DC Ken Block Gymkhana 3.0 Car Preview!!!

Rally car racing... Gymkhana... Ken Block... If any of those names ring a bell then you might be jealous of the event we were invited to on Tuesday night in San Francisco. Ken Block unveiled his new 2011 Ford Fiesta that he will be using to film his future Gymkhana 3.0 video. In 2008 Block rented out the El Toro airfield to practice his driving skills after the gymkhana series he was supposed to compete in folded. He had built a car specifically for the racing series and suddenly had nowhere to drive it. They put the video from the practice on YouTube and the rest is history. Over 30 million have viewed his display of insane driving skills and there will soon be more. This time, however, it will not be with a Subaru, but with his new sponsor, Ford. The 2011 Ford Fiesta that was revealed Tuesday night is a specific gymkhana car. It packs 650 horsepower (even though it is capable of 850!) and can do 0-60 mph in 2 seconds. The transition from Subaru to Ford is probably quite a change considering he has driven the AWD cars for so long. Block already did a test run in the U.K. in the new Fiesta and is pleased with its performance. Gymkhana 3.0 is due out in the summer, so check back here at www.porterstahoe.com. We will be sure to post the video as soon as it is released.

Home Sweet Home!

I’ve been home for five days now, and this is the first chance I’ve had to sit down and do a blog post.

The First day home I did stuff around the house and slept. Since then I’ve been working. I did manage to drive to San Francisco last night for a Party. VIP DC Party for Ken Block, Danielle and I had a great time. More to come on that in a future post. But to say the least it’s been busy.

Over the course of 3 weeks. I started in Vietnam went through Cambodia into Thailand onto Laos and then back to Vietnam. I took 2030 pictures. Was able to show Brad the real way to experience a country. Met a ton of great people. Especially Maya and Fridi from Denmark. If it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t have gone to Ko Chang. And Candice, Amy and Kevin from Canada. I spent the last half of my trip going through Laos and Halong Bay with them. It wouldn’t have been as fun without them. I went over budget. I planned on spending $200 a week but ended up spending $300 a week. Still not bad for how much land I covered and had a private boat for two days on Halong Bay.

South East Asia is a wonderful part of the world. I would highly recommend it for someone wanting to experience amazing beauty and culture. The people are some of the friendliest in the world. Laos tops my the list. They are very laid back, and rarely try to push you to buy anything. I would love to experience more of the country someday. But honestly as I type they were all amazing and hard to say one country was better than another. They are all unique in their own ways.

The highlights for my trip were The amazing Temples of Angkor for Cambodia. The stunning Island of Ko Chang for Thailand. The picturesque Tat Kuang Si Waterfall for Laos. And last but not least. The incredible Lan Ha and Halong Bay for Vietnam.

I meet a ton of people from all over the world. Most were from Europe, followed by Australia, New Zealand and Canada. But very few from the USA. If your reading this, please get out there and explore this world. In the scheme of things USA is just a drop in a bucket and there’s so much more to experience out there.

I’m not sure where trip will take my. But I know Danielle and I are going to disappear for a few weeks in June. This trip is up to her, she’s got a few things mocked up but nothing finalized yet.

Thanks to all that followed my blog. I miss and love you all. Hopefully you can join me on my next adventures.

These are a few of the 2030 pictures I took.

Keeping the streets of Ho Chi Minh City Clean, Vietnam

Bayon Temple, Cambodia

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Fridi, Maya, Brad and I at our hotel Keereeele in Ko Chang, Thailand

One of the many amazing beaches and Islands off Ko Chang, Thailand

Happy New Year Lao style!!!

This was my soaking crew for New Year in Lao! Amy, Kevin, Candice and are Lao friends!

Tat Kuang Si Waterfall in Laos

Harbor off Cat Ba Island, Vietnam

Cruising in Lan Han Ba, Vietnam

Taking a break from Kayaking on a sandbar. Lan Ha Bay, Vietnam

Limestone spires in Halong Bay, Vietnam

My welcome Home sign from my sister, USA

Halong Bay Liveaboard!!

The last few days of my trip were spent floating on a boat in Halong Bay. The 4 of us chartered a boat from Cat Ba Island through Lan Ha Bay and Halong bay. It was a 2 day 1 Night trip. I hadn’t seen the sun since I got to Vietnam, and the forecast called for rain. I was bummed but still decided to do the live aboard, Since this was my only chance. When I awoke the morning we were leaving, it was sprinkling. I was expecting this to continue all day. To my surprise after about two hours on the boat the skies broke and the sun graced us. I was so excited. It instantly warmed up.

