale faced, eatıng saıd Twıx.

The next mornıng we woke sometıme between 0530 and 0600 but I was ın no shape to notıce. Sınuses took a beatıng overnıght resultıng ın no sleep for me nor anyone else who shared the cabın. Apologıes. But after a good 10 mınutes coughıng up copıus amounts of shıte, a hot chocolate and Chrıstıana forcıng me to eat a substantıal amount of the sugar domınant supplıed breakfast (the same stuff I dıdnt eat much of the prevıous day, addıng to my post hıke state at the refuge) I was ready to tackle the summıt. Wıth Chrıstıana ın front as a pace car I comfortably made ıt to the summıt through at tımes 2 foot of snow near the top and some of the best vıews I have ever seen. At the summıt I enjoyed a Twıx as a momento of the contrast between my state of mınd at the end of day 1 and when I had reached the top. The way back down to the refuge ınvolved me slıdıng down 20 percent of the snow cap on my arse, stackıng numerous tımes where the ıce met rock and generally havıng the sort of tıme one would descrıbe as not even remotely close to fun.

The walk back down to Imlıle was less than 3 hours and all down hıll but the combınatıon of clımbın up and down the summıt wıth that last sub 3 hour sector made for tıred legs at the end of the day.

We cabbed ıt back to Marrakech vıa another small town and booked straıght ınto hotel Alı. After a feed and a shower we were both out lıke a lıght. The next day we checked out of Hotel Alı and ınto equıty poınt hostel whıch, although hard to fınd has to be near the best hostel I have stayed at so far on the trıp. Nearly resort lıke ın ıts layout the place was decked out wıth a pool: rooftop terrace... many tradıtıonal Moroccan lounges and a great mıx of modern and classıcal Moroccan archıtechture and furnıture. Marrakech ıtself was a bıt of a dısappoıntment wıth the food ın the nıght market (whıch was the sıngle experıence that fırst lured me to Morocco) quıte dısappoıtıng causıng both Chrıstıana and I to pay extended vısıts to porcelaın throne later that nıght.

After Marrakech I found myself on a traın to casablanca where I touched down ınto Hyatt Regency Casablanca. Thıs hotel has to be the best of the hyatts I have stayed at wıth Grand Hyatt Bangkok and Park Hyatt Melbourne all around the same level. After a nıght of luxury ıt was back to the real world wıth a delayed flıght, mıd hıghway abandonment and varıous other travellıng trıbulatıons ın Turkey!

WOD - 27/10/2010

Warm Up
1000m Row - Medium pace - 3:37

Strength
5x5 Strict Press
50,54,54,54,54.

Metcon
3 Rounds for time:
7 Push Jerk @ 50kg
14 Pullups
21 Burpees
Time: 9:56

WOD 28/10/2010

Metcon
21-15-9

Hang power clean, 50kg
Knees to elbows
Hıp Extensıons

Tıme: 10:25

Barthelona

Every mate, mates of mates and various other young travellers I have spoken to have loved Barcelona so talking about how awesome it was would be pretty cliche. I booked for 3 nights with the intention of shooting up to San Seb for a couple of nights before making the journey south to Tarifabut found myself booking a fourth and fifth night in BCN. I think everyone has heard of the Spanish siesta and it was definitely something I was looking forward to experiencing however I didnt notice the siesta much at all... This was probably because after a night out in Barcelona the siesta naturally develops itself into your daily routine and is as much a ritual as brushing your teeth.

Going out in BCN is fantastic. Short and sharp. Meeting at 12, leaving a bar at 1 and arriving at a club around 0115 or 0130 is the norm with the clubs....in low season during the week.... closing down around 0500. This was the framework of my stay in Barcelona within which I made the attempt to fit in a few little sights of interest. A Gaudi walking tour, the Picasso museum and Park Guell were all I managd to see and I was not at all disppointed. Also within that framework were some great meals.... tapas where we gave the main man 10 euros each an told him to give us a great feed... that he did and managed to squeeze a few brews in the budget too. We took part in a paella experience where our mate Fernando taught us how to enjoy tapas the traditional way, how to make Sangria and finally how to make an excellent paella. We eat tapas, paella and drank plenty of Sangria until it was time for another fix of Barcelona nightlife... I stumbled into bed at 0730 the following morning.

Ive heard people talk about the people in BCN ..choosing life.. I saw it a little differently... They choose to live life with everything they have... they put all the passion, all the love and all the energy they have into every waking moment and after a morning of doing this they deserve a rest in the afternoon only to throw themselves into the night with the same energy as they attacked the day.

Nothing to report workout wise in Barthelona...

Greek Islands e Italia!

This will be brief due to this French keyboard randomly swapping only the most frequently used letters around.. So I survived the Greek islands.. just... The alter ego Woodrow whom some have met on one faithful night in North Fitzroy was out about and in fine form. I think I was left behind at dinner most nights as the wood man took control and tore the Greek Islands up! He left my liver and I in a devastated state on the ferry back to Athens but also left me with some great...slightly blurred memories.

Athens to Munich. Munich to Venice. Bag left behind in Munich as I sprinted through the airport to make my connecting flight. One night in Venice. Off to Rome with my bag still trailing me. Shopping spree at Zara to be reimbursed by Covermore and on the bus again for a rendezvous with my bag in Florence.

Back to Rome. First impressions wern't the best but how could they be after living in the same clothes and out of a day pack for 4 days. The sites in Rome however..... are breathtaking. The Colosseum. The Vatican. The Pantheon. Structures made in times of inferior technology that are said to be impossible to construct today. Tad our guide from Roming Tours made Roman history hilarious. Definitely the most entertaining and informative walking tour of the trip so far....

To be continued... This keyboard is doing my head in....

Akropolypto

Going back to the first night in Athens where the detox post Ocktoberfest was temporarily delayed.. The night ended with a 1 am mission to find gyros. The only problem is the person taking us to find the gyros shop wanted us to go to a bar. We had no interest in going to a bar and she had no interest in finding food so at the end of the night both parties found themselves unsatisfied. We were lead through some of the more edgy areas of Athens and due to an equipment malfunction earlier in the evening together with the assumption gyros would be be within a 100m radius, I found myself walking barefoot through streets where broken glass would have been the preferred object to penetrate my foot. I managed to make it back to the hostel unscathed and very ready for a good nights sleep.

