letters from our readers 1996-1998
(most recent on top)
Hi Eric and Joan, I just wanted to let you know that I enjoyed reading about your travel inthe Philippines. At first, I thought that the accounts of your trip will all be about the bad things in the country and I was about to click on the back button. As I read on, it started to get better when you met your distant Uncle and how you were welcomed by your distant relatives. I was already engulfed in reading when you were climbing Baguio. True, the Philippines has its faults. But, as a Filipino I believe that things back home will change for the better and I am still proud of my country.
Anyway, I really enjoyed your candid account of your travel to my home country. I am not a travel agent nor do I work for the Foreign Affairs but I wish your next visit will be better. Happy trekking. Best regards and a Blessed Yuletide season to both of you,
Jennis T. Mortel, Dec. 1998, http://www.GeoCities.com/SouthBeach/8867/
Our response:
Hi Jennis! Hope you had a happy Yuletide yourself. Thanks for your letter. We were definitely worried that some people might read the first few Philippine chapters and think we hated the country. We actually had a great time there, and Uncle Ciano was one of the hilights of our whole world tour. I also hope we can go back and get off to a better start.
I stumbled across your website while researching Costa Rica. Enjoyed your trip right along with you. However, I doubt my traveling companion and I will be doing any bike riding when we go to Costa Rica in February 1999.
We are both 60 years old but lookin' good. He is a retired Naval man living in Virginia Beach, Va. and I live and work in Mt. Laurel, NJ (Near Phila.) We were childhood friends, like brother and sister, now both of us are divorced, so he asked me would I like to go to Costa Rica with him.
Now some people have signs on their cars that say "I brake for Animals" but on my bumper it says "I brake for trips". I just love to travel and all you have to do is dangle an airplane ticket in front of me and I'm ready.
Do you have any suggestions for two old farts traveling in a third world country with limited spanish (Donde est de banyo). Is the water safe to drink or should we be loading up on Pepto Bismol.
Are you two still traveling. I haven't had time to read all of your adventures yet but I will get back to them. How I envy you, if only when I was younger I had the opportunity or the guts to just do what you guys are doing. There is absolutely nothing that compares to traveling and meeting people from other cultures and customs. Better than any college education you could get.
If you have time to respond to me with any suggestions about Costa Rica I would really appreciate it.
Good luck to you on your travels.
Penny
Our Response: Thanks for your note!
Sounds like you're in for a blast. Even old farts can have fun in Costa Rica. The whole place is set up for honeymooners--so there are lots of cushy-package ways to see the country, if you want. Suggestions: San Jose is great, but Alajuela is smaller and way more fun. The people there are incredibly friendly. Free music in the town square several times a week. Tabocan (see the chap Joan lures Eric to paradise) is one of the best luxury spots we've seen. Fabulous hot springs of varying temperatures, beautiful gardens. Totally worth the $11 admission. You can't stay there overnight, but there are some nice (though expensive looking) resort hotels nearby. We were on a tight budget when we were there, so the only hotel clues we can give you are: Don't Go Cheap. Ten bucks bought us a jail-cell style room every night. We weren't expecting better, so that was fine with us. As for what to stock up on. The pharmacies are pretty well stocked down there, and cheaper. We bought Pepto Bismol ''tabletas" (pills) over the counter. The stores are pretty well stocked too. The one thing that I would definitely bring from home is suntan lotion. It costs $10 for a tiny bottle down there! So bring your own. After that, you're fine.
Have an excellent time, let us know how it went.
Hi Eric & Joan, Thank you for your web page about Laos. I enjoy reading about your adventure there, I was born in Lao, but grew up in Thailand. I don't remember much about Lao. I am now living in Washington DC and working at Radio Free Asia...you can visit our organization web page at www.rfa.org.
Best Regard,
Monet Vongvisai RFA - Lao Service Production Coordinator
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Re: Friendship Highway, TibetI've been reading your Tibet pages. When I traveled the Friendship Highway, it was in a four wheel drive truck, and that was tough enough. I give you credit for cycling it. While I was in Tibet they found a Japanese cyclist dead by the side of the road. He'd flown directly to Lhasa from Japan, didn't take time to acclimatize, and was surviving on instant noodles. I guess his system just shut down. In your book section, the Don Starkell book, Paddle to the Amazon is back in print - at least in Canada. I picked it up in a book store in Hong Kong. His latest book is called Paddle to the Arctic. For Australia I would recommend the book Sean and Dave's Long Drive, by Sean Condon. Sean is pushing thirty when he decides to quit his job at an agency. He recruits his friend Dave, and they drive across Australia, complaining all the way. It's quite funny.
Paul Stockton
http://www.total.net/~paul2
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From a Fellow Cyclist we almost met in New ZealandI've been enjoying your world trip account. I just finished my own world trip. Most of it was backpacking through Asia, but I did cycle through India and New Zealand. In fact I was cycling through New Zealand at the same time as you. We left Auckland for the Coromandel Peninsula the day before you did. We met Bill and Lori from Whistler in Te Mara. And we seem to have been a day or two ahead of you almost the entire time. Although I think we arrived at Franz Joseph on the same day, after we took the bus down the coast, and started cycling back up in order to get a tail wind.
Paul, November 1998
p.s. The ice cream bar with the caramel center is the Memphis Meltdown.
