DAYS 76 - 84: SKIING IN YUZAWA, JAPAN

Our week's skiing in Yuzawa was fantastic. We had some great days skiing with loads of powder, no wind and plenty of sun. Yuzawa is a small village located within a 20 minute drive from over 13 ski resorts so we took our pick of the best each day. Most of our days consisted of skiing, a feed and some solid games of poker. There was absolutely no nightlife which was a welcome relief after the last few months.

Because of the repetitve nature of this week, we have condensed the blogs into just two to save you all from the monotonous blogs! With all the free time on his hands, Dave, our in house editor went a bit overboard artistically with this video. Try your best to enjoy it anyway...

A RECENT ARTICLE ON CRAZYJOURNEY IN THE MALAYSIAN NEW SUNDAY TIMES

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DAY 76 - TOKYO TO ECHIGO-YUZAWA

Fintan with some of the Tuna fish about to be auctioned off at Tsujiki Fish Markets

Dave and Fintan, rather than go to bed, did an all nighter and headed to the Tsujiki fish markets, the largest of its kind in the world. Arriving at 6am after nearly getting run over by forklifts on the way we legged it straight to the tuna auction rooms where auctioneers sold massive tunas every 4 seconds in an intense and seemingly unrecognisable but melodic chant for over 20 minutes at a time without pause!

That afternoon we set off for the slopes on one of the famous Japanese Bullet Trains. Our destination was the town of Yuzawa which was only a mere 1 hour Bullet train drive away at the trains staggering but surprisingly smooth speed of 200mph!

Fintan with our Bullet Train to the slopes!

Rhys mate Josh collected us on arrival and we were blown away by the amount of snow there. Josh informed us that the previous night it had bucketed 20cm on the resort. Dressed in normal clothes, we were completely unprepared for these harsh conditions. Josh's company, http://www.welovesnow.com/ , kindly agreed to put us up in free accommodation for our stay. Knackered, we all hit the bed early for skiing the next day!

Check out we love snow's site by clicking on the image below!

AUSBUM.TV CRAZY JOURNEY EPISODE 2

For more, Diaries, Videos and Photos, Check out http://crazyjourneyhummer.blogspot.com/

DAY 74 - TOKYO DAY 1

The famous Ginza Crossing, Tokyo

We arrived in Narita Airport at 7am, knackered after the overnight flight. Bags collected, we caught the next train towards Tokyo only to hit rush hour at the first stop. Tokyo is the most densely populated city on Earth so navigation through this unfamiliar subway network in rush hour was an ordeal.

We eventually found our hostel accommodation which was basically 7 floors of rooms, each separated into 28 tiny bed cubicles. We found it a bit odd at first but the cubicles were actually quite a nice way to sleep.

Our cubicle accomodation!

By chance, 2 mates of Rhys and Chuck were also in Tokyo so we all headed off to check out Ginza, a world famous shopping district of Tokyo. The place was crowded with impeccably dressed Japanese women.

Dave and his Tokyo facemask on the Metro

Even after only one day here we have found a lot of things are really strange to us. For example, we all noticed a huge amount of people wearing facemasks around the city especially on the Metro. We have no idea what they are for as the pollution isn't too bad and Dave was getting worried these people knew something we didn't so in the fear of catching some form of virus he wasn't taking any chances and bought himself one!

That night, we went for a sushi dinner. After, Rhys and Chuck headed out for a sake drenched night out in Roppongi with their mates from Sydney while Dave and Finto decided to do an all nighter, wrapping up a lot of missed blogs before heading to the famous Tsukiji fish markets at 5am the following morning.

For more Crazy Updates, Videos and Photos, check out http://crazyjourneyhummer.blogspot.com/

CRAZYJOURNEY AUSBUM.TV EPISODE 1

THE FIRST EPISODE OF AUSSIEBUM's CRAZYJOURNEY DOCUMENTARY

NEW EPISODE AIRS EVERY FRIDAY AT 12 NOON SYDNEY TIME!

ENJOY!

DAY 71 to 73 - BANGKOK ORGANISATION

The Hummer is Squeezed into a container bound for Calcutta, India.

We wont repeat details about a city we’ve already visited and previously described but Bangkok has been growing on us immensely the longer we stay here. With 3 days here before an impending flight to Japan we organized getting the Hummer into a container which will leave Bangkok on a ship bound for Calcutta.

After Rhys organized some bargain flights to Tokyo and onward to Calcutta, we had to get to the shipping agent's warehouse for car fumigation and our usual ritual of removing the roof-rack and spotlights in order for the car to fit into the container.

