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Page 3 of His Dudeness Travel Blog Posts
What's with the banana pancake?
Published: December 21st 2011Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai
December 21st 2011
The banana pancake, backpacker fare number one. But why and how did it become so? And how does it work? I mean, no disrespect to the dish, it tastes good, but so do many other dishes. Who decided that this particular concoction should be at the top of any self respecting backpackers food list? Perhaps more interesting is how does it spread? Because the banana pancake is the first dish to appear in a newly 'discovered' place, but of course when the first travellers arrive at one or another village I assume that the pancake does not yet exist as a dish amongst the local population. Furthermore I presume that those backpackers are precisely there to escape from the pancake trail and sure as hell are not going to introduce the dish. Let's say word gets ... read more
Life through the view-finder
Published: December 9th 2011Asia » Burma » Southern Burma » Kyaiktiyo Pagoda
December 9th 2011
Inle lake is probably the most touristic part of Myanmar and at Inle lake, I probably did the most touristic thing that one can do, which is take a boat tour to all the so called 'sights'. Now, don't think touristic as in Thailand touristic, no it is nothing like that, but for Myanmar there are a lot of tourists, especially tour-groups. And they all take the boat tour, you can see them zipping around the lake in numbered boats umbrella's or parasols up in the air, depending on the weather. And so I found myself on one of those sleek boats jetting through the water and looking at the folks that call the shores of this lake their home, and somewhere along the line I started thinking how strange this all was. Because I found ... read more
Snippets of conversations on the road up north
Published: December 2nd 2011Asia » Burma » Mandalay Region » Kyaukme
December 2nd 2011
Painting seller: "Where do you come from?" Me: "Holland." Painting seller: "Oh, that is a beautiful country. You are very good at football? Do you know Robben?" Me: "Yes, football, and yes I know Robben." Painting seller: "Is this your first time in Myanmar?" Me: "Yes." Painting seller: "Do you like it?" Me: "Yes, it is a lovely country." Painting seller starts unfurling his rolled up paintings and getting to the point: "Do you want to see my paintings?" Me: "No, thank you." Painting seller: "Just look at them, you don't have to buy them." Me: "No, I am really not interested, sorry." Painting seller: "Maybe later?" Me: "No, also not later?" Painting seller: "Maybe tomorrow?" Me: "No, never." Painting seller: "Ok, maybe tomo... read more
What do roads that have more holes than a Swiss cheese, crazy man, a blacksmith and the prawn-bus, have in common?
Published: November 22nd 2011Asia » Burma » Western Burma » Mrauk U
November 22nd 2011
They all can be found in Myanmar! Myanmar that beautiful land, the country that has been on my mind for a long time. I have finally made it here and it is like stepping back in time. Some say Myanmar is like S.E. Asia used to be 75 years ago, I don't know about that, but certainly I would say it harkens back to how it was 30 or 40 years ago in this region. So does it live up to my expectations? Yep, it certainly does! I loved it on arrival, it somehow reminds me of my youth in Thailand. Even though I think already at the beginning of the eighties Thailand was more advanced then Myanmar is now. Still it approximates it quite well. Strange how I found what I was looking for in ... read more
Lost in Thailand
Published: November 9th 2011Asia » Thailand » North-East Thailand » Nakhon Ratchasima
November 9th 2011
I've been lost, lost in Thailand. Not literally of course, that would be near impossible in a country like this. No it is more that I have been at a loss here. In fact I have been dreading coming to Thailand for a long time, because Thailand for me is a hard country to visit. Strange though this might sound, because it probably is the easiest country to visit from a backpackers point of view. Hence the amount of first time travellers that come to the country of smiles. The reason for my dread, has nothing to do with a supposed difficulty on travelling around this country. No it is far worse than that! The reason is that I feared that I wouldn't find anything to do here. 'But there are loads of things to do ... read more
Bartending memories in the sands of time
Published: October 25th 2011Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Ko Pha-Ngan
October 25th 2011
Bangkok, back in Bangkok after 30 years, back to my place of birth. Despite the fact that this is the country I was born in and where I spent part of my youth in, I have never been particularly keen on re-visiting it. Thailand is too touristic for me, or at least that is what my impression was before coming, and still is now that I am actually here. It isn't that I mind about the other tourists, I am not a travel snob who thinks off the beaten track is better than a beach in Thailand. No it is more the fact that because Thailand is and has been on the tourist radar for such a long time there isn't really anything new to discover here. There are so many stories about this country, so ... read more
October 9th 2011
I can't believe this is already the eights time I have been interrupting my epic overland trip from Holland to Australia. Overland you might think? WTF is he talking about? Technically it of course isn't anymore, since I keep flying home again and again to spruce up my funds, but in spirit it is still the same journey I started all those years ago. And truly if you would look at the dots on the map you would see they are all connected and if you would just close your eyes and forget about the times I have been returning home, you would see it is indeed an overland trip. Holland you might then think? WTF is he talking about now? He is not from Holland, he is from Gelderland, which is a completely different province. ... read more
July 12th 2011
"Mr. Tim Harford-Cross I presume?" "Yes, that is me, who is asking?" "Ah, my name is Ralf and I have been looking far and wide for you. For a while I thought I had caught up with you in the immeasurable vastness of Central Asia, but somehow you eluded me. I followed your track up the snowy heights of the Pamirs and through the empty desserts of the Taklamakan. I there discovered to my dismay that you were last sighted entering the hidden autocracy of Northern Korea and so I too had to go that way. However once again I was too late and you had left, up the Yangtze so the rumours suggested. Into far Yunnan the whispers pertaining to your presence took me and then down the mighty Mekong river where I was ... read more
July 1st 2011
The French have a saying about the nations comprising former Indochina, it goes like this: The Vietnamese grow the rice, the Cambodians watch it grow and the Laotians listen to it grow. This is a reference to the nature of the people in their former colony. Now I personally think that they have over-rated the Laotians diligence. I doubt that a Laotian would actually bother listening to the rice grow, that seems like far too much effort for them. No, I would say that the Laotians would just let the rice grow and not pay any attention to it at all. They would instead be making good use of their hammock, bed, or comfy chair. So let's talk about these Laotians, shall we? And there is a lot of talk about Laos these days among the ... read more
June 19th 2011
Yes I am leaving China, it has been fun, but it has been enough as well and I am looking forward to something new. And yes this blog will be about my last week in this country, with a few thoughts about it, and my trip and time here, and a few thoughts totally disconnected from China and my leaving it. As such it might seem a bit incoherent but, ah well, at least it is a tad different. Coherency is over-rated anyway! Lets start with my feelings on leaving China. To be honest I am happy to be leaving. I like China, don't get me wrong, but I have been coming back to this country three times in the last year and a half and I have been roaming it for a total of seven ... read more
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