Blogs from Asia - page 13035

Before I get into this blog, I need to announce that I have decided to end my contract in Cambodia early. I'll spend the next couple of months travelling before hitting Australia (Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Perth) for five weeks between 12 May - 26 June. If you are in Oz, please keep some time spare for me to catch up with you, as I am heading to Europe on 26 June and don't know when I will be home to catch up again. Email me for more details... I haven't really touched upon Cambodia's history in any of my blogs yet, but as it permeates every aspect of life Cambodia I can hardly ignore it entirely. This blog is therefore going to be both serious and depressing, so feel free to stop reading now and ... read more

Hey there boys and girls, soz i havent been in touch for a while lots to do here and the internet doesnt uite match up to going down the beach. Ok, so after my last blog i went to Laos and we stayed in place called louang prabang (it took us 2 days on boat...not nice!) so we decided to stay in a hotel (dont shout, it worked out about $3 a night..ha ha). We didnt really do too much here other than cycling around and checking out some local sights. It was fun though as Amy and Ross (mates from uni) one of danielles best mates came and met u here which was all good fun. other than that, we didnt do too much here, we deserved a rest after the trek!!... read more

We woke up early yet again to catch a 7am bus to Kanchanaburi which we had booked ourselves onto the night before. Our choice of booking with a less-than-reputable-looking travel company had us panicking when our bus had failed to turn up by 7:10. It turned out that the bus was waiting outside our hostel, rather than outside the travel company "office" (a table inside a bar) where we were actually told to wait. Luckily we didn't miss it and were headed off on the 2 hour drive west of Bangkok to Kanchanaburi. Our main reason for visiting this area was to view the famous "Bridge over the River Kwai". It was a bridge that the Japanese Army forced thousands of allied PoWs to construct during WWII under horrific conditions, with the aim to directly connect ... read more

From the balcony, we watch our arrival in Manila through a hot, smoggy haze. No morning coffee or breakfast outside for us today. Crew members hang over railings watching too. They are the reason we are here. A Radisson ship has not called on Manila since 1996. This visit is a reward for Voyager’s mostly Filipino crew. Their anticipation fills the air as Capt. Dag parks the ship. Large, black tires hang from the dock and several crew members scramble to drape bed sheets over them. The Captain is particular about Voyager’s white paint job. Last night, when Alan and I had dinner at Capt. Dag’s table, he told us how hard it had been to arrange this visit. The plan, in place for many months, is to allow each crew member to bring family onboard ... read more