Byz

Well its been a good month since my last post, and about 3 countries, so lets just skip India all together and get to Nepal. There is a famous Simpsons episode where Homer and Marge go to a marriage councelling camp and Homer goes fishing at Catfish lake searching for "General Sherman" which is obviously based on Hemmingway's "The Old Man and the Sea". My anology might be a little off, but Everest has always been General Sherman to me. A mythical beast dominating peoples imaginations and the entire region alike. Everybody believes in it but few ever get a chance for conquest. Catching (Climbing) the General may well be beyond my ability, or at least my means, but if nothing else Ill be able to get nice and close to him for a while. So, ... read more

My most heartfelt apologies for my unexplained absence professor. I aware that i'm roughly 40 days behind in my blog and rather need to catch up tout suite. Ill endeavour to be more punctual in the future. But in my defense, if Asia has taught me one thing its that time has a different meaning when your on the road and a guilty pleasure such as this often gets over looked for other guilty pleasures, such as doing nothing but reading a book on the beach all day, sipping on drinks with little floating umbrellas. So Vietnam came to an end. No biggie. I never REALLY wanted to go to Vietnam, it was always just another country on the list. Still, it would have been nice to go to some of the more popular, summer places ... read more

So im getting alot of feedback that North Vietnam is actually a beautiful and wonderous place. I do love a good arguement, but given my submissive North Vietnamese attitude, ill be more than happy to agree with you at this point. I do regret not spending more time enjoying North Vietnam and all its wonders, but the simple fact is that Cam and I were not there at the right time of year, and given Cam's limited schedule, and as well as my somewhat less limited schedule, not to mention carpe diem, there was no choice that made more sense than acting like a true muslim and going to the land of milk and honey (Sidenote: while technically being Catholic I practise no religious faith. trange, I go to temples seemingly every week now days, for ... read more

Alrighty. Vietnam. Cam and I had had enough of Laos and went about getting our Vietnam visas (which took 3 days) and a hefty $55 bucks. I didnt mind the wait all too much as I was coming down with something and could use the rest after too much indulgence in Vang Vieng. Eventually the time came (and I had become sicker, probably due to not eating for most of the 3 days. Actually did a 40 hour famine!) and we hopped on the 28 hour bus. The idea was to go from Vang Vieng and change at Vientienne, then head to the border, change again and head to Hanoi. I was feeling pretty shit but kept my chin up and flatout refused to spew. When we arrived at Vientienne we found our terminal and got ... read more

Ok class, quieten down. In your seats please. Can anyone tell me where we left off last time? hmm? No it wasnt the Philippines you smart arse. Luang Prabang. Thats right. So, Arthur, Cameron and I were continuing on with our Laotian adventure. Here is a simple question. What is the first, and usually only, thing that comes to mind when one thinks about Laos? Cheap buckets, correct! And the best place for them? Tubing down the Mekong. Thats Right, its time for Vang Vieng. 3 years ago when i visited Asia I really wanted to visit but fate conspired against me and it wasnt to be. I wasnt missing it this time, no matter how many times I hugged John crapper in Luang Prabang. The 3 of us hopped into a mini bus, which dropped ... read more

OK, so Craig and I departed Pai and made our way back to Chiang Mai for another couple of nights of Chiang Mai Inn and roots reggae bar. After another boozy night out, I woke up (after about 2 hours sleep) to a knock at the door too find my brother Cameron had arrived in Chiang Mai. After a brief hug it became obvious that I was still hugely drunk and that Cam had been awake for about 40 hours, so going back to sleep in our respected rooms we stragetised to catch up after we each got a good sleep. We spent 3 or 4 days in Chiang Mai doing rather Chiang Mai like things before we departed on the epic journey to Luang Prabang. Being as Cam hadnt been to Thailand before this may ... read more

Good morning boys and girls. Who has been to Thailand? Ok good, most of you. Now who has been to Chiang Mai? Ok, still a good number. Im sure most of you walked past those travel agents with mini-buses to various locations such as the Gibbon Experience, Laos, etc. But who has been to Pai? While staying at my favourite guest house, The Chiang Mai Inn, sitting at the communal table as you do, the subject of Pai came up one day and it met with almost universal approval. As it turned out, about 8 out of the 10 random drinkers were going to Pai, and having decided I wanted to go there a day before hand, it was the obvious choice. Out on the Sangsom buckets the night before departure, at the trusty Roots Reggae ... read more

So after a brief respite in Puerta Princesa, an overnight stop in Manila and a flight to Bangkok, I was in Thailand. Catching a local bus to the Democracy Monument seemed a far more cost effective approach then getting being politely shistered out of my money by the airport taxis who charge way above their products value. I got off the bus a couple of hours later to a familiar, somewhat uncomfortable, situation of being in a massive crowd of people. The best way to describe it was like being in a nightclub, in daylight, outdoors, with no music or alcohol! Fondly remembering the relative solitutide of the Philippines I managed to flag down a taxi to Tannon Khao San. The less said about Khao San road the better as I only spent about 40 hours ... read more

Meanwhile, at the Dallas Inn in Puerto Princesa (in my best cartoon narrator voice) I found my way into a van to El Nido, which is a 5-7 hour ride through the same windy, bumby, dusty roads on route to Sabang. Something about travelling through the same road twice didnt appeal to me but as there is only the one road up north I sucked up my outrage and prepared for what I hoped would be a sleepy journey through the philippine countryside. While the landscape was green and beautiful, motion sickness was on my mind and I spent most of the trip doing my best not to vomit on the ornately arranged bobbing head Jesus's and power puff girl dolls that call the vans dashboard home. 7 hours of relative comfort later we arrived in ... read more