Sounds

I am a person who is very reliant on my sense of sight. It's refreshing to describe a day in terms of what I heard. Throughout the day, I remember many cycles consisting of resigned "oh boy" or "ugh" then panting and deep breathing, then the loud roar of wind by my ears accentuated by the additional rush of passing cars. On the rare flat parts, I remember the grinding of gears on every pedal stroke with the clunking of chains being moved from one gear to another. These noises are already becoming familiar and comforting in their rhythm.

At camp, the characteristic shuffling of tent fabric and clinks of tent poles mixed in with lots of laughing. There was even a sudden loud bang from the inner tube that exploded after over-inflated the front tire. Now as I settle into bed, my two friends' snoring blend in with the massive choir of frogs nearby, and for a perfect ending to our first real cycling day, a nearby loon throws in one final call before I reach for my earplugs. :)

Janius Tsang

Ferries goodbye!

It doesn't seem like Day Two of the journey since time always slows down when you leave your life in the city. Things about life on a bike such as where to find

We have travelled about 70km by bike at this point, most of it divided among the Gulf Islands on the British Columbian coast. We missed our intended ferry but discovered instead unintended paths, which end up being some of the most memorable ones.

We spent the early afternoon on Vancouver island where we got off the ferry near Sidney, BC. We met up with Mariana, another inspired soul who thought the bike trip was a great idea. In fact she's one of the veterans since she and Misty cycled across Newfoundland together.

After joining her for lunch in a city park full of flowers, Leah, Misty and I went off to explore Salt Spring Island, another gulf island east of Victoria island. We were greatly impressed with the beauty and the laid-back atmosphere, but not so happy with the imposing hill and hills that were between us and the campsite. A side visit to a goat cheese maker's made us happier, and arriving at the gorgeous campsite was definitely the highlight of the day. I'm getting the sense that it's the balance between air, water, wood, sun and rock that makes the west coast so appealing. I imagine that living here one feels like you're being taken care of, that you have everything you need around you. It's really beautiful and I can see why the island attracts so many artists to live there.

We returned in the early morning to catch the ferry back to Vancouver island and them onwards to Washington state. More hills awaited us. In fact I think that the entire trip will be gorgeous but endless uphill and downhill. Fun fun fun!!!

Ok off to the beach then to bed.

Janius Tsang

It can only get better

After all the anticipation, we missed the ferry by 45 seconds. This may have been a tragedy except that 1) things like this constitute 'adventure' and 2) Misty left her wallet and important stuff on the floor of her brother's truck. We are now waiting for the ten o'clock ferry, hanging out with the seagulls and enjoying the salty Pacific air.

Janius Tsang

Early am thoughts

It's 7:24 am PST, time for breakfast and for me to have a little internal freak out. Je capote car le début de ma grande voyage est MAINTENANT. C'est génial comme moment, mais mes oeufs brouillées m'attendent donc j'y vais!!!  Onwards!

Flight buddies

My flight buddy to Vancouver was a friendly but somewhat bizarre man with ADHD in seat A from Brossard.  While very friendly, it was really strange to be next to an 8 year-old trapped in a grown-up body.  We  a bit and he learned that I was Canadian-Chinese with origins Hong Kong and Guangdong, at which point he asked to see my driver's license. Upon receiving it he started to examine it intently and compare it to his, so much so I wasn't sure what he was memorizing off my license. Satisfied, he handed it back to me and then
wordlessly patted the empty seat between us to invite me to sit there beside him. First, boarding hadn't finished and by this point I was starting to hope that someone would sit there. I politely declined.  He turned away, momentarily deterred, but then renewed his efforts.  Next thing I know he has grabbed my arm and literally starts to yank me into seat B from my aisle seat C.  I am a little shocked. I make a quick retreat and shield myself with my bike book.