The next day was an admin day for me as I went out to replace broken thongs, lost sunglasses and to set up my phone for my stint in Greece. With all accomplished and various types of gyros devoured I treated myself to an afternoon siesta.

That evening I shot down to the acropolis which was absolutely beautiful light up after dark. I climbed up a rocky peak adjacent to the site where I had a panoramic view of the city of Athens and a great view of the site itself. After spending a little time trying to take night time landscape photos and soaking it all up I went for a stroll through the Plaka district to find some more gyros and possibly some Greek desserts.

Gyros I found, only after yet again stumbling through a more edgier neighborhood where I was surprisingly quickly desensitized to seeing groups of junkies shoot up within meters of where I was walking. After two gyros and a beer (all for 6,50 euros) I headed back to the station but not before hunting down one of my favorite Greek desserts, the custard wrapped in filo pastry. The portion the little white haired Greek man attempted to give me could have fed 5 and only after a heated argument did the little fella give in to giving me a smaller slice. It was at that moment that I decided Athens was yet another city that I love. A bit of edge mixed with wonderful, generous people and amazing sites, it's a must see even if the islands are the main focus.

Today I got a all access pass for 6 euros using my Deakin student card and climbed the acropolis, saw the Ancient Agora, the Roman Agora and The Temple of the Olympian Zeus. The Parthenon in the acropolis was the best, a magnificent grand, ancient structure with surrounding views of the city of Athens as far as one's eye can see.

Lunch was a greek salad, with tzatziki and bread followed by a souvlaki and a glass of red. After the sightseeing I settled into a nice little cafe in the Plaka district for a coffee to unwind and reflect on a day where a covered quite a few kilometers exploring ancient structures and soaking up as much of the atmosphere of this buzzing place as I possibly could.

Early night tonight before a 4:45 wake up tomorrow and a ferry off to the islands. Happy days!

Just had a little 10 minute workout. The feeling post workout after having not trained in 3-4 days was comparable to the feeling expressed on the faces of those seen injecting heroine the night before. Two addictions, one detrimental to health, the other the complete opposite.

Hostel Aphrodite Roof WOD

3 Rounds with 1 min rest:

Max HSPU - 14, 9, 7.
20 Squats.

3 Rounds with 1 min rest:

Max Pushups 30, 20, 20.
20 Squats.

Post WOD nutrition.

2 x Lamb Gyros and a bottle of water. All for under 4 euros.

Vienna, Ocktoberfest and a night in Athens.

Back onto a PC and able to reflect on the past week. Last start with Vienna...

Vienna is a very cool little place. Everyone walks with a purpose, they have somewhere to go and someone to meet. There is no dawdling and if you stay out of the main touristy areas not a hell of a lot of tourists taking pictures of of their wife and son in front of an ice cream store. In order to keep up their energy and focus the Viennese love to drink coffee. They do it well too. The second biggest coffee drinking country in the world and they know how to make a good brew. Not nearly as good as the Brother Buba's, St Ali's and Proud Mary's back home but not nearly as horrific as the coffee in the other parts of Europe Ive visited thus far.

There are amazing sights with palaces, cathedrals and museums. Most of the Palaces are now in fact more museums). But by that stage in my trip I had seen enough beautiful architecture and just felt like settling in. Drinking coffee, eating schnitzel and relaxing in a city where I felt the more at home than any other place in Europe so far.

Even got a training session in:

4 Rounds

10 Dh Pull up
15 Bar dips
10 Burpee Bench Jump
400 Meter Run
2 minute rest

18:something

Felt good but very tough.

Along came Ocktoberfest. I'm not going to even try to tell you what the city of Munich is like because I honestly saw very little of it. I can however tell you that Ocktoberfest is completely out of control and absolutely awesome. You have fantastic beer which has been brewed especially for the festival by each brewery, you have amazing roasted meats and you have these lederhausen dresses that seem to accentuate a females "appearance" in a way that I've never seen before. For a male this is the perfect combination for an unbelievable time.

The first beer was poured on the 200th annual Ocktoberfest at 12 o clock on the Saturday. I was there and shortly after a woman with a terrifyingly strong grip slammed 8 1 L steins of the freshest goddamn beer you've ever had on our table. 6 in one hand and 2 in the other. What a machine. After the first sip we knew we were in trouble. This beer was floating down way too easily and after an hour I think we were well into our third stein. By 5 o clock I was close to being passed out on the table even after slowing it down a bit and by 7 o clock I WAS passed out in my hotel room.

The first beer of the second day was rough. I also noticed that I had developed a deep bruise on both hands where the handle of the stein had been pressing down every time I took a swig of the sweat brew. A later start, a slower pace and a properly lined stomach helped me last the distance on day two and in the end it was Mick, Bargs and I left in the tent. What to do? What to do? Buying three cigars, lighting them up and smoking them on a 6 loop roller coaster was an option, an option that may or may not have been chosen.. There also might have been a take a hanger on an Italian competition but the details are a little blurred. The night ended in Burger king and it was a night that had its highs, lows, loops and everything the three of us had hoped for out of Ocktoberfest.

The next day we all met at the same burger king to say adios and my journey continued on to Athens for the Grecian leg of my trip. After a couple of nights at Ocktoberfest I was keen for detox. The boys at the hostel bar had other ideas and the drinking continued for another night. A few strawpedos later and my detox period before the greek islands had been cut down to two.

So two more nights in Athens to rest and recuperate before what could prove to be an even more devastating 8 nights for the temple than Ocktoberfest.

Vida Ala Mexicana - A long time coming

I knew that things were going to be a little bit different in Mexico when halfway through what would later prove to be my last solid shit in over a month I peered down to my right and saw a basket for the disposal of soiled toilet paper. Im not sure why this suprised me as I'd been told about the poor sewage in Mexico and the inability for it to process toilet paper but it was not until I was faced with a basket full off little shit filled paper dumplings that it really sunk in.

