DAY 410 I Skyped Mum and Dad first thing this morning, I was still getting over my cold so Mum was about to tell me to go to bed with a hot water bottle, but then remembered that it was morning over here and because of the heat you wouldn’t really want a hot water bottle. They are surrounded by snow, but for how long I don’t know it is still very cold over there but I am sure the rain will come soon. The scenario here is so different, the temperatures are in the high 30’s, everyone hopes for rain, [View Full Entry]

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My Yemitco bus leaves 9am for Sana'a, on my last night I hang out with Seb a French dude that teaches French at a University in Aden, he is also a Couch Surfer host, I wish I contacted him earlier but too late now, he is good fun, in 2 hours of walking the streets in the crater souqs he reminisce about Kazakhstan where he lived for couple years and one of my favorite countries in Central Asia. He laughed when I told him how uneasy it makes me feel when locals stare at you on the streets here in Yemen, [View Full Entry]

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MERRY CHRISTMAS 2009 AND HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010 --- In China the "Spring Festival" will honor it as The Year of the TIGER !!! 2009 IS MY 4TH CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY SEASON IN CHINA, AND THE TIME AT TAIZHOU TEACHERS COLLEGE IS JUST AS EXCITING AS DURING MY FIRST YEAR. I WISH ALL OF MY FAMILY, MY FRIENDS, MY STUDENTS AND COLLEAGUES (past and present), AND THE HUNDREDS OF READERS OF MY TRAVELBLOG FROM SO MANY COUNTRIES A VERY HAPPY HOLIDAY TIME. THANK YOU FOR CONTINUING TO SHARE MY ADVENTURES IN CHINA, AS WELL AS FOR YOUR MANY GENEROUS COMMENTS AND KIND [View Full Entry]

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A couple more nights and it's that time of the year once more. They say one of the longest Christmas Season can be found in this lone Catholic nation in Asia. Filipinos love Christmas and let everyone be warned that in this country, you can hear Christmas carols as early as September. And those Christmas decorations should be up long after Christmas, perhaps till the middle of January. Footloose I started off this year by spending New Year's with the family in Hongkong. Those were all of 4 days of bonding moments , dining galore, and playing tourists. Thou [View Full Entry]

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i was often asked in my conversations with the locals where i had been in india, and whenever i mentioned amritsar, the name would invariably draw a blank stare. i am pretty sure i nailed the pronunciation of 'amritsar' as i had heard it said several times by the announcer on the train and at the station. "it is in punjab," i said. ohhh, they went, although i suspect they were faking it. on hindsight, i should have told them the golden temple instead. amritsar sits near the india-pakistan border. the northwestern frontier city holds little interest to the average tourist [View Full Entry]

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28th March '09: A bit more on Neuschwanstein? OK, then - I’ll do all the travelling. You just put your feet up.. Maxine told us to have our barcodes ready as we milled about in the courtyard among a hundred other tourists. Ludwig II’s death rather halted construction of this castle; much of the edifice’s interior remains unfinished. The tour itself, then, is staggeringly brief and prohibits photography. Now, I don’t mind prohibiting flash photography, but no photographs at all? To me, that rather smacks of stinging the destitute traveller in the souvenir shop - o [View Full Entry]

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(Day 625 on the road) "Increasing your carbon footprint." That's how my Australian friend Steven had commented on the news that I purchased a van to drive around New Zealand with. And there is nothing really I can say to counter that argument. I guess travelling the world for an extended period of time is not the most environmental-friendly way to live one's life in any case. By the information given on my route-map, I have so far travelled about 70.000 km in the last 21 months. And the real figure is much higher than that, as the [View Full Entry]

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A four hour drive down a dusty and uneven road takes us to a river crossing that's five minutes from our camp. We squeeze nine into the car via the simple expedient of the guide sitting astride the gearstrick. The camp is the focal point of every white person I've seen since leaving Antsirabe, plus a few more. We have an entire afternoon to ourselves, during which I foolishly allow myself to be drawn into a game of poker with the two girls who live on Mayotte. It seems like they've spent many evenings on the island doing precisely this, and [View Full Entry]

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