Mountaineering has got to be one of the dumbest sports to get into, and one of the hardest to pull yourself away from once you’ve started.  It’s expensive and not particularly fun; most of your time is spent in horribly cold and windy conditions, walking for miles uphill, on ice, and usually in the dark.  The environment tries to stop you with avalanches, crevasses, windburn, snow blindness, and piles of loose rock called skree just waiting for your foot-step to start a landslide.  On top of this your body and high altitude don’t particularly get along.  At these heights the air is thinner, digestion slows, pulse increases, sleep evades you, and AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness, a serious and potentially deadly reaction to altitude) starts to show itself.  Really there are only two small moments that are rewarding:  the 10 seconds or so that you can stand the cold on the summit, and of course bragging to your friends about it once you’re done. 

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Categories: Climbing, Ecuador, Photos
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So another week has passed, and life is going pretty well in Quito.  Most of my day is taken up with some new pursuits, and my accommodations are the best I’ve had in a while.  I’ve got myself set up in Quito’s Old Town in a place called Casa Bambu, and for 7$ I’ve got my own room with a shared bath and kitchen.  The rooftop patio has a amazing view over the city and goes great with a beer and a bit of homework in the evenings.  There are a few other long-term people staying here and we all get along pretty well.  Evenings have us dodging each other in the kitchen and sharing movies in the common room.  Nights and weekends are spent with beers and wine one the roof before heading out to bars and clubs in town. 

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Categories: Ecuador, Photos, Travel
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So, even though I haven’t actually gotten around to getting a new post up for over 4 months now, you’re still around right?  You haven’t quite given up on me and are willing to give me a second chance?  I’ve got good reasons.  Trust me, I always have plenty of excuses.  This time though it is truely no more than 50% to blame on my laziness, and the rest to blame on the rest of the world.

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Categories: Photos, USA, Travel
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So even though I havent been doing to well on the entries front (talking a laptop to South America to fix that), I’ve gotten plenty of pictures up.  Take a look at me in front of cool stuff in the following places:

Singapore - Singapore

Indonesia - Bukit Luwang, Medan, Paulu Weh, Lake Toba

Malaysia - Malaka, Kuala Lumpur, Penang

Oh, and Sri Lanka was back there too if anyone missed those. 

Categories: Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Photos, Travel
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So now for another of the posts that you actually care about: some not-so-bad pics. Wrapping up the rest of the India photos here. Next were moving on to beautiful Sri Lanka, and I promise I’ve got some amazing stuff to share and show (so stick around).

• The temple combing adventures in Madurai and Trichy
• Being outdone by barefoot geriatrics in the beautiful hills of Kodaikonal
• Pushing through the holidays in the post-French Pondicherry

Categories: Photos, India, Travel
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More holiday miricles!  Lots of new photos up for your viewing pleasure.  I’ve even managed to add a few captions so that you know what you’re looking at.  Fist a special Holiday photo.

I’ve gotten the pictures up from Goa, Diwali in Mumbai, Hampi, Gokarna, and even Kerala.  I think that catches me up to where I am with my posts.  Hope everyone is enjoying their time off! 

Categories: Photos, India, Travel
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I’ve finally been able to get some photos up!  These are from the time spent in Rajasthan with my friends and include the camel safari and the towns of Jaipur, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur.  Enjoy, and let me know if you have questions about any of them.  I promise to get more up soon!

Categories: Photos, India, Travel
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