Mexico like many developing countries doesn't really do public or occupational health and safety regulations. Bridges are used on the side of cliffs in Puerto Escondido that would be have been shut down many years ago, scooters can be hired via a transaction that takes little over a minute and doesn'teven get close to including a helmet or even a quick "how to" and food is prepared in a way that makes it blatantly obvious that schooling is not only optional but very few have the funds to attend.

The police carry M16s and where body armour. Some of those with said assualt rifles arent even real police for example in Puerto Escondido where you have the "vigilantes" who consist of boys and men between the ages of 14 and 40 who give you looks that have you expecting to have to bribe them for looking at them for too long.

The country itself is breathtaking. Canyons, rivers, waterfalls, beaches, jungles, monkeys, crocodiles, turtles and many more natural beauties that make mexico a very beautiful place to visit. The people on the whole are also fantastic. Non English speaking but fantastic. The women.... "not so much" but still very friendly.

Speaking spanish was abit of a joke. Our general rule of thumb was to say 'si' to everything they said until they stopped replying. In doing this I ordered a scone from KFC, Raspberry flavoured tea from a cafe and saw others get themselves into all sorts of awkward situations.. okay maybe not only others. I feel if I was there for a good 3 months I would pick up quite a lot as you are forced to use it because no-one speaks a word of English. Again reflectant of their poor education system.

The way of life in Mexico is as you might expect very laid back. There is a sense of things getting quiet after lunch for a bit of a siesta although nothing compared to Spain I imagine. But there is also a passion there. Public displays of affection that would sicken even a Frenchman, Firey little mexican (and Italian) men in bars after having a few too many Dos Equis cerveza and people who genuinly care about looking after you.

Like all developing countries with extreme poverty comes crime and drugs are a massive part of that in Mehico. Its funny though. The people obviously dont reaaally wont to be selling drugs. A guy will come up to you an say... "Hey Amigo... fishing tours.. fishing tours..." to which you might reply "No Gracias"... to which he will reply.."Marihuana, cocina, ecstacy." It was unbelievable. Every little entrepenuer can sell you anything. But I love how they start at their most respectable product and go down the list to drugs. Different to Europe where a guy on a bike will walk past you and whipser in your ear. "Weed!" "You want a joint?" and then try to pick your pocket 10 minutes later. Mexicans will just try and grab your bag off you then add it to their list the next day.. "Fishing tours, iPod, camera, Sunglasses, t shirt, backpack, marihuana, cocina, ecstacy."

A seriously crazy place and looking past the challenges I faced with a crook stomach, experiencing a little crime and missing some good quality food I find myself missing the Mexican way. By the way I just want to make it official that after just over a month since I touched down in Mexico city, I made my first plonk about a week ago. Great success!!

Praha

The bus trip to Prague from Berlin was a nice and short. We were on the road at 8:30am and even with an hour stop off at Terezin in the Czech Republic we arrived before 5:00pm.

As we cruised through the suburban streets surrounding the hostel in Prague I got a taste of the slight disappointment that was to come. Looking at pictures of Prague and reading a little bit about it I was expecting a fairytale city dominated by gothic buildings and gypsies. After spending three nights here I now know that yes there are gypsies and yes they will attempt to swipe your wallet. On the architecture side of Prague it was a moziac of Gothic churches and castles, medieval bridges and various other building types similar to those I have seen in different European cities thus far. The "fairytale' buildings were suprisingly few and far between and the Prague postcard shot that I have been dying to see have so far successfully evaded me.

Having said all this I have had some great experiences here. On the first night a group of us from Melbourne all went out to a Czech tavern type place and had Mixed beer (Dark on the top fading down to light on the bottom - the beer journey), Blue cheese infused potato pancakes with garlic and onion relish and a mouth watering pork dish with curry flavours and sour cream. We then ventured upstairs to have a game of ten pin bowling... something none of us pictured we would be doing in prague but for about 8 Aussie dollars an hour for everyone it sure beat 2 games, a hot dog and chips at AMF. We rounded out the night with a few sneaky 'Kozel' dark beers (probably a new number 1 beer for mine) at a bar filled with metal sculptures, robots, mezzanine levels with about 1.3 metres of clearance above seats pulled out of czech trams and a crazy euro dance floor. The place was like q bar minus the filth plus a whole lot of cool metal 'things' popping out of the walls, roof and floor.

It was sightseeing for me the next day which meant another walking tour. This tour in contrast to Prague itself exceeded my expectations. Its amazing how expectations influence experiences. Sometimes making experiences better and sometimes worse. It makes me wonder whether we would be better off holding low expectations for everything or having no expectations at all... anyway... Our guide made what could have been another bland 3 hours walking at snails place through a historical centre something interesting and enjoyable. A slightly essentric, bubbly young Czech girl told us all about the history of Prague... the Slavs kicking out the Kelts, King Charles the 4th and his four wives and how if the Czech people have a problem with anyone they through them through them out the window... a process they call "defenestration". Defenestration was probably my favourite part of Czech history and so I was very happy to hear that the process was evolutionary as after King Charles built his bridge (which only took 45 years to construct) they were able to move to throwing people off said bridge and into the Vltava river.

That night we went on another pub crawl and once again I found myself saying "If I saw me in this group looking from the outside in I would be greatly disgusted." I did have some absinthe though (tick) which was 70% alcohol and had a magical green glow to it. It was a wierd short to drink as it went down really smoothly for the first 4 seconds, then upon the exhale phase of the shooting process the gas hurls you into a world of discomfort.

Woke up this morning feeling sick, sinuses blocked and achings with a slight headache. Brilliant. Full english breakfast buffet. Couple of nectarines. Coffee. Back into the thick of it.

Explored the city for a while. Had a ride on the metro. Yet another public transport system of the world had been conquered and I was ready for an afternoon workout at CrossFit Praha. Awesome little gym. Very eastern european but fully decked out with equipment and a very relaxed but no bullshit attitude to training. No mucking around. Warm up. Workout. Go home.