Our first stop was to kayak through a cave. We didn’t no exactly how big it was or if we had to turn around. The caption and cook had broken English and couldn’t help us much. After a few hundred feet, we saw light in the distance. When we came out of the cave there was a perfectly protected bay. We quickly saw another cave were we saw light on the other side. Again we were amazed by the perfect cove on the other side. This one was much bigger. The water was as flat as a lake. You could see little fish, jelly fish and urchins below. We Kayaked the whole bay from end to end. When we were done we had a great lunch. Anytime I’ve been on a boat the food has always been amazing. After lunch we did a little more Kayaking and went swimming on a secluded beach. We ended the night with an amazing dinner. They gave us the option to sleep in the cabin or on the roof. Since the skies were clear, we wanted to sleep under the stars. It was a little cold but we bundled up and sleep up top. We made it most of the night. But at 4:30 a storm rolled in and it got really windy. We decided to move into the cabin before it rained on us.

Day 2 was a little mellower. The weather was rainy so we just did sight seeing. We did stop at two caves that were really cool. One of them was huge and it took us 20 minutes to walk through it.

Lan Ha and Halong were defiantly highlights of my trip. I would recommend it to all. Lan Ha bay was my favorite. It was cleaner and not as busy as Halong.

One more night then I’m heading back home. I’m glad I meet Candice, Amy and Kevin. I‘m glad I was able to spend the last 2 weeks of my trip with them. We did a lot of fun things together. And it helped us all keep our budgets down.

I’m looking forward to being home with Danielle. I Miss and Love her very much.

See you all soon!

Cat Ba National Park!

On my second day in Cat Ba. We did a trek in the national park. It was really thick rainforest. We were there miday and it seemed almost like night. The vegetation was so lush. We saw a ton of butterflys, a few snakes and lizards. One of the snakes was scary big. After the hike we went into a cave. It was 300m long. There were thousands of bats. It was crazy walking through. They would buzz pass your head, almost hitting you.

Today I'm off to do a two day trip on the ocean through Halong Bay. I've been looking forward to this. But I haven't seen the sun in a few days. And it's raining off and on. Hopefully I'll get a glimpse of the sun while I'm out on the water.

I wont have internet for a few days. I'll do a post when I get back to Hanoi Thursday.

Cat Ba Island!

Today I left early from Hanoi heading to Cat Ba Island. I went from a Bus to a Mini Bus to a Boat to another bus. It only took 5 hours so it wasn't bad. From what I've seen of the island is amazing. This is the part of Halong Bay, so there is tons of Limestone islands. The weather was overcast today. Hopefully it will clear up tomorrow.

Were going to do a hike in the National park tomorrow. Followed by a 2 day liveabord through the bay.

Four more nights before I'm heading home.

Tat Kuang Si Waterfall

On my last day in Luang Prabang. I packed in all I could. I again awoke at 5:30 to get a few more pics of the Monks. I then took a walk through the city and stopped by a few Wats. When the coffee shop opened at seven, I checked a few email and updated this blog. At 8:30 we went to the Tat Kuang Si Waterfall. I’ve read a lot of good things about it. But after seeing it I was amazed. It was better than I could have imagined. We walked all the way to the top. And went to a few hidden pools that Candice went to on her last trip to Lao. We were able to swim in a pool that was at the top of the waterfall. There was a few picturesque waterfalls flowing into the pool. After spending an hour or so there. We walked down passed a dozen or so falls. We went swimming in another pool that had a rope swing. We had to leave at 12:30 because we had a flight to Hanoi. If I could have, I'd have spent the whole day there.

On the way to and from the falls which was 32km from the city. We were soaked by all the locals throwing water for New Year. Luckily or Tuk Tuk driver had filled the back of the truck with water. We were able to retaliate. It was so fun catching people off guard.

I had a great time in Lao.

Time to get back to Vietnam for my last 5 nights.

I've been in Luang Prabang for the last day. It was another 8 hour bus ride. It would have been 45 minutes faster but the bus broke down 10 miles out of town. One of the belts broke but luckily they were able to replace it on the road. I was just about to jump into a Tuk Tuk when they fired it back up.

Once in town I was impressed by the well maintained neighborhoods. This was once ran by the French and you can still see it today in the buildings and many small cafes. Yesterday we awoke at 5:30 to go feed the monks. They don't work so they ask for food donations every morning. They walk the main streets which are lined with locals and tourist and collect there daily meals. They are given everything from rice to bananas and candies. It was a really cool site to see. There orange robes pop with color in the early morning light.

