1. The Bell Towers of Notre Dame Cathedral: Be in line by 9AM if you don’t want your elbows bumped by big crowds as you catch gargoyles contemplating the city’s skyline and devouring each other. ($)
2. Cour de Commerce Saint-Andre: This little side street off Boulevard Saint-Germain-des-Pres is home to Paris’ first cafe Le Procope where Ben Franklin had lunch, Voltaire drank 40 cups of coffee a day, and a young Napoleon had to leave his hat in lieu of payment for a 
meal. The cobblestone pathway is also where Dr. Guillotin practiced his “humanitarian killing machine” on sheep, an invention made famous in its feminine name, la guillotine. Facing the old wooden toy store, turn around, and there is a door that opens onto the Cour Rohan, three of the most beautiful courtyards in Paris. Imagine the nobles and queens looking down from the ivy-covered windows to the cobblestones below, trying to ignore the screams of the sheep around the corner. Click away! (free)
3. Top of the Arc de Triomphe: Sunset over western Paris, La Grande Arche de la Defense, and the birthplace of the Sun King, Louis XIV. ($)
4. Les Marches (The markets): Every neighborhood in Paris has a market which usually runs three days a week (ask around for the one near you). Parisians buy many of their produce and grocery items at these street markets which seem to burst at the seems with stinky cheeses, flowers from the south of France, ripe olives in their oil, fresh baguettes, wines to taste, courgettes from the countryside, gooseberries, blackberries, raspberries- let your camera tell the rest of the story. (free)
5. The Catacombs: Got a gothic side? A creepy leaning? An eerie inkling? Go down to the catacombs where the bones of over seven million humans are arranged by type, not owner, and often artistically. You will find hearts, crosses, and other designs which photograph well and make exceptionally nice Valentine’s Day cards. While you are waiting for your flash to recharge in the dark deep below the city, think about the wild parties thrown here during the French Revolution or the Resistance fighters who held secret meetings during the Nazi occupation of Paris during World War II. Snap! ($)
6. Pere Lachaise Cemetery: More sculpture garden than graveyard, Pere Lachaise has heaps of crumbling tombs, sad-eyed statues, winding paths into the darkness and fallen tombs. (free)
7. Pont de la Concorde: From this bridge you can see most of the major monuments of Paris: the Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides, La Madeleine, the National Assembly, the Louvre, the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais. Built from the ruined stones of the infamous Bastille prison (so that free men and women can forever trample on the vestiges of tyranny), this bridge is the perfect place to get oriented with the layout of the city. Go at sunset, when the falling light turns Paris pink and the lights along the river Seine slowly start to sparkle. (free)
8. Pont Neuf: Pont Neuf: This bridge whose name means “new bridge” is actually the oldest in the city, the first to be built without any houses on it. It is studded with mascarons, or ghoulish faces, and its’ gothic
arches stretch across the Ile de la Cite and the river Seine. Take the steps down below to get great shots of the bridge with Paris peeking through its arches. Students like to congregate here at night for picnics and it a great place to make friends, meet people, and share some wine. (free)
9. Tour Montparnasse: This ugly, modern skyscraper in the middle of Montparnasse is disliked by Parisians so much that they have banned any other skyscrapers in the city. But the elevator (the fastest one in Europe) flings you up to the top of Tower. ($)
10. Musée Carnavalet: Paris’ history museum, located in the Marais and of great interest to French history nerds like me. The draw for photographers however is the inner courtyard of this centuries-old mansion whose neoclassical architecture is almost completely covered in red and green ivies. Take a seat by the giant rosebushes, and take some pics! (free)
I signed up for underground rivers, rappelling down a deep, dark, hourglass-shaped hole in the earth, green constellations of glowworms, squeezing under waterfalls along the cave wall, ziplining to rock ledges, the lingering spirits of Ruakiri and the ancient Maori chiefs, water up to my neck and the cave roof mere inches over my head, inching my way through holes with names like “Birth”, and climbing up waterfalls to find a way out- but eels? Eels? There are two things in the world I fear: the dentist, and eels. I had even avoided the proudly advertised “tame eels” in random restaurant/eel petting zoos around the country. Welcome to New Zealand.