WOD

Skill:
Muscle up practice

Work Capacity:
"Helen"
400m Run
21 KB Swings at 24kg
12 Pullups

Time - 10:19

Then...
20 "strict" abmat situps

Strength:
5x5 Push Press
60, 70, 70, 70, 70kg

Bit disappointed with my time because I know guys go under 7 minutes on this one but two hills in the run made for slower times in running WODs for them according to the trainer. Normal kip pullups felt wierd. Should have done butterfly. Oh well. Happy with the strength work.

After this I took the metro a few stop to the museum. Had a stroll down what is probably the biggest strip in Prague and climbed up the top of a hill which provided amazing panoramic views of the city. After a bit of time to soak that in a a quick snap I was on the tram and back to the hostel.

Prague Miscallaneous...
Development of rock solid pick pocket identification and defence.
"Kozel" dark beer and Czech beer in general is some of the world's best.
Didn't live up to my expectations. Even the women.
Pork Knuckle, Potato dumplings with cabbage and gravy inducted into top 10 meals of all time.
Would not do Busabout again. Too similar to everything I despise about Contiki.
Must go to Russia.

Ich Liebe Berlin

When planning my european circuit I overlooked Berlin, neglected to do much research on it and thought that it would be a bit of a boring, expensive city. Oh how I couldnt have been any farther from the mark. This city provides an amazing mosiac of historic significance, modern development and alternative culture. You have a city that has survived WW1, the rise of the far right wing nazi party and the totalitarian rule of Adolf Hitler, WW2 and a violent division between east and west during the cold war. This place has taken some hard knocks and like the Italian stallion Rocky Balboa continues to get back up again.

After the people flooded checkpoint Bravo in 1989, starting the demolition of the Berlin Wall this city has continued to change. Still a very volatile polictical environment it has been the stage for a load of political activism. Still happening today you have groups in the districts of kreuzberg and fredriksten who are trying to keep out the commerical development currently sweeping through the rest of Berlin. These districts are cool little boroughs similar to those of Brooklyn and Williamsburg in New York or Fitzroy and Collingwood in Melbourne. Where thought and artistic expression rule over money and possesions. Young people dominate these areas and with a strong international community you can find very affordable Turkish, Indian, Vietnamese and Chinese cuisine.

I have explored all three elements of this city in the 2 and a bit days I've been here and am left wanting more. You could spend a whole lot of time here exploring the little neighbourhoods, museums and the more modren shopping strips and buildings.

Berlin Workouts:

8.9.2010
AMRAP 20 (20:50)

Max HSPU
10 Hollow Rocks
350m Sprint

8 Rounds of: 10, 6, 4, 5, 4, 6, 6, 5.

10.9.2010
5-6k Run (With East side gallery photo taking)
50 Burpees

In 24 hours I will be in Prague. A city that I had actually done research on and am quite excited to see. Very sad to leave Berlin though.

23 Hours in Paris, Half an hour in Bruges and 'The Damage'

As the eurail pulled in it was clear that three and a half hours sleep was not going to cut it for a full day of sight seeing in Paris. This meant the first sight I saw in Paris was a cafe, a double espresso and a crossaint with orange juice on the side.

A caffeine fueled wide eyed version of myself then wondered down the beautiful streets of paris from the Gare Du Nord (train station) to the Louvre museum down by the river. Straight in and unlike New York the entry fee wasnt a suggested donation so I had to cough up 9,50 euro for my time there. Yes I did put a comma between the 9 and the 50 because thats how it is over here. The louvre was really cool. I must admit I sprinted though some parts of it. But was suprised at how much I enjoyed the area in which the Monna Lisa was and how cool it was to see such an iconic painting. There was also a courtyard type area with large marbel sculptures that i really enjoyed but have forgotten their name.

After the Louvre it was time for a baguette and a crepe on the way to the Notre Dam. Make the two baguettes and two crepes. Very nice.

The Notre Dam was incredible. I didnt see the hunchback but saw a few tourists that wernt far off getting in my way as I was trying to shoot tghrough the crowd. I sat in the park behind the Notre Dam and tried to take it all in before heading down the river Seine once more on my way to the Juliet Monument and the Basillica. The basillica wasn#t what I had expected. Just a modern looking opera building really but the juliet monument/statue was kind of cool and it led me to take a stroll down a very fashionable looking street with loads of shops etc.

This led me across to the Champs Elysse through the tuieleries park. An absolutely spectacular part of the city and I felt the need to take a load off to absorb everything around me.

Up the Champs I went passing designer shops and fancy places to eat on my way up to the arc de triomphe. Once again great to see something that not only have I probably seen before but that I have seen in movies and on TV.

The last stop of the day was the Eiffel Tower which is one of the sights of the world which exceeds expectations rather than being anticlimatic. The line was pretty substantial by the time I got there so I quick walk around a few photos and I was on the train and uptown to try and find my hostel, hoping desperately that they would have a room for me.

They did and after a few relaxed beers with some boys from central England it was off to bed and up in the morning for the 8am Bus to Amsterdam.

Nutella baguette, muesli and cocoa pops. On the bus. 23 hours in Paris.

On the way to amsterdam we stopped off in bruges as one of the busabout optional stops. The more we heard about and saw Belgium it was a shame not to stay but Mick(aussie guy I met on the bus) and I didnt let the disappointed stop us from enjoying a few belgian brews before heading back to the bus. Must come back here. Very cool looking little city. Apparently once the trade centre of Europe due to its extensive canal network.

Arrival Amsterdam. I touched down and was immediately off to my campsite as with limited camping experience didnt really want to have to make my maiden solo attempt at tent construction in the dark. I got to the camp in time but only after an expensive 20 Euro cab ride and was presented with an open patch of dirt, a tent unopened from the time it was bought and what would prove to be an interesting next 15 minutes.

I got it up! Not too much trouble. there were a few chords I couldnt work out what to do with but that didnt seem to be too much of a problem and I got a fairly decent nights sleep. The next day I went into town and tried to find a place to buy a simcard to call the people I had met on the bus. Instead my phone ran out of battery I couldnt get in contact with anyone and was feeling pretty shite.

Back to the camp. Charged my phone. Got word from Mick to be at the busabout hostel for the pub crawl and I was off for a few drinks to celebrate my birthday. A pub crawl in Amsterdam... Needless to say I cant remember much and dont know if I want to.