That evening, Dave and Fintan decided on a last minute impromptu visit to our favourite Bangkok haunt, Bed Supperclub. We didnt expect anything form this place on a Tuesday night, but to our delight, the place was jammed with the best of Bangkok glitteratti. We only intended a quick fly-by but as most people know, the best nights out are those that are unplanned! As soon as we arrived, our friend Goy the manager looked after us with free entry and drinks and so began a mad night, ending with sore heads at 7am in the morning!

Through some form of divine intervention, Dave managed to get up at 9am and drive the Hummer to the port beginning the arduous task of squeezing the car into the container. After a 6 hour ordeal, the car was finally secured and with the container doors finally shut, Dave almost collapsing, waved goodbye to the Hummer until our Indian leg in 3 weeks time! See video below...

Job done, we re-grouped in St.James Hotel, where Dave and Fintan legged it off to MBK mall for some last minute shopping. Dave's friend Gale from Bangkok took us around, helping us barter for the best prices. We reckon they rip you off much less if you are actually Thai! We set off from MBK to the airport to catch up with Rhys and Chuck who had made their own way and caught the plane to Tokyo just in the nick of time after the final call!

For more Crazy Updates, Videos and Photos, check out http://crazyjourneyhummer.blogspot.com/

DAY 70 - VANG VIENG TO BANGKOK

Rhys back at our favourite Bangkok haunt, St.James Hotel, where they were all surprised to see us again!

Once again we woke up in rag order after the previous days tubing and reached the consensus that there was no physical way we could go through the same ordeal again. So we happily packed up and bid farewell to Vang Vieng heading for the Thai border at Vientienne and onwards to Bangkok.

We arrived to Bangkok in the middle of the night and made our way to to St.James Hotel for the night where we had previously stayed the last time here. The staff were all surprised to see us after waving us goodbye only a month ago!

A final decision was needed on what to do with oursleves while the car is being put on a container ship to Calcutta for the next 18 days.

We had 3 choices to fill this time:
1. Nepal/Everest BaseCamp
2. Vietnam and Cambodia/Backpacking
3. Japan/Skiing

If we could have continued by Car into Tibet our next stage was to trek to Everest Base Camp in Nepal en route to India. Since we could no longer drive to Nepal, we were considering flying directly from Bangkok and attempting the Base Camp anyway. However we were advised against this by many people due to the inconsistency of tours this time of year especially with the severe snow storms in the regions and we would more than likely be left disappointed with our inability to reach it.

Our second option was to travel by land and backpack from Bangkok through Cambodia and Vietnam, visiting Ankar Wat, Phnom Phen, Ho Chi Minh City and finally flying from Hanoi to Calcutta.

Lastly, we had heard news from Rhys’ brother, Flynn who was on a ski holiday in Japan with friends who work for a ski travel company, welovesnow.com. They heard about CRAZYJOURNEY and were willing to give us free accommodation for our stay there.

We finally decided on the skiing option as it was the most cost efficient and interesting option as we could also fit Tokyo into our trip. We set ourselves to book flights the following day to Tokyo!

For more Crazy Updates, Videos and Photos, check out http://crazyjourneyhummer.blogspot.com/

DAY 69 - VANG VIENG DAY 2

Tubers float down the Mekong for another day of carnage!

We all woke up in absolute bits from the huge day before and tried to piece together what the hell had gone on the previous night in the knowledge that we were about to go through the whole routine again today! The cloudy day didn’t stop anybody and soon we were on a tuk tuk with some other Irish lads en route to the starting point. In much the same vein as the day before, the buckets came hard and fast and madness ensued.

Previously we thought that nowhere on Earth cold be as crazy as Ko Phangan. Having experienced both in the last few months, we all agree that tubing in Vang Vieng would give Ko Phangan a good run for its money!

If you can't see videos, go to http://crazyjourneyhummer.blogspot.com/

DAY 68 - VANG VIENG DAY 1

THE RIVER RUNS WILD!!!

The Tubes are loaded on to the Hummer en Route to the Mekong

We had a rough idea of what was ahead of us today. Loads of travellers we had met mentioned Vang Vieng as one of their Laotian highlights not to be missed but we had no idea that the day was going to be as crazy as it turned out.

