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We have been traveling through Muslim countries for months and the ham ran out ages ago. Buddhists don’t seem to have any pork taboos.

About a twenty minute drive from us is a small street market built around an old temple. They sell mostly weird, very tiny adult clothes, sun glasses, fake guns and flip flops. There are plenty of stands to lose money throwing darts at balloons, lots of funky smells and heaps of food stalls selling very bizarre comestibles. And they will do anything with a hotdog–including baking them into the crust of a pizza. These are two of my favorites examples…

I can’t be sure what is in the bun with the dog.

And finally, who says you can’t get good pizza outside of Vinnie Van GoGos?

For my handsome hubbo’s birthday, it seemed appropriate to head into town for some dinner. The boat is currently in Yacht Haven, which is pretty far from civilization. But this is a special occasion, and we decided to go to a little street market I like to call hot dog city.

This was our chef/host…

This was the main course…mmm…crunchy good!

deepfried cockroaches, grubs, pupae and grasshoppers. What more could a birthday boy want?!

We left South Florida in September, on Maverick II, a 140 foot motor yacht, as professional yacht crew. Our goal was to travel, on our own bottom, to Phuket, Thailand. We traveled east, against the prevailing weather patterns and into crappy seas across the Atlantic (surprise tropical storm), across the Mediterranean (big seas), through the Suez Canal, across the Red Sea (high winds) and across the Indian Ocean (into the wind).

I am proud to say we are 180 degrees, 12 time zones, and 11,583 miles–literally half a world away from where we started 4 and a half months ago.

Many questioned our ability to succeed. I laugh at them as I drink my Singha beer and watch dozens of weird little boats carrying cargo of jelly fish to sell to restaurants.

We happened upon this floating spirit house halfway between the Maldives and phuket, Thailand. Even though we were only about 200 miles south of Sri Lanka, the water currents and wind dictate that this must have come from Thailand, more than 700 miles to the east of us.

It must be carrying some pretty powerful prayers…

Since I haven’t been able to post since Oman, it seems crazy trying to bring you up to speed, let me fill you in in an easier way (for a good narrative about our trip and excellent photos, go to the40yearplan.com.) How about a list of what was the best…

Best Smoked Fish Dip: Smak, from Pompano Beach, FL

Best Cheese: from Horta in the Azores

Best Bread: sardinia

Best Bead for toasting: Malta

Best Cukes: Egypt

Best Breakfast for Lunch: Maldives, tuna salad with coconut and lime on chappati, yum.

Best Pizza: Vinnie Van Gogos, Savannah

Best Fashion Disasters: Malta

Best Fish Market: Male, Maldives

Best place to see a bleeding cow head on the sidewalk: Sharm el Sheik, Egypt

Best Fries (chips): Battle of Trafalgar Pub, Brighton, england

Best Crack: Salcedo at the Tate Modern

Best use of a toaster Oven: Two christmas turkeys

Best provisioning surprise: Oreos in the middle of the Indian Ocean

Best hoarding: quesidillas, coffeemate hazelnut creamer, horta cheese, beer, monkey bay sauvignon blanc, ham, feria #67, chocolate chips

Most Expensive beer: Oman $7 for 10oz Heineken can

Most popular galley cookbook: Joy of cooking, and best american series

Favorite cookie: 7 layer squares

Here are some stats to give you an idea of what I have been up to:

Miles traveled by sea since 1 Sept 2008: 9,812

Days off since 1 August: 11 (i don’t get weekends)

Countries visited: Bahamas, Bermuda, Azores (Portugal),Gibraltar, Italy, Malta, England (plane), Egypt, Oman, Maldives

Ovens killed: 2

Number of Christmas turkeys cooked in a toaster oven: 2

Most frequently used appliance: Mavis

Hours spent watching Gilmore Girls episodes: 119

Best books read: “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert; “Water for Elephants” by Sara Greun
What I miss most: my house, making art not food, having a life, Taco Bell