The next morning I checked out of my campsite and into a hostel adjacent to the red light district. Then I went for a trip down to a really nice park and chilled out with the busabout people. From there we went out for dinner after which Mick and I decided to go on a tour of the red light district. We were suprised but shouldnt have been at the seediness of the place. Nearly a little bit unsettling as droves of questionable looking characters ogled at these women who were tapping on the glass windows trying to entice their next customer.

Pretty early night and I the next day saw me meet up with Jeff. A Dutch guy originally from the dutch colony of Curacao now living in Utrecht at the univeristy. We went out to utrecht which was only about 30 mins from Amsterdam. Had a look around. Saw the uni. Jeff cooked me a nice chicken pasta for dinner and we headed down to the uni bar for a few beers. Before I knew it, it was past midnight and I needed to hurry back to the utrecht staion to catch a train back to amsterdam. Great night. Got my arse handed to me by the dutch at many the game of foozeball.

Last day in Amsterdam. Off to the Van Gough museum, other smaller modern art galleries and the dam (the main square where the royal palace is). Then I had a little workout at fitness first. Much needed.

8.9.2010
Squat
5 x 90,100,100kg

Bench
5x 80,85
7x 87.5

WOD
3RFT
500m Row
7 Pistols alternating legs
14 hands of ground pushups
21 burpees

15:11

hard.

Then went for a night stroll to ge some pictures of the lovely canals of amsterdam at night. the was it for Amsterdam as the bus left at 8am the next morning for Berlin I crashed out at a reasonable hour so I was fresh for the trip.

The Empire State - Big Ben

Taking my mind back to the last time I recorded in this blog seems a long time ago. Quite a lot has happened since then. Some very exciting, others not so thrilling and maybe the reason my thoughts have been elsewhere, not recording the events as they unfold on this adventure.

I went to the MET, saw the Seinfeld restaurant, took in views of the city from the observation deck of the empire state building, found a good coffee (colombe on broadway), had a sloppy Joe, ate the best pancakes in New York (Clinton St Baking Company), had a slice at a famous pizza joint (Joe's Pizza) at 4:30am, went to possibly the most exclusive nightclub in the Meat Packing District and partyed alongside the prince of Saudi Arabia and got a terrible haircut performed by an ancient Russian lady who had been in Melbourne for the '56 olympics.

I still was sad to leave as there were many other things I would have liked to do but I'm sure Ill be back.

Friday evening came along and it was time to head back over the river to Jersey for a flight over the pond to London. There was a direct bus from Time's square to the airport which I had caught when I arrived in New York in the opposite direction with no hassles so with no a worry in the world 3 hours before my flight I wandered down to the port authority station with a big touristy smile to wait for the bus... and wait for the bus... and meet a very attractive German girl who had a solid american accent.. and wait for the bus... getting a little worried now that it was 2 hours before my flight and I was still in Midtown Manhattan when I needed to be somewhere in close proximity to Newark airport. I had to keep a brave face however, if not for my sake then for the sake of Ruth (the german girl) who was hitting lifetime high anxiety levels as her flight was at the same time as mine. The bus finally came but was stuck in some serious Friday night New York traffic. With the tension building inside the bus I had to be Ruth's rock, in the back of my mind I was picturing a nice clean place to stay for ocktoberfest and some fun hang out time in Germany.

I was doing magnificently, suprisingly well infact until Ruth informed me that she was not alone on her travels and had left a man-friend in Costa Rica. With no-one's rock to be, the new york traffic only condensing around and the temperature approaching a scorching... (actually the bus had air con) I was starting to fall apart.

With me beggining to crumble and her boyfriend in Costa Rica, Ruth was clearly on the brink of a panic attack, another girl from Denmark who we started chatting to wasnt making matters any better, chatting away as her flight left another hour after ours. It was up to me to hold things together once more. I was able to calm both of us down, practically tackling Ruth from getting off the bus when it stopped at the first (the wrong) terminal and with a "take those fingernails out of your mouth Ruth, 'She'll be right' (not that I have ever said that before discovering the awesome power of the Australian accent) we were off the bus, checked in and saying our goodbyes at the gate lounge.

The flight over was "well rough" as it was a 5 hour flight that took place whilst 12 hours of time (New York to London time) elapsed on my watch. I was off the plane, onto the heathrow express, out to Hammersmith and into the car with Michelle who picked me up from the tube station.

A quick shower and I was out and about in London Town on the Big Bus Company open top bus. This was my kind of sightseeing. Trafalger Square = done, Picadilly Circus = done, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, London Eye = done, done and done. All in an afternoon's work. Brilliant.

The next day I was off to Lord's in the morning to see all of one and a half hours of test match cricket, over into the Notting Hill Carnival for some Jerk Chicken and a few spectacular displays of West Indian music and dance and back home for another lovely home cooked dinner.

This morning I was up a little earlier and with a cooked breakfast in the belly shot down to Hammersmith tube station for a day at the Natural History Museum (One of the things I missed in New York). On the way to the tube station I felt a sting on my right hand. I looked down and there I saw the number one enemy of the Englishman in the summer, the european wasp having a good crack at my middle finger. I shook him off and waited to see if I was one of those people who were alergic to wasp stings. Having always I assumed I was and therefore having a slight phobia of wasps and bees I was getting a little worried. Anyway, on I walked and with nothing but a bit of throbbing and itching I was on my way to South Kensington station on the tube.

London to be continued....

The museum was great. Felt like a little kid again running around looking at dinosaurs and blue whales. Playing memory and sensory games etc etc.

My last day on London saw attempt to see the changing of the guards which didnt take place on that particular day, go for a killer workout at crossfit central london and get my revenge on those bloody trafalger square pigeons that terrorised me out of my mind when I was but 3 years old. Was a scared of them some 18 years later? No siree... I came out from under my metaphorical pram and was now the terroriser as apposed to the terrorisee. Photos above.

