Travel Blog Posts
August 6th 2006
Lhasa is now a Chinese haven, full of Chinese shops and Han trying to make a new and better life for themselves in stunning surroundings and plenty of space to spread out. With so many reported incentives for them to move to Tibet its no surprise that many Han Chinese have made Lhasa and Shigatse their homes in recent years. Chinese people wishing to move to Tibet can stake a claim and buy up any piece of land they wish (Tibetans cannot) and even the one child policy doesn't apply to Chinese settlers in Tibet. Lhasa is a very special place but it is also heartbreakingly sad. I probably can't say too much as you may know that everything, and I mean everything is censored by the Chinese government. All correspondents are absolutely non private or ... read more
August 2nd 2006
With some careful planning and extensive research we came to a compromise that our mini trip within Tibet would be from the 2nd - 9th August and take in the following destinations: Lhasa - Yamdrok tso - Shigatse - Lhatse - Rongpu monastery - Everest base camp - Lhatse - Sakya - Shigatse - Lhasa. Having now returned tired but totally satisfied I thought I should let you know that for whatever reason we were blessed with the most amazing weather on our trip which we got back from this afternoon, 9th August. Everest of course was everyones main goal and did not dissapoint. It really was fantastic. We arrived at Rongphu (Rongbuk) Monastery on 4th at about 3pm and by 3.30pm we were packed and walking up to base camp. We were told the trek/stroll ... read more
BEWARE "IMPRESSIONS BOUTIQUE" and Kim Xuan
Published: March 6th 2007Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Hoi AnJune 29th 2006
Beware "IMPRESSIONS BOUTIQUE" tailor shop. You may be buying a reasonable quality product but you will be paying over the odds for it. Please trust us. We have been totally ripped off by them. I stupidly paid them for a selection of clothes that I later found out would only cost less than half the price in other shops in town. I cant believe how stupid I was and feel totally saddened by the whole experience, but it was the first place we went to and we were sucked in sadly. I am writing this to WARN all travellers who are scared about getting clothes made in Hoi An. I wish that someone had been there to tell us the truth about "Impressions Boutique." It is run by a lady called Kim Xuan, a hard woman ... read more
May 29th 2006
Well this is it. We have finally arrived at one of the destinations I was most excited about seeing on my travells and it certainly did not dissapoint. We made our way overland from Laos into Thailand, stayed the night in Surin and then headed down into Cambodia through the O'smach border crossing beacuse we had read in 'The Lonely Planet' that the border crossing from Laos into Cambodia through the 4,000 islands, Si Phan Don is impassiable and very expensive. In reality the book is now over a year out of date and not only is the crossing simple with the addition of a new road and relatively cheap depending on the day you travel, (weekends have an added 'overtime' fee?) it also offers a visa on the border. Nevermind, you learn! And through our ... read more
April 29th 2006
Whilst in Thailand we decided not to do the usual trek into the jungle, ride on an elephant and visit a village en route as is tradition with most travelers to the northern regions of Thailand. Instead we opted for a more unique and caring option, for the elephants at least! We decided to visit a special place set up by one very devoted Thai lady called Lek who established a 'safe' environment for elephants who would otherwise be mistreated, abused, underfed and overworked. These elephants are mostly in fact rescued from exactly the types of places that run 'elephant rides' and use elephants for begging on the streets, performing to tourists and in illegal logging operations. It was very sad indeed to learn that many have been mistreated and abused by their owners and given ... read more
April 26th 2006
Having heard great things about this place and also from reading up on it we decided to do an overnight trip to the highest peak in thailand - Doi Inthanon. This trip was off our own back and involved me hanging onto the back of our motorbike as James bombed it along at 70 km/h (ok, thats not that fast but using words like "bombed" makes it seem cool!) and being in so much pain from the constant vibration of our pretty shit honda that we felt numb and had pins and needles for ages afterwards! The pain on your bum was immense after subjecting it to 2 hours each way just to get to the national park let alone up the bloody mountain! Bike's can be fun but probably best in short bursts and not ... read more
April 14th 2006
We arrived in Chiang Mai in a hurry to catch the end of the week long celebrations of the Songkran festival. In which the Thai people throw water from the moat (and in some cases add ice to it for a nasty chill) over everyone and everything that crosses their paths. This is of course for everyone else just an excuse for the biggest and messiest street water fight of the year. You arm yourself with water guns and pump action water firing devices or more commonly just a big bucket (my preffered choice!) and simply aim at anything that moves. I dont need to tell you thats its great fun. Everyone gets soaked and no one is spared. In the beggining I tried to say that I had a bag with a camera in it ... read more
Let Us Not Forget....."Death Railway and Hellfire Pass"
Published: May 1st 2006Asia » Thailand » Western Thailand » Kanchanaburi
April 11th 2006
If I could dedicate this to anyone, if there ever was such a thing with a blog (although the man in question deserves much, much more than a mere blog dedication...as do they all) I would like to dedicate it to the memory of Sandy Samuelson, a great and lovely man whom I never had the priviledge of meeting. He was my father's godfather and ex-Japanese POW. He worked on the Konyu cutting and the bridge and incredibly he survived the completion of the railway. He never spoke of his experiences. So this is to remember him, and all his friends, and all the men who worked alongside him. Im not entirely sure how to write about Kanchanaburi, the "Death Railway" and "Hellfire Pass." These places are so steeped in history and memory and sadness and ... read more
April 10th 2006
:"...Summers in rangoon, luge lessons, when i was naughty iwas placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds, we used to make meat helmets..." Dr. Evil, 1997 We had a frantic fight on our hands to complete the impossible and travel from Phang Nga province to Ranong and then over the border into Myanmar in 1 day. A tall order for superman and we thought we would be able to do it easily, oh how wrong we were! As already mentioned we did an overnight trip through the islands of Phang Nga and visited James Bond island, and stayed on a floating Muslim village for the night, all very exciting things. On the return to Phang Nga village we decided, or in truth were persuaded by our guide that we would be much wiser to ... read more
Phang Nga Islands
Published: April 18th 2006Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Ao Phang-Nga Marine NP
April 9th 2006
Not to be confused with Ko Phangnan in the gulf of Thailand this area just north of Krabi in the Andaman sea is home to many thousands of islands, including 'James Bond' island, which featured in the movie, 'Man with the Golden Gun.' As a lifelong (well since he was 8 years old) ambition, James (Curtis, not Bond!) has always wanted to see this famous island and so we made his dream come true and set off on a long tail boat trip around the national park. We decided to try something a little different and stayed in a muslim village the night before. The village is built entirely on stilts and sits on the edge of an island in the same national park, with stunning views of the islands that surround it. We visited many ... read more
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