We began by renting our tubes, which at a price of 4 euro a day was well worth it! Most people go in tuk tuks to the starting point 5 kms away but we decided to attach our tubes to the roof of the Hummer to get the job done faster. Tubing in Vang Vieng is essentially a 1 kilometre long river passage of the Mekong littered with crazy bars each with their own massive river swing or zip-line, selling vodka buckets for 3 euro. As we travelled further down river, the swings got higher and higher making it very interesting, especially since the further we travelled down the river, the more drunk everyone became! The final and largest bar has an Irish DJ, a volleyball court and a massive 30ft high swing. Dave got the Irish crowd going by requesting 'Rocky Road to Dublin' and the large Irish contingent got together for a mini ceili on the volleyball court! Check the absolutely crazy video below to see what we're on about!

Luckily for everybody involved, tubing finishes at 6pm when it becomes dark or there would be serious injuries! Afterwards, all the loose tubers head into the town centre on tuk tuks to continue the madness. Our memories are a bit hazy from here on in but we all have the same vague image in our heads of Dave in the middle of the town, clad in nothing else but a green shamrock waistcost, dancing on top of the Hummer to Irish Trad Music! See photo below...

What a day!!!!!!

DAY 67 - LUANG PRABANG TO VANG VIENG

The sun sets over Luang Prabang

After another tough bowling session, Dave and Fintan spent most of the day smashing through a round of blog entries while Rhys and Chuck took a final wander around town taking in the sunset before we all set off for our next stop on this u-turn, Vang Vieng.

After a 5 hour drive we got in to Vang Vieng quite late, luckily found the last available hostel and hit the sack straight away in preparation for a massive few days in this town which has become well known for it's tubing sessions down the Mekong River.

DAY 66 - LUANG PRABANG DAY 2

We were luckily enough to startle an endangered Puma (Dave) in his natural environment en route to Kouang Si Waterfall!

With groggy heads after a hard bowling session we got up late and decided to clear our hangovers by heading to Kouang Si Waterfall about 20kms outside town. At times, we really appreciate having our own transport especially when we see backpackers being ripped off and packed into tiny tuk tuks on the way to tourist spots.

Upon arrival to the waterfall we spotted a swing rope into one of the pools. A recurring source of jokes and amusement throughout the journey has been the infamous 'Malibu gets owned' video on Youtube. This is an early 90s clip from the US Gladiators show where the ultimate athlete, Brian Hudson gloriously knocks out the gladiator, Malibu. Although reaching the technical perfection of Hudson's swinging kick would be impossible, Dave gave it his best shot. See the two hilarious videos below and make your own comparisons!

'Malibu Gets Owned' Video

Dave Attempts to Re-Create the Brian Hudson Swing Kick!

That evening we took a stroll around the night markets which has all kinds of things for sale from locally made slippers, scarfs and jewellery to our old favourite, bottled Laos Whiskey and dead cobra! After an Indian dinner, we headed to a local bar and met plenty of other Irish travellers.

Luang Prabang's Night Markets

The night once again ended with a trip to the bowling alley where we were having a laugh with the local Laotian girls who worked there. They were a great laugh and full of smiles as most Laotian people are. Despite being tiny, they still kicked our asses at bowling.

Dave and the two girls who beat us at bowling...These girls are 19 but look like 6 year olds!

DAY 65 - LUANG PRABANG DAY 1

Luang Prabang's Main Street

We arrived in Luang Prabang at lunchtime and were pleased to find an abundance of Fench restaurants to eat at. The French influence is evident here through French architecture as well as mainly French translations on signs around the town. This influence in Laos originates from an occupation by the Indo-Chinese arm of the French Empire following the Franco-Siamese War of 1893. The town itself has a relxed feel to it with stunning sunsets and a nightmarket in the evening selling all sorts of local goods.

Fintan putting his years of experience working in McQuilllan Tools to good use!

We checked into a cheap guesthouse on the banks of the Mekong River and got a quick bite in a local bistro. The Hummer has been put thorugh its paces over the last few weeks in China and en route to Luang Prabang, it developed a severe rattling under the chassis at the rear end. Upon closer inspection we noticed that a bolt which connects the main frame to the rear suspension had fallen off, presumably due to the terrible road conditions in China. Dave and Fintan set about to find a replacement bolt in a makeshift moped and tool garage on the outskirts of town while Chuck and Rhys went for a few beers. After several failed attempts, we eventually found a candidate bolt and did a bit of a DIY job.