Workouts at crossfit central London

5RFT
5 power clean at 70kg
20 double unders

4:35

Practise:
HSPU
Pistol
Butterfly

Last day:

All the following for time:
200m 20lb MB OH carry
3 Rounds with 2 min rest btwn rounds
32 situps abmat unanchored
32 pushups hands off ground
32 pullups
32 box jumps 24 inch
200m 20lb MB OH carry

Total time: 25:15 (I think)

The Centre Of The World

After being in New York for a good few days now it really feels like it is the city centre of the world. There are people from all different nationalities, socio-economic brackets, religions etc and despite having their own little districts are all knitted together with relatively no trouble. This is a true city. This is definitely my favourite city so far and I can't see how it will lose top spot. Underground there is the incredibly efficient and easy to use subway system, you then pop up into one of the many buzzing neighbourhoods with eateries, shops and bars run by people from all walks of life for people from all walks of life. Then there is the traffic. With time perceived in a totally different way to the way it is in Australia cars are rushing around but people are rushing in front of cars with a "Screw you, Im wawkin' 'ere" attitude. With patience being a challenge of mine I feel at home in a city like this. Above all this hustle and bustle is a breathtaking skyline. Walking down some streets is like walking in between massive cliffs (especially on wall st, downtown) with walls of steel concrete and glass surrounding you. All this, surrounded by water with little islands like liberty and coney? Its like a fairytale. You can't walk for very long without running into a statue, shop or restaurant you have seen in a movie or on TV. I haven't even left and yet can't wait to be back.

Back to the tales.

We (Adam, Brooke and I) didn't end up going to Coney island as the people we were going out with didn't land at JFK until about 8 that night which would give us less than the required time to fully enjoy it. Instead we had a few drinks at brooke's apartment before heading for a walk down into the "Meat Packing District". We walked down some typical New York streets, past a sex shop of Sex and the City fame and past Carrie's house itself. Ive never seen an episode but it was exciting nonetheless. A guy named Mike from South Dakota and I started with "Geez I love this city" and after a few ales it became a bit of a laugh. I laugh this city, I love this bar, I love this beer, I love etc etc... We went to a little bar called the Brass Monkey. Reminded me of the Beastie Boys song however I have no idea if it was their inspiration. After a solid few sherbets I got Brooke to take us to Joe's pizza, a famous new york pizzeria (box ticked). She rang ahead and even though they were closed got them to give us a feed. Im starting to get the feeling she has a little bit of pull around here. Now, you can put all sorts of gourmet toppings on a pizza in an attempt to make it delicious, goats cheese, truffles, smoked salmon etc. But executive chefs in fancy restaurants around the world... "Fuggettaboutit". Dough. Tomato sauce. Cheese. Done. The best, simplest, most delicious pizza I've ever had. I refuse to put it down to the beer I was seriously in heaven.

In a cab. Into bed. 4 hours sleep. Up for sightseeing with an Aussie girl called Tamara. Rough.

Coffee. Eggs. Turkey. Fruit Salad. Ready to go...

We headed down to Ground Zero. Had a look at the memorial. I was astounded that 400 first responders were killed in the attacks and that the youngest killed was only 2 and a half years old. Despite women and children also being killed in the American retaliation it is easier to empathize with the American response. It allowed me to understand the anger with which marines went into Iraq as described in a book I'm reading called "One Bullet Away" by Marine Officer Nathaniel Fick.

From there we shot down to Battery Park (Tick) and took the free ferry across to Staten Island to see the statue of Liberty. Despite being (as everyone says) smaller than expected (which for me meant it was the size I expected it to be) it was magnificent to see such an iconic statue with my own eyes and reasonably close without having to pay for a ferry to the actual island.

After shooting straight back to Manhattan we went for a walk down wall st which was really what I imagined New York to be like. Walls of building lining the streets, suits rushing by, the stock exchange etc. I found a really nice looking chocolate shop by the name of "La Maison Du Chocolate". Wow, easily the best chocolate I've ever had. I had a passionfruit granach and a orange and lemon zest granach. 2 tiny bit sizes only cost me just under 4 dollars but you could easily drop some serious cash there. I think Ill be visiting the London/Paris branches.

Next was lunch in Chinatown. By this stage I was starving and had a generous roast duck entree with a beef and broccoli main on rice. just over ten bucks and a really good sized feed. We then strolled through little Italy which was somewhere that I could picture my Nan and Pop settling into from a spaghetti and some veal scallopini. Some awesome little restaurants, pizzeria's and cafes. I stopped in at sal's pizza joint for a slice. I think I saw it on Entourage one time. Anyway it was delicious but I think Joe has Sal covered by a small margin.

Really hitting the hangover/fatigue wall now we stopped for a double espresso at colombe coffee which seemed with a cool little coffee place. Nice coffee, my second nice coffee of the day (I forgot to mention my first one was a single origin Ethiopian bean which I think was brewed pour over style) and the caffeine was enough to a) get me excited about walking through Greenwich Village and b) give me the energy to get to the subway and back to the hostel.

What a day. Back to the hostel. Nuts. Berries. Snooze hard.

Woke up for a workout before dinner. It was awful. Gym packed half with people who had no clue and half with freakin' narcissist bodybuilders. Workout below..

Warmup:
500 m Row
Squat Bottom Hold
Sampson Stretch

Strength:
Deadlifts with yet another american gripless barbell. Still no excuses for my poor effort of:
2 x 5 Deadlifts @ 142kg

Metcon:
AMRAP 10
10 Power Cleans @ 61kg
10 toes to bar
10 burpees

3 very lethargic, nauseating rounds.

Building:
Tabata Row

Good to do something. But Morale was rock bottom. Looking forward to a crossfit gym workout at metropolis tomorrow.

Then got a deli buffet feed which I mistakenly thought was 5.99 all you can eat but with 5.99 per pound so I got stitched 10 bucks for some really shitty food. Chicken and Vege but I seriously hate to think how long it was "brewing" under lights.

Early one tonight. Up early tomorrow. I think a really nice breakfast somewhere cool and then off to central park. The MET and across to CrossFit Metropolis for a workout.

Happy days.

I'm Wawkin' 'ere!

