It only took forty minutes to fly from Siem Reap to the Cambodian capital. The landing was smooth and were soon out of the airport, driving through the hustle and bustle of downtown Phnom Penh. Outside was hot and dusty, the streets clogged with motorcycles and pedestrians. Compared to Siem Reap, this was indeed a third world city. Shoeless children and scrawny dogs wandered the pavements, trying to keep out of the sunlight. After being dropped off at the hotel, Angela and I headed outside. The streets were crowded with people, the stench was horrendous, and the children hawking bottles of water for a dollar were relentless. “You want water? Where you from? Ah England, lubbly-jubbly! You buy water from me? Okay, maybe later? You please remember me!” “This is the hottest day so far,” I ... read more

Our night flight from Vientiane to Hanoi was supposed to take less than one hour but it ended up taking much longer. The tropical storm brewing over Hanoi was causing havoc with air traffic in and out of the airport. As we sat on board the Vietnamese Airlines Airbus we began our descent into the airport, the nighttime approach hindered by dismal visibility caused by the low altitude cloud outside. Down we went but the first approach was aborted by the flight crew at the last second, the plane buffeting from all sides as we climbed through the hot, humid turbulent air. The jet engines screamed up to full throttle. No announcement came from the cockpit and the cabin remained deathly quiet. All around, people closed books and held their children's hands. The jet went down ... read more

“Please not ride in tuk-tuk,” said the man who'd met us at the airport. “Over sixty accidents every day in Bangkok involving tuk-tuk. You are advised to take taxi, much safer.” Our hotel, the Holiday Inn on Silom Road was only a ten-minute walk from the notorious Patpong red light district. “Do you fancy having a wander?” I asked Angela. “To see the night market…of course.” An August night in Bangkok equals hot and humid weather. As we headed towards Patpong we hit the beginnings of the night market. DVDs and wooden trinkets seemed the main item on offer. Some of the buildings we passed offered massages. Outside these premises sat young girls looking faintly bored. But these were not the seedy establishments of downtown Patpong; these were the real deal, offering traditional Thai massages. ... read more

www.theredquest.com “Sweet bloody Jesus! And Christ almighty!” came the voice of man behind us. These were the first words Angela and I heard upon our arrival at Cork International Airport. What caused the man to utter these words we did not know, but it cheered us nonetheless. We had arrived in Ireland and it sounded good. Cork was founded in the sixth century by the wonderfully named Saint Finbarr. He founded a monastery, around which settlements soon grew. As time passed, the Vikings came and destroyed parts of the city, but it was soon rebuilt. However by the seventeenth century Cork finally hit the big time. It became the butter capital of the World, providing butter to ships plying the busy transatlantic routes. Then came famine followed by British interference, which drove the city into decline. ... read more

In the Times of India, I spotted a disturbing article. It was about a gang of kidney harvesters who’d been arrested. And they hadn’t been collecting ingredients for chili-con-carne either. Another article was about a man convicted of murder on the hearsay of a dog! The poor bugger had spent four years in jail until a judge had finally overturned the madness. But perhaps the most shocking section of all was the photo of a dead woman. She had been found somewhere in Delhi and the authorities were appealing for identification. The accompanying photo was gruesome. It showed a young woman who looked like she'd been attacked with baseball bats. Her lifeless head showed black eyes, cuts and bruises, and gashes to her chin. Thankfully it was in black and white. Another, a truly horrific ... read more