My name is Andy. As a Special Agent assigned to the Salt Lake City District Office, I had an opportunity to spend 6 months, voluntarily, in Beijing, China. My duties were to assist the Country Attaché there in daily duties.

On this occasion, I was sent to Mongolia to train Mongolian law enforcement and intelligence officials. After the training, I was driven for more than 3 hours north of the capital, Ulaan Baatar, to an area where we spent 3 nights on horseback (wooden saddles make for a preference to stand). We spent the cold nights in traditional Mongolian nomadic yurts eating yak products and drinking fermented horse milk. We were in search of Ma Huang or "Black Grass" an ephedrine producing plant cultivated in the area. Beyond the mountains behind me is Russia . . . But between is 1000 kilometers of nothingness . . . So I was told by my Mongol guide (in Russian).

As a DEA Special Agent you regularly find yourself in the most unlikely places and circumstances. Here you see me in China. While north of Beijing, on a training mission with local law enforcement, I had a unique chance to hike 3 hours into the forest, set camp for the night, then, the next morning, climb 2 hours to an un-restored, nearly pristine, portion of the Great Wall of China. While here we couldn't resist a bit of training and, therefore, practiced rappelling (from the 2nd watchtower in the distance). We spent the night here where this photo was taken.

As a DEA Special Agent, I competed for a position at the Bangkok Country Office and got it! This, after just a few months in country, is me standing on the banks of the Mae Khong River (in Thailand). The island just behind me is Burma. The mountains to my left (right of picture) are in Laos and China is beyond the mountains behind me to my right. This is the infamous "Golden Triangle". This photo illustrates a little down-time, but I was here with Thai law enforcement conducting surveillance that eventually led to the seizure of 5 kilograms of heroin and more than 100,000 methamphetamine pills a few months later.

In the DEA, as a Special Agent, we often travel to diverse, primitive and remote areas on esoteric and perilous missions. This is what I like to say, "makes life worth living". Here, while assigned to the Bangkok, Thailand Country Office, I was sent on "special assignment" to Laos in order to evaluate and find poppy fields. This village (unknown name) is on the way from Mong Kiew, Laos. . .It took many hours and (our estimate) 35 kilometers of hiking on "goat-trails" that ranged in elevation from 1200 feet to 5000 feet (you can see a sample of the typical terrain profile). You can imagine the exhaustion! We discovered more than 15 hectares of poppy and ultimately oversaw the survey of more than 1000 poppy plants at each acre.

The hike to this opium field in Laos culminated in an 83 mile 5 day journey with backpack, medical kit and 1 to 2 liters of water (at least). Most nights were spent at the hut of the local village chief. Very hospitable folks but chicken, chicken and more chicken on the menu. I never got ill but had to administer an IV to a Laotian government official who had become dehydrated after the 3rd day. He recovered and finished with us. Here I am amidst a 3-4 hectare poppy field. The poppy, as you may know, is a beautifully flowering plant, but with a post-fertilized seed capsule that produces opium... the main ingredient in heroin. This field, needless to say, disappeared almost overnight!