New York, New York. What a magical town in which to stay. After the first two nights in a cool 6 bedroom apartment in Brooklyn it was off and into the big smoke to my hostel right near times square. The weather has been average since I've arrived but the energy anything but. I went for a stroll to get some lunch at wholefoods shortly after checking in and found myself on a little walking adventure up broadway. I dont think I was anywhere special but just sitting down watching the city function and taking it all in was good enough for me.

Slight disappointment in the new york sports club being closed but back to the hostel for a shower and I was off to dinosaur bbq in harlem for dinner. Notorious for massive servings of meat it was always going to be a winner with Adam and I but the extent to which we would be loving life exceeded our expectations. I went for the recommended Tres Hombres. Which was a plate full of pulled pork, texas brisket and a fair helping of bbq pork ribs. The sides consisted of an absolutely phenomenal mash sweet potato with cinnamon and pecan (pe-carn) nuts. Adam however went for the EXTREME sampler which was half a chicken half a rack of ribs and texas brisket. He demolished it pretty well, I was impressed. We then headed back downtown to chelsea for a famous massive frozen margarita suggested by our Canadian New Yorker companion Brooke. Funnily enough it was also at a bbq place. It was big and hard to finish especially with the extra shot they put in the top that I though was a fat straw as it came in a long plastic tube. How embarrassment.

This morning I got up and went to New York Sports Club which is the official gym of the FDNY which was pretty cool. Had a good little cobweb blowerouterererer...

Workout 1:

Strength:
3 x Max reps 83kg Bench Press - 10 Strict chins in between sets.

Result - 9 (pushed up to the lower rack on the tenth), 7, 5.
Better than my max in LA for the first set. Who'da thunk it.

Work Capacity:
AMRAP 20

5 Push Jerk 61kg
10 Pullups
15 Squats

Result - 9 Rounds + 5 Push Jerks
First two rounds unbroken butterfly felt amazing then the grip went to shite not helped by the slippery rubber chin ups handles.

Stamina:
3 x max situps in a minute with 1 minute rest.

Result - 35, 35, 35.

Today is Adam's last day here in NYC so we are doing a Wholefoods, film and crossfit workout combo before heading over to Coney island with Brooke and a bunch of other people for a night out.

Workout 2:

5 x 5 Snatch

43, 51, 51, 51, 51kg sets of 5.

Things to do in NYC list.

Battery Park.
Central Park.
The MET.
The Museum of Natural History.
Moma (maybe)
Top of one of the tall buildings.
Eat at one of the famous pizza joints and eat at as many great spots as possible.
Find a good coffee.

That's about it for now.

The Last Little While

The Mexican adventure finished with two very different locations. The jungle of Palenque and the white sandy beaches of can cun. In Palenque the hostel was a beautiful little resort looking place set in amongst the "jungle" with a restaurant/bar up on the second level surrounded by trees and various other greenery. The weather was like Escondido hot and stick but with passing showers was a little more bearable. The food at the hostel was amazing and didnt break budget. For what we they were serving you would be paying 3 or 4 times as much in a classy australian restaurant.

After an early night it was off to see some spectacular ruins and two different waterfalls where we could swim. The ruins were awesome. Very different from those in Mexico City as they were set deep(ish) in the jungle and were closer to something seen in Indiana Jones. So close in fact that we had a little bit of an Indiana Jones moment.. Exploring one set of ruins we entered the ancient building through a little passage way that lead to a pitch black room. With no touch immediately available I thought it would be cool to just take flash photos and get flashes of what lay beyond the darkness as we slowly crept into the dark room. Flash... some pretty tomb-like looking piles of stones in a small room.. Flash.. more of the same.. Flash... okay, I think we had seen it all now. Then Brad finally found his touch and with Dave and I deep within the "chamber" by now he said "Oh shit, look up there on the wall!" to we responded with a "ha ha good on...BATTTSSS!!!! and we bolted out of the little room dodging swooping bats overhead.

We entered each of the following ruins with a little more care but found a few more bat dwellings.

The waterfalls were pretty cool one of them complete with a lifeguard and the other with a swinging rope into the river. It was a fun day. When we got back we went down to the bus station to book the overnight to can cun only to find that they had one seat on three different buses as opposed to the preferred and obviously more convenient three seats on the one bus. So we all bought tickets for different buses and hoped that they all ended up in a similar place. I had the first leaving one so rushed back to get another great meal from the hostel before returning the the bus stop to get on the bus. The heavy rain had caused delays and to cut a long story short I left 45 minutes after the other two who's buses were schedules for 30 and 60 minutes after mine. After another interesting overnight trip we all ended up in the same place and found a hotel to spend the night in can cun.

The next day we were able to check into the Hyatt with pretty spectacular views of the beach and was in great proximity to the main strip.

Hotel gym workout

3 x Max Dead Hang Pullup

17, 10, 8

20 min Amrap

10 50# Hang Squat Clean Thruster

20 Situps

30 Double Unders

Result - 6 Rounds

20 OHS @ weighted bar

20 Squat Snatch @ weighted bar

That night we went out to a beach party connected to one of the clubs and it was a pretty big night with $40 entry once you were in it was open bar so I was feeling pretty average in the morning.

The boys were off that afternoon and without getting all "Paul" (English guy who was with us for a day or two and told us he loved how it was "just easy" to hang out with us) about it we said our farewells but it was definitely sad to see them off.

That night I had a good night of recovery, watched a few movies and chilled out. The following day I took it very easy. Buffet brunch, Beach, Pool, Workout*, Beach Volleyball.

*

Building:

3 x Max Pushups in 1 minute - 41, 31, 27

Work Capacity:

5 Rounds

4 HSPU

6 Dead Hang Pullup

8 DB Swings 50#

10 Burpees

11:19

Sprints:

10 x 50m Sand Sprint

7 Sprints + 3 shuttles as hamstring seized up a little on the 7th sprint. Sign of conditioning starting to regress.

That night it was out again on the can cun strip with a couple of girls from Sydney that I had met at the hotel. It was another cover charge (which I bargined for this time) and open bar job but nowhere near as big or late. Which I was thankful for because of my flight out to New York the next day.

Buffet. Check out. Taxi to airport. New York.