The plane doors close, and my pre-flight presentation is enhanced by the insistent screaming of a 4-year-old boy two rows ahead. He had that he had enough of the flight and repeatedly asked his mom to LET ME OUT OF HERE for the entire safety demonstration. I was  to feel the same way, honestly. Maybe I will bike to instead. I peek sideways over my book as the flight takes off, and Monsieur in seat A decides that it's time to get comfy. He pulls off his shoes and socks, takes off his glasses and lies down across seats A and B for a
nap during the ascent, putting his head right next to my left butt cheek.  Thankfully he realizes that his chosen position is probably not the most comfortable on several levels, so he resumes a sitting position with a big SIGH, pulls his laptop out and settles in for a movie, bare feet resting in seat B and comfy as a clam. For the next five hours, he changes positions every fifteen minutes, alternating between squatting on the seat, sitting with both feet on the seat in front, sitting with one foot on the seat, both knees on the seat and various creative combinations of the above. I am starting to envy his flexibility.  When he gets bored he looks out the window
occasionally and marks the moment by slamming the window blinds down with a big "cLAK."  Other times I catch him clapping gleefully while watching a boxing match. Just now he taps my shoulder to ask me why
I'm focussed so intently on my iPhone and asks me to show him my passport. I look blankly at him for a few seconds, smile and tell him I don't have it with me right now.

One more hour left, so I'm going to learn about the conjoined twins from Vernon, BC who share a single brain.
Cheers!

--
Janius Tsang

Triple check

It dawned on me this morning that this epic journey is starting pretty soon: there's no more milk in the fridge for my coffee.  Actually, I even took a few extra moments to admire how empty the fridge was.  Then I wandered over to the spare room and admired my packed panniers.  Then I logged on to FB for the heck of it and realized I hadn't posted my blog address.  So here it is folks!

http://flyinjt.blogspot.com/

I am hoping that I'll be able to post my position at least a few times a day and have the map updated with photos, comments and stories.  

Recalling Addis

It's been a month and a bit since I came home from Ethiopia. Now that I have hi-speed internet, I might finally be able to finish this blog. Since I spent many minutes staring at blank computer screens loading up web pages in multiple Ethiopian internet cafes, I figured Internet blogging just wasn't going to be a part of my Ethiopian travels.

I arrived in Addis Ababa (New Flower) accompanied by an Austrian nurse I had previously run into in Rwanda, Christine. We got our tourist visas in the airport and proceeded to the luggage carousels, where we got the first taste of Ethiopian airport etiquette. Our luggage came without incident, but the procedure for going through customs was slightly unfamiliar to me. It involved the following: Line up, in the loosest sense of the phrase, in front of the lone functioning x-ray machine, then try to wedge a corner of your luggage cart into a clump of unyielding travellers with similar luggage carts. Push harder as the person behind you is pushing their cart into your heels, and then try to step over your own luggage cart as you try to help the woman in front of you pick up her luggage which has fallen onto the floor. Shout "HOLD ON A SEC, PLEASE" as you realize that people are trying to push through three abandoned empty luggage carts on their way to the x-ray machine rather than trying to get them out of the way. Struggle to navigate three empty luggage carts through a crowd of people while making sure your luggage doesn't get pushed out of the queue. Place your luggage on the x-ray machine conveyor belt making sure that you don't get hit by another piece of luggage which is flying through the air and hoping to land in the same spot that you would like to place your luggage. Realize that you need to become a baggage handler person for a few minutes and help others place their luggage on the belt in a somewhat orderly fashion so that you might possibly place your second piece of luggage on the belt. Run to the other side of the x-ray machine, throw your luggage onto your luggage cart and run away to save your ankles and heels from the people behind you who are pushing their luggage cart into you as if you weren't there.

I emerged 45 minutes later, grateful to see my friend Niki's face in the greeting crowd.
"Man, Niki, that was insane over there..."
He grimaced knowingly: "Yeah, with all those flights arriving at the same time, I expected you'd get caught in the x-ray machine rush."

We walk out into the fresh night air and we are accosted by taxi drivers right away. Niki barrels through them and explains to me that those were the yellow taxi drivers who are to be avoided because they are rip offs. We head towards the blue taxis in the distance and the process of bargaining begins the second that the blue taxi drivers realize we are heading towards them. They asked us for 3 times the actual fare to get to Niki's house, Here was my first exposure to the Ethiopian principle of "if you don't ask, you don't get." Over the next eleven days, it became a common theme of my interactions with the Ethiopians I met, and it is definitely a very pragmatic way of looking at life.

The next four days I spend in Addis Ababa with Niki and his friend Kunal's family. During the days I went exploring on my own, walking downtown, taking minibuses and taxis to various sights. In the evenings I met up with Niki and indulged in the many hidden luxuries that are available to the large number of foreign workers in Addis. Being the diplomatic center for Northern Africa, a wide range of cuisines are available if one ever gets homesick.