In the afternoon we went to some of the local Temples and Wats. As we were roaming the streets people were squirting us with water guns and dumping buckets on our heads. I read they have a huge water fight on Lao New Year. But I thought I was going to miss it, since New Year was on the 13th. I talked to a few locals and they said they celebrated it for a week the 10th-17th. After seeing a few of the Wats I decided to join in on the fun. I talked to the guys in one of the groups that soaked me. They invited me to join in the festivities, after dumping a bucket of water on me. The rest of the crew joined in. We ended up spending 3 hours there. It was so much fun. We loved getting the other tourist. We nailed a few Tuk Tuks with about 8 people in them. The Lao people were a little more cautious with the tourist, so they didn't expect it when we drenched them. It was a really hot day, it felt nice to cool off. We had buckets of water, as the people would ride by on there bikes we would soak them. As the sun went down, I was cold for the first time on this trip. Being wet for 3 hours chilled my core temp. I decided to go back and change.

I ended the night with a good dinner in the street market. You can get a great meal for about $1. After dinner I went to the Night Market. It was all hand made crafts. I bought a few souvenirs. I try to hold off until the last day or so. But I wanted to support the local crafts.

Today were are going to check out a waterfall. Then back to Vietnam. I fly into Hanoi this afternoon. I decided do the 45 minute flight, since the bus takes 24 hours. It cost a lot more but my time is worth something.

5 more night before I head home.

Vang Vieng!!

I spent the last few days in Vang Vieng, Laos.

I've been hanging out with three Canadians I meet Candice, Kevin and Amy. It's been nice splitting cost on hotels and transportation. We've been together the last 5 days, most likely I'll hang out with them for my last week it Asia.

Vang Vieng is known for a few things, first would be tubing the river. The second is rock climbing. I was able to do both in my time there.

The tubing is more like a wild spring break party. People from all over the world getting wasted. Jumping off zip lines and rope swings into the river. There is a bar about every 100ft. By the end of the day we had only went 200 yards down river. The tube rental was such a waste of money, you could walk or swam, the water was so low. I had fun though. I went on a few of the zip lines and swings. But I hit my foot on a rock off one of the swings due to the shallow water. After that I just hung out, I got a small cut on the bottom of the foot. No big deal but it's hard to keep it clean.

The next morning we went out with a guide for a half day of rock climbing. We went with a great company named Green Discovery. Our guide was Hoi, he was very knowledgeable and spoke great English. This is hot season in Laos. So we started early and went to a nice canyon, which was sheltered from the sun. There was limestone cliffs on both sides. One side was about
40ft and the other was about 60ft. There were a lot of fun routes. We did about six different climbs. None of them were to hard but all fun. I had never climbed limestone. I was amazed by how strong of a rock it is. There were tons of good holds that didn't look strong enough to support my weight, but they did. I would highly recommend climbing in Vang Vieng.

Today I took a 9 hour bus to Luang Prabang. I'll spend the next few days here. Then I'm flying to Hanoi. I'll spend 5 more days in Vietnam then back home. I'm having an amazing time on my trip but looking forward to being home with Daniele.

One week left.

Friendly Laos!

From what I've seen in my first day in Laos is impressive. I'm currently in the capital Vientiane. In most country's the capital has always been a tough city. The locals will try to pry open your wallet, to convince you spend money in there shop. But in Laos the locals are very friendly, and haven't once tried to hustle money out of me. I've also had quite a few locals including monks approach me to chat. I'm going to spend the next week moving up through Lao to Luang Prabang.

I'm looking forward to all the natural beauty and friendly faces.

Bangkok!

I'm going to go back a day on my post.

Originally I wasn't planing on coming to Thailand. But since Brad couldn't stay for the whole trip. Bangkok was the most economical place for him to catch a flight back to the states. We spent most of our time in Thailand on Koh Chang which was amazing, we did the post on it few days ago.

Bangkok is a great big city. The traffic is crazy, the tourist areas suck money out of your wallet at warp speed. But if you get a few blocks off the beaten path the prices drop in half. And the locals are very friendly. I only had 24 hours before I left to Laos. So I made the most of my time and walked all over the city. I tried checking out neighborhoods I didn't see in my last trip. I had a good dinner for $1.50 and saw a few Wat's.

Thailand has been all over the news with there political tension. We even got a few people from the states trying to urge us to skip Thailand. But as you all know the media likes to blow things out of proportion, especially the US media. Yes there is a huge political rally going on. But it was very peaceful it was only a few block from were we stayed. I walked through it a few times and people smiled as I passed. What they are protesting about doesn't concern tourist, And they know tourism is a huge part of the economy. They don't want to mess it up.