Dave in his element at the Bowling Alley in Luang Prabang

Potential crisis averted, we joined the boys for drinks and literally got the ball rolling (no pun intended) for the evening! All the bars in the town must close at 12am and after this there is a mass exodus of western backpackers to a single random bowling alley on the outskirts of town, the only place serving alcohol after-hours. The mix of 50 drunk people and bowling balls made for some interesting techniques to say the least!

DAY 65 ROUTE MAP - CLICK TO ENLARGE

DAY 64 - MOHAN TO MUANG XAY (LAOS)

Today, we finally squeezed through the border in the nic of time after hours of waiting for the notoriusly tedious 'paperworks'! They finally arrived at 4pm and we began the arduous emmigration process which took over 1 hour. Through the border at 5.21pm gave us 9 minutes, just enough time to gun through no-mans-land over to the Laostian side, apply for our 2nd Laos visa in a month and finally into Laos just as the gates were closing at 5.30pm! See Video Below...

It was a real relief to get out of China and back into Laos, that we all loved the last time we were there. Laos people are so friendly and welcoming in contrast to the dry natured Chinese. We stopped for halfway to Luang Prabang for a welcome change of cuisine from the Chinese lucky dip back to the tasty Laos food.

We intended to reach Luang Prabang that evening but due to wrong turn which lead to a 2 hour de-tour in the wrong direction, we were forced to u-turn and stop halfway at the small town of Muang Xay (see map below) for a few hours sleep. We're not pointing any fingers here but the person in shotgun, (Rhys at that gievn time) assumes total responsibility of all directions. It may not be exclusively his fault but responsibility is implied through positioning in the car!

DAY 64 ROUTE MAP - MOHAN TO MAUNG XAY

DAY 63 - JING HONG TO MOHAN/CHINESE BORDER

CAN'T LEAVE CHINA!!!

The Chinese Border Closes....What a giant symbolic waste of time!

We left Jing Hong early in order to reach Mohan and the Chinese border well before it closed for the day at 5.30 pm. We were all looking forward to the prospect of reaching Luang Prabang that evening, out of China and into some relative normality. As expected, the roads were the usual Chinese mix of non-stop bends and potholes as far as Meng-La. We stopped here for lunch in a place where the Health and Safety Authority of any western country would have an absolute field day. The state of the outdoor kitchen was something to behold! With little option but to just stomach it or go hungry, we got stuck in and got back on the road to Mohan.

It had been a constant tease driving for miles on these crap roads side by side with an inaccessible, flat and perfectly straight uncompleted highway. Just outside Meng-La however we spotted a van having a go at driving along it anyway. With Dave absolutely sick to the teeth of the useless Chinese roads, he reckoned it was worth the risk for us to have an attempt aswell. We got via a makeshift dirt ramp and in no time Dave could finally put the boot down in the knowledge that there were no rules or speed limits. Other than slowing down for the incomplete sections, we gunned the Hummer up to her top speed of 160kmph all the way to Mohan in good time for the border formalities.

However, after all this effort, China would have the last laugh! Jason informed us that the final necessary 'Paperworks' were in Meng-La where we had just left with a litany of Communist stamps and approvals still needing to be obtained. This meant that we would have to wait another day which came as no real surprise after 11 days dealing with intense Chinese bureaucracy. See Video Below...

In a last ditch effort to keep today's Laos flame alive, Dave gunned it back with Jason and his accomplice to Meng-La to collect the 'Paperworks' with an hour and a half until the border closed on the condition that Jason ordered the papers to be ready for immediate collection. Although it took 40 minutes of all out driving, Dave got to Meng-La in good time and dropped Jason off to get the documents. But not surprisingly Dave ended up waiting for about an hour, thereby missing the deadline and facing another night in China at Mohan.

Jason was told whilst organising our paperworks that we were only the 5th foreign car to drive into China in 2008, which is not surprising considering how much of a pain in the ass it is!

DAY 63 ROUTE MAP

RELEASE OF CRAZYJOURNEY PROMO FOR AUSBUM.TV

CRAZYJOURNEY DOCUMENTARY PROMO!

Its been a while since our last blog but due to a lack of internet access as well as Dave and Fintan being under a lot of pressure to meet the deadline for their new weekly column in the Irish Times new Travel Supplement (out on March 1st).

In the meantime, check out the promo and first release of the crazyjourney documentary from http://www.ausbum.tv/. This will be a weekly show every Friday at 12.00pm Australian Eastern Time (1.ooam Dublin time!). Credit goes to Kiah, the main producer at Aussiebum for some great work!

Lots more classic blogs and videos coming really soon!

