WORLD TATTOO TRAVELER (Bill Passman)

China , Hong Kong

December 16th and 17th

I flew from Krabi airport to Bangkok to Hong Kong in a whirlwind day of airports. Then I had one night and one day to spend in downtown Hong Kong. I took the ferry across the harbour and went to Victoria Peak which overlooks Hong Kong and the harbour and is the highest point. My hostel was in a great location downtown and near the famous night market where I bought Kade and Madison's Christmas presents. The hostel was $34 for a bed which is very expensive but luckily I had a room by myself even though there were 2 other bunks in the room.

COSTA RICA, La Fortuna, Baldi Hot Springs, Arenal Volcano

Friday June 7th

I went on a lava flow tour at 8pm. It was raining and the guide said that was the best time to see the lava flow because the rain dissipates the clouds. I could not believe the volcano when we got there. We were 1.5 to 2 miles away from the volcans but the lava was flowing down it in 5 separate rivers of lava. It was amazing. The pictures arent great because of the darkness. I was the only one of the 10 tourists who even got a picture of any sort that showed the lava flow.

COSTA RICA, Manuel Antonio

June 8-10th

I caught a shuttle from La Fortuna to Quepos because it was the only direct way to get there. At $35 for the four hr trip it was painful to part with the money. The minivan had 4 other people in it from Dallas, Tx. A couple and 2 young children for 4 HOURS.

The plane in the pictures at the top of the page was converted to a restaurant and is on the road from Quepos to Manuel Antonio.

It is that great part of trip where you not only have to ask what day of the month it is but what day of the week it is. Manuel Antonio is great. In 2 days I will go to Panama. I met a lot of people at the hostel from Texas who are spending the summer learning Spanish for college credit. One of them told me that Costa Rica was backpacking with "training wheels". It is so true. This is the easiest country to learn to backpack.

I spent most of the day on the beach and then everyone from the hostel went out to a new bar for Ladies Night. Too much fun.

COSTA RICA, Monteverde Butterfly Garden

If you look closely at the owl butterfly you will notice when it is upright its wing looks like a snake. The guide said that the wing only recently adapted to looking like a snake when the bird predators became more aware that it was not actually an owl.