But as I wade chest-deep through the flowing river two hundred feet below the surface at the 
I try to brush away the hideous thought of the cave eels (much as they were brushing along my thighs) and concentrated on my ‘cave snack’ of chocolate and steaming hot orange juice, which is surprisingly comforting when surrounded by the apple green glow worms- though cave insiders know what they are really admiring on the cavern’s ceiling is actually phosphorescent maggot feces. The term “glow worm” is just so much more romantic. The three hours spent underground in Ruakiri Cave are unlike any others in my life. This is no walk-through, look-at-the-stalactites caving experience. This is raw, cold, exhausting, and you might just look up that waterfall to the cave exit and doubt you can climb up through it. But you will, and you will emerge back out of the earth changed forever. Beware though: the brochure does not mention the eels. 
One final time I write to you from the glorious beaches of Thailand. My last evening and morning here progressed in the slow, musical rhythym of the islands that I have quickly grown accustomed to and fallen in love with; a swirling mix of beaches, blue drinks, fresh food, laughter, coconut oil, salty hair, crashing waves, fireworks, and smiles. I am so sad to leave, but will be so happy to be home. I long to look once more into the eyes of the friends I love, to dance with you and to cheers with you and to celebrate life with you.
Thai Parliament Building, site of all the protests that left hundreds wounded and some dead. How I have run into very, very few Americans at all. How the whole country freezes at 6PM to listen to the national anthem. The sound of the Thai language in my ears. How some toilets here don’t flush- you just rinse them down. Cows riding in backs of pickups. Restaurant tables set up between train tracks. Corn in a cup as a popular snack. Hotdog pizza. Sanuk.
They also have a saying here: Same same but different, which seems to apply in almost every situation you find yourself in. It is true- outside of America you may order a Big Mac and a Coke, but it will taste completely different from those at home. Same same but different. It applies to people all over the world, from a young Thai girl playing with a snorkel to a loud Aussie party kid to an old British couple eating breakfast to a girl from Seattle pecking away on a keyboard. We are all same same, but different.
Life is so incredibly colorful here, much more so than in the US. Boats, houses, restaurants, clothing- all are splashed in the beautiful brightness of the tropics, as if they are reflecting the flowers and birds and bugs themselves. Blue, orange, yellow, pink, red, purple- with no apologies. Life seems more passionate here, as if it is infected by the sunny climate and warm ocean water, and has no choice but to be happy. People smile more and laugh more. Life is slower, and more deliberate.
Every time I travel I am filled with a renewed gratitude for my life, my home, my family, my friends, and myself. I love Seattle now more than I ever have before, especially for the people and music who make up the electronic community- we really have something special, you guys. You don’t just stumble across that shit anywhere. You must cultivate it, and we are doing that, and we will continue, and it is just going to get better and richer and deeper. The music pumping out of speakers every night in our city trumps anything I have found out here; I wander into clubs and wonder, is this the music that people who don’t listen to music listen to? Because for the most part, it really sucks. Granted, I am not traveling in Berlin or San Fran or Montreal, but I am homesick for our music scene.
I am so overwhelmed with love for my world. This trip has inspired me, of course, to do new things and retry old things in my life. I must plan another trip as soon as possible. I need a major move, next spring, there is something boiling inside of me that I can’t yet put my finger on. I am enamoured of Southeast Asia and want to go to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. I want to get my bicycle fixed and ride it. I want to start sketching and drawing again, I have the skills but not the patience for it, and it would be a good way for me to learn the virtue. I want to cook more, especially Thai food. And as always, I need to slow the hell down. Slow down, Shilo.
but it is true. I never mind being alone, I enjoy my company. However this trip, much of which was spent with new friends, has reaffirmed that yes, life is more fun when shared with other people. Dammit. Time to trim in my loner ways and my nature of being independent to a fault.
of miles away you have made my trip to Thailand more fun, more rich, more real. I have loved sharing it with you; your comments as always put a song right into my soul that seeps out of me for days and gets shared with everyone I meet in the form of positive energy, of smiles, of a bounce in my step. Thank you so much for reading; it truly has added a layer to my trip that I have never experienced before, and I now will always blog wherever I travel.
WORLDROMPER 