NEWSTALK 106 RADIO INTERVIEWS

Dave and Rhys have been doing a regular slot on 'Life' with Orla Barry on Newstalk 106 radio in Ireland! They'll be doing regular updates during Crazyjourney. Check the first 2 interviews by clicking on the pics below:

DAY 61 AND 62 - DALI TO SHUANG JIANG and JING HONG

From Dali there were two possible routes back to the Laos border. The first was to go back the way we came by heading back to Kunming and down to the broder via the expressway. The second and more direct route was through Shuang Jing and Jing Hing which according to the map was shaving 300kms off the journey. Easy decision....?!

For the first 100kms or so from Dali, the roads were fine but once we hit the mountainous region, they began to narrow, climb and deteriorate to mere dirt roads. On lowlands, the dirt roads became mud tracks that really tested the Hummer’s suspension. Our bodies were getting thrown around in the car like rag dolls as the Hummer tore through uneven mounds of dirt, 2 foot deep potholes and long flooded sections. Luckily we have a car like this! There was no chance any normal saloon or hatchback could’ve done it!

We evenutally reached a decent tarmac road only to meet a road block with a gapjust tosmall for the car to fit through. We were apprached by a man in military uniform and told we could pass through as long as the car fitted. Although the space seemed to tight, we tried to pass it in the knowledge that failuer meant a 2 hour backtrack to find a different route oneven worse roads.

None of us fancied the backtrack so when the Hummer didnt pass, we asked the army man and his dodgy entourage through Jason if there was a way to cut a piece off the massive conctere block in order to fit through. To our surprise he agreed for a fee of 200 Yuan (20 euro). Once the dal was agreed, out of nowhere some of his mates appeared with large iron crowbars and in a seemingly routine manner, moved the block with without having to cut it. We realised instantly we had been scammed and a bit of a commontion ensuded until we eventually got our money back through Jason! Check the video below for highlights of China's horrible roads...

We arrived late into a town called Shuang Jiang which is very close to Myanmar border. Instantly we realised this place was an absolute hellhole and Jason informed us that it was a major hub for opium and people smuggling between Myanmar and China. We found the least dodgy 'guesthouse' we could and the bed early.

We hit the road as soon as possible the next morning and didnt look back. Luckily for us we stayed there rather than pushing on to the next town as we were met by the aftermath of a massive landslide which happened at 2am that morning. Luckily the truckers had already cleared a small path through by the time we got there so we pushed on for an 8 hour drive to Jing Hong on what must be some of the worst roads on Earth!

DAY 60 - SHANGRI-LA TO DALI

The conditions we had to deal with today!

Today marked the first official start of the 2,000km detour we are required to take back to Bangkok to ship the car on to India. Having decided to bite the bullet and try get to Thailand as quick as possible we were up early and greeted by balmy sub zero winds and a solid foot of snow on the Hummer. For a day we had already anticipated would be a shocker it wasn’t the nicest of starts. The snow had been particularly heavy the previous night and all the roads were thoroughly snowed under and without chains on the wheels this meant a slow start.

After a breakfast in what has become our local hangout in Shangri-La (Noah’s Cafe) and some necessary phone calls on Dave’s behalf to the shipping company in Bangkok, we hit the road on what would be a 7 hour drive in terrible conditions. As the drive progressed the weather deteriorated further, and in near blizzard conditions we experienced our first real scare in the car, the Hummer hitting a large icy patch on the road and spinning 180 degrees out of control, saved only by the thick walls of snow surrounding the road side from what would have been a steep fall into a ditch. With the near disaster successfully avoided Dave, Finto and Chuck went to work digging the car from the snowy embankment while Rhys, still feeling below average, slept through the whole ordeal, ignorant to the incident which could have meant the end of the entire journey. Needless to say the guys got the car free and continued on. Relief came as the snow eased up with our descent towards sea level.

Despite the improvement in weather and temperature (albeit only slightly) there was definitely no improvement in the quality of roads nor the quality of the drivers on the roads out of Shangri la. Our opinion of Chinese roads being the worst any of us have ever experienced was only further reinforced by a long day at speeds significantly lower than would otherwise be acceptable. The 350 km drive was dragged out to almost 8 hours thanks to the conditions and we arrived late in Dali. We again returned to Cafe De Jack, the place where we had stopped for lunch on the way through and were warmly greeted by the staff who remembered us from but a few days earlier. Recounting our new dilemma and having a late night dinner we enjoyed the light hearted conversation with the friendly locals of a town we all agree is a gem relative to others in this part of the world.