Arrived at Newark airport New Jersey and caught a bus across to Grand Central where I caught a train to Brooklyn where I was staying. Little did I know Brooklyn is pretty large and being in Brooklyn doesn't necessarily mean your'e in walking distance to the apartment your'e staying at in Brooklyn. After a further 2 hours of playing around with the subway, feeling very out of place due to a certain aesthetic characteristic and turning down many the offer of marijuana I finally hopped in a cab and got to my destination. After not enough sleep the night before I was informed that we were heading out in Manhattan. Even in my half asleep state it was hard to notice the picturesque neighbourhoods and breath taking skyline of Manhattan. It was hard to believe that I was actually in a city I'd dreamt about going to for so long.

Today after a good long sleep we went down to a place called 5 points. Which is a big factory taking up nearly a whole block where the entire thing is a legal graffiti wall. Great idea and some nice pieces.

Looking forward to my week in New York. One more night in Brooklyn, then off to Times Square to a hostel and a couple of days of being a tourist and hopefully doing some good things for my body which is feeling pretty average after 20 days in Mexico.

Canyon Cruisin

After a night out at bar revolucione which was yet another anti climatic lonely planet hyped evening it was off to Tuxtla for a cruise in the canyon via speedboat. The drive down to the river from our little town in the mountains was filled with amazing views and some interesting mexican ways of the road. On a one way highway the courteous thing to do seems to be driving in what we would call the service lane in case someone wants to over take you. Interesting when you are speeding along on cliff edges weaving in and out whilst over taking buses and trucks.

When we arrived it was tourist galore with a sea of people in fluorescent orange life vests packing into speed boats for a cruise down the river between canyon like cliffs. The first few attractions were waterfalls and spider monkeys high up in the canopy. Then we came to a sudden halt as apprx 100m of the river had been blacked by logs, twigs, mud and various plastic bottles and other garbage. Just as I was thinking that these multi hundred meter high cliffs, waterfalls and rainforest like fauna were the closest to a true wilderness I had seen in Mexico yet we encounter this pollution. It took a good 5 or 10 minutes to push our way through the blockage and then it was off to the other side where we saw pelicans and an absolutely spectacular waterfall which we sped up to and floated through. It was a whole lot of fun just speeding around this beautiful place with near breathtaking views even without the little stop offs at waterfalls and to see wildlife.

On the way back as we made our second pass through the debris (natural and unnatural) we spotted a little green gecko and with little a due the boat driver proceeded to lean over, grab it by the tale and pull it into the boat. The crowd went wild and he was instantly surrounded by all the cameras on the boat. El boat drivo left the best till last as we then pulled up to a river bank spotted with groups of crocs. The little english girl behind us nearly wet herself but we comforted her by telling her they can only fly for about 10 metres so we should be alright at this distance. After which she abandoned her Sri Lankan heritage going a bright shade of white. Fun times. The next river bank was el pieco de resistancio with a big fat mama croc just chilling on the bank. The boat in front of us must have been a little close as she lifted her head off the muddy bank and gave them a good stare off. This reminded me of the boat trip in India where me and pop came within feet of a hissing, growling croc.

A fun day and with all in the boat satisfied we headed back to San Cristobal for a coffee and a stroll up to the church on the hill (not the best with names of places/things). From here we had a decent view of the city but a slightly obscured one due to lots of trees in the way. Met a cool dog up there who may have had rabies and flees but I didnt hold it against him and we had time for a photo together before it was back down to the town to purchase some vegies for dinner.

Workout wise the challenge and innovation continues. With the 5kg DBs the lady at the hostel gave me after breaking her 200 yr old ledge I did:

Tabata squat clean man makers 8 rounds

then 3 x 1 minute on 1 minute off squat clean man makers

about 10 per 60 seconds.

This arvo was:

Travellers Helen

3 Rounds for time of:

400m Run
21 x 24 to 30 inch box jumps on ledge
12 x Commando Pullups on tree (alternate grip on tree branch pulling up head on alternate sides of branch)

8:17

then

3 x 60 on 60 off of Toes to tree

Got 10 reps for all 3 minutes.

San Cristobal and a stomach of fire

The slight stomach issues that I thought we made short work of by my pepto bismol tablets returned with vengeance yesterday which resulted in a few 10 to 15 minute sessions on el porcelaino. Slept pretty well on the overnight bus from puerto to san cristobal a lovely little town in the middle of the mountains. But after a serve of eggs and some coffee it was back to el porcelaino for some further one on one time. The hostel we are staying at is a nice little place run in a family home by two really nice locals who have a cute little baby boy. So in return I proceeded to have a little workout in their courtyard and whilst down chin ups on a little ledge ontop of one of the pillars in the archway broke a massive chunk of the ledge off with bits of brick and concrete spilling all over the floor. I informed the owners who were really nice about it but told me that if papa finds out im in big trouble. To this moment I have successfully avoided papa and have organised to pay for repair tomorrow. The workout up to that point was.

100 Hands off floor pushups for time

5:10

Part of:

50 ledge pull ups for time with 20 sit ups every time I broke.

Ledge came down on the 29th rep. Got 12 in the first set then 3 sets of 5. Very awkward due to having to try and wrap legs around/avoid contact with pillar below.

Today we visited a coffee museum which as we are finding to be the case quite common was another lonely planet disappointment. The museum was pretty average and the coffee not too bad but no brother buba velvet. Highlight at this plate was the crepes with nutella sauce which provided great energy for me after not being able to hold much else in few the past 48 hrs. We then went for a stroll along a little street full of cafes and bars where I spotted a subway and my craving for some non mexican food led me to enjoy a 6 inch double meet chicken fillet subway with all the trimmings available. Stomach full and feeling much better (for now). We sat in a Mexican bar and watched the Mexico Spain soccer match with a couple of fanatic barkeeps. The pseudo cobbled/real cobbled streets of Oaxaca and San Cristobal remind me of scenes in movies ive seen set in Europe and are quite great fun to explore.

For now its time to cook dinner, have a shower and maybe head out to find a bar called revolution which has been highly recommended by fellow travellers. It was however also recommended by lonely planet so we await tonight with cautious anticipation.