Editor: Thanks for your note. Bill and Lori were last sighted in Sydney, working as landscape architects. We'll check out your site. Love those Memphis Meltdowns!
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Buru QuartetHi, I would first like to compliment you on your wonderful site. I enjoyed everything you had to say about the books. I was especially interested in the Buru Quartet because I read "This Earth of Mankind" for my Sex and Social Roles in South Asia class, which is a course centered around the lives of Javanese women. The politics in the book were astonishing, but I feel cheated because I do not have the means to read the rest of the quartet (not at this time anyway). I was wondering if you could tell me one thing... Does Minke ever see Annelies again? Did it mention whatever became of her? I would really love to hear from you
--Sincerely, Lisa, November 20, 1998
Editor's note: We answered Lisa's question in private email, but we won't give away the plot here! Child of All Nations is a great read!
Eric and Joan,
I found your site from a hit about Mount Roberts. I was surfing for interesting links to put in my own Alaska Adventure website. We were not as adventurous as you. Rental car, B&Bs, then an Inside Passage Cruise. I would love to do Alaska your way. I would have liked to have seen more pictures! We hiked up Mount Roberts from 6th Street in Juneau then we took the tram down. We startled a pair of bald eagles on the hike up when we were on the back side of the mountain. Quite incredible trail. Thanks for sharing your story. I posted your web address on the Alaska travel board on AOL. Sometimes people ask questions about biking Alaska. I think that you should get quite a few hits! Have fun!
--Karen, November 18, 1998
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Thanks
Hi Eric & Joan:I've been reading about your adventures and I can't tell you both how much I've enjoyed them. I've been to Costa Rica, Maui and the interior of Alaska and have enjoyed your perspective of these places. Thanks for sharing all your experiences.
--Bea, November 18, 1998
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Tahsis, Vancouver IslandGreat website.
Sorry about your difficulties getting to Zeballos. I go there frequently by boat and I would have been happy to take you (for free!). Maybe next time.
Also, I work for B.C. Tel and I don't understand your comment about CAN$2.05/minute to make local calls. Why not just drop a quarter (that's about 5 cents US!) and talk all day?
--G.S., Tahsis, B.C., September 5, 1998
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Good luck from a West Virginian planning his own world trip
I want to wish you good luck on your voyage. I am planning to do it in two years starting in Dakar. I'm excited. Mexico is excellent. I love it there. The volcanoes outside Mexico City are fabulous if you can get over that way. I was at 13,000 feet on Popo last year when it erupted. Spectacular. When I go around there world, I don't want to miss East Africa, the trans-Siberian, Croatia (I lived in Prague during the fall, and heard that Croatia is great), and finally India. Anything you see along the way in these areas that shouldn't be missed would be greatly appreciated. Anyway, have a good trip.--John G., West Virginia U., March 19, 1997
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Alaska State Ferries: the poor man's cruise
I'm not sure what you know about the Alaska State ferry system but I refer to it as the poor man's cruise. I returned from running raft trips on the Nenana river At Denali park in AK on the ferry boat. My impression of the trip was that it rivaled my trip down the Grand Canyon. I tend to be a river rat myself anyway. The scenery on the boat from Haines to Seattle got to the point where I would turn to traveling companion and say hey look another picture perfect waterfall. What I am trying to say is that the beauty was so neat -magnificent-etc. and there were so many of these gorgeous scenes that it was kind of numbing. I would highly reccomend traveling that corridor of the world by the AK ferry system. You can pitch a tent on the solarium (Glass covered back of the ferry for free or get a room for an additional fee. The ferries run on a regular schedule and would be the perfect set up for traveling by bike.--part of a letter from Bill B., Springfield, Ill, March 15, 1997
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China Book Recommendation: Coming Home CrazyA great book about life in China written by an American from Minnesota is called Coming Home Crazy by Bill Holm. I read it before and after a trip I took to China and found it very informative, helpful, and truthful. Just a suggestion. Thanks for the great list.
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Travel in Singapore and ThailandHi, there. Found your site almost legendary! I am a Japanese uni student, now studying in Australia as an exchange student until this November. The thing is I am completing my study pretty soon, and am stopping over at Singapore and Thailand on my way back to Japan. So I was just surfing on the net and hopped into your site. Certainly I am running short of time at the moment, and no enough time to read through your detailed diary, but I will! I just have read Thai and Singapore section, which I thought was pretty neat. I think you remind me of how it is important to keep detailed account of any trip either just to make it an unforgettable memory or to make a lot of money out of it by publishing a book! Hehe. I can’t really wait for the day to fool around Thailand. If you could get me a reply, that’s lovely. Finally thanks again for your interesting site, best wishes from Australia, Brisbane.
Masahiro S., Brisbane, Australia
Our Response:
Masahiro! Hey, glad to hear from you. We hope you have an awesome time in Singapore and Thailand. Just remember that almost everything is illegal in Singapore, and you'll do fine. Yes, our diary is quite detailed--we did it more for the memory than the money, but it someone's offering money, we won't reject it out of hand. Have a great time Down Under, mate!
Hey! (^^)/
My Name is Yousuke.Japanese.
My live is Japan.
You Home page Very Good!!
I can't English sorry.
See you.Our Response:
Taka! Domo Aregato! Glad you like it! Sorry we don't
speak Japanese. Next time we want to go to Japan, too.
last updated Feb. 13, 2000