The short of this is, don't always believe what you see on the news. There's too many 24hr news stations that need to fill air time. The news media likes to run things into the ground.

In Laos!!

If you count the USA this is my 5th country in the last 2 weeks. It's been a little busy to say the least. I took the overnight bus from Bangkok to Vientiane and 13 hours later here I am.

I haven't had much time to check it out yet. But I did meet 3 Canadians on the bus. We all had very similar plans so we decided to share a rooms to save on cost. I might be traveling with them for the next week or so. It will be nice.

I'll post some pics tomorrow.

Enjoying the sun! Koh Chang Day 6-8

Its been a crazy and at the same time relaxing last few days. After we visited the temples of Angkor we took off in the morning to Thailand which was an interesting journey to say the least. There are a couple of ways to get to the Thai border either by bus or by taxi. The bus was said to take twice as long as the taxi so we opted to take the taxi. Now with a taxi there are two ways to do it, you can either rent the taxi for yourself or share the taxi with some other people traveling to the border. Since it was just the two of us we decided it would be cheaper to share the taxi, little did we know that when we signed up for this that they would be cramming ten (8 adults, 2 children) of us including the driver into a Toyota Camry for an hour and a half. More over no one that we were sharing the taxi with spoke a lick of English so it made the ride even that much more interesting. We were so cozy that at one point one of the ladies in the back seat with us fell asleep on Jason’s shoulder making for a pretty funny picture. Once we arrived in Poipet near the Thai border we were dropped off at a bus station around 2km from the border. Eagerly we got out of the taxi to stretch our legs. To get to the Thai border Jason and I hopped on a motorbike with all of our bags and the three of us drove the final leg to the border.
Once we arrived at the border we had to go through the Cambodian departure process. While we were in line we met a nice girl from Denmark “Maja” who was at the border to extend her Thai visa. We asked if she would like to share a tuk tuk to the bus station on the other side where her boyfriend “Fridi” was waiting. We had some loose plans to try to take a bus into Pattaya but after some discussion we decided to head with them to the island of Koh Chang. We managed to catch the final ferry to the island and stayed at the same hotel that they were staying at.
So to sum it up our journey from Siem Reap to Koh Chang went something like this:
A tuk tuk to the taxi station
A taxi to the bus station
A moto to the border
A tuk tuk to the bus station
A bus to the Chanthaburi
A bhat bus to the ferry
A ferry to the island
And finally a van to the hotel.
Needless to say we were quite tired at the end of the day.
We arrived on Koh Chang in the night. So when we saw it at first light we were amazed. The beaches are picture perfect, the sands, soft white and the water is just perfect. We walked the whole length of White Sand beach which was by our hotel. By midday we wanted to check out the rest of the island. We decided to rent Motorbikes as they only cost $7.50 for 24 hours. I wouldn’t normally rent motorbikes in Thailand but Koh Chang didn’t have much traffic so the riding wasn’t bad. We did have to ride on the opposite side of the road as back home. We did fine for the most part; once I found myself drifting to the wrong side of the road and had to make a quick turn back. Our first stop was Lonely Beach. It was a nice small beach tucked away from the road. It’s not very commercialized and had a lot of cheap backpacker accommodations. We ended up spending a few hours there. We went back to White Sand beach for the sunset and to go out to dinner with Maja and Fridi. We had a really nice dinner on the beach. There was a cool fire show in which one of the fire performers was maybe three years old, it was crazy. They put on an amazing show.
The next day we still had our bikes until 1pm so we decided to check out a few other beaches. First we went to Kai Bae beach which had a few picturesque beaches on deserted islands a few hundred yards off shore. It was low tide so we decided to walk to across to the island. Little did we know half way across there was a big reef system with coral, As a scuba diver I couldn’t keep walking and damage the coral that was older than me. We decided to turn back and only made it about half way. We then stopped by Koh Preah beach. It was once again out of a post card but I was worn out and decided to head back to the room. That evening we went back to Lonely Beach with Maja and Fridi for another chill BBQ on the beach.
We had an amazing time in Koh Chang. If you can ever make it out here, I would highly recommend it. The dollar still goes a long way here. You can get a top notch room for $50 a night.
Were now in Bangkok, it took us 9 hours on a Baht Bus, Ferry then a bus. As big and crowded Bangkok is I still rate this as one of my top cities. It has some of the best food and amazing sights.
Brads flying home tonight. I’m going to be solo for 12 days. I’ll be in Bangkok for one more night then off to Laos. I’m looking forward to relaxing on the Mekong river.
Hopefully I’ll have good internet in Laos so I can keep this blog updated. Check back in a few.