http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/LobsterCheeks/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from LobsterCheeks en-us Thu, 15 May 2008 20:31:37 BST Thu, 15 May 2008 20:31:37 BST India is a vast country and if visiting for a month you can barely scratch the surface. But the size of India is not immediately apparent. It' s only when you come to travel across it that you realise how massive it is. We had to get from Varanasi to Agra and looking on a map it seems like a small distance. But was a twelvehour train ride. So far in India any form of transport seemed to be ch http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-266140.html As we crossed Nepal towards India I noticed several things the closer we got to the border. We started to see more Indians in the ethnic mix of people. The number of beggars slowly increased. And the curries got better. I was very excited about the latter. In my worldwide search for the perfect curry I was about to enter the motherlandAfter 9 months of relatively good health I was on my guard http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Varanasi/blog-262615.html A few facts and observations on Nepal...1. In rural areas of Nepal there used to be a custom of exiling women to the cattle sheds for four days during their period. This was made illegal in 20052. Every country in the world has a rectangular flag except Nepal. The Nepalese flag is made up of two triangles joined together3. Yaks are a very useful Himalayan animal. They are used as highaltitude bea http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/blog-260383.html Why oh why did I choose to visit Nepal at the coldest time of year Was it an unconscious effort to start acclimatising ready for my return to chilly England Or did my English genes simply need a dose of bonechilling nipplefreezing cold Whatever the reason once again I was cursing the weather and wearing thermals fleece and hat. My hopes of going home tanned were now dashed. But I donrsqu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Chitwan/blog-259206.html If you mention Nepal most people immediately think of Mount Everest. The worldrsquos highest mountain and a mountain which has claimed many lives. Hundreds of people head to Nepal each year to climb itrsquos dangerous summit. But Everest is not going to be in Nepal forever. Scientists take precise GPS readings each year and the mountain is moving North slowly but surely at a rate of 6cm p http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Annapurna/blog-256109.html Itrsquos not everyday you meet a living goddess but I did today. However wersquoll come to that later. I arrived in Nepal after taking three separate planes from Singapore. I left Kathmandu airport and got off to a bad start by having a furious argument with the taxi driver. The airport cabs take prepaid ldquotaxi couponsrdquo and when I bought mine I told them I was staying at Via Via http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/blog-254395.html A major change in my travel itinerary saw me sacrificing Vietnam in favour of Nepal and North India. I had recently spent almost three months in Indonesia and the Philippines and feared I had reached my limit of palm trees jungles and fishing villages. Whilst there would be so much more to Vietnam I thought the physical landscapes of Vietnam would share many aspects with the countries I had vis http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-241734.html Our next two nights were spent in Mulu National Park. This place has been described as being indescribable but that's just a cop out. It's a gorgeous region of rivers mountains and jungle plus some of the most spectacular caves in the world. The highlight was the Bat Cave and I don't mean the subterranean lair of the caped crusader. It's actually called Deer Cave and is home to two million http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Borneo/Sarawak/Mulu/blog-237697.html Our next journey was into the wilderness of Sarawak another jungleclad region of Borneo. A bus ride and three separate boat journeys took us to our destination deep within the territory of the Iban people. Until as recently as the 1960's the Iban were fierce headhunters. This wasn't a part time hobby for these people. They didn't just lop off the occasional head. They were dedicated to headhun http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Borneo/Sarawak/Mulu/blog-237641.html The National Park leaflets for Mount Kinabalu proudly describe it as The highest mountain in SouthEast Asia but then put in brackets not including Papua. This is a sneaky and cheeky way to boost it's reputation. It's like saying Madonna is the biggest selling female artist in the world not including Mariah Carey. Or I am the fastest runner in the world not including Ben Johnson Ly http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Borneo/Sabah/Mt--Kinabalu/blog-237367.html Our next two nights were spent at a homestay near Sepilog. We were separated into pairs and assigned a host family. Some families were extremely large with twelve children living under one roof. My host parents Anidah and Ray had a small family of only three children. We had been briefed on the homestay and told that conditions were basic. We were also given instructions on how to eat with our http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Borneo/Sabah/Sepilok/blog-237054.html A few facts and observations on The Philippines.....1. Filipinos are the world's biggest users of text messages per capita. Close to 300 million text messages are sent each day. Text messages are used in the most unlikely situations. On the island of Mindanao Muslim insurgents texted insults to the government soldiers during a lull in hostilities. The soldiers texted insults right back. Another e http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/blog-233898.html After saying goodbye to Justine in Manila I caught a flight to the steamy jungles of Malaysian Borneo. After a brief stay in the city of Kota Kinabalu I headed to the OrangUtan Rehabilitation Centre at Sepilog. This is where the OrangUtans with drinking problems and drug issues come to be weaned off their dependencies. This is the Betty Ford Clinic for apes. Of course I am only kidding. The w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Borneo/Sabah/Sepilok/blog-233879.html Mine and Justine's next destination was an island in the far north of Palawan. But getting there wasn't straighforward. There were two cargo ships a week but the timings weren't suitable. Hiring a fishing boat was also out of the question because it was an 8hour journey over open seas. We eventually found a private company that sailed a 40person boat every Friday. Once again this boat left at http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Boracay/blog-231818.html Our next stop was Palawan an island province in the far Western waters of the Philippines. The island is 800km in length and has been called The Final Frontier of the Philippines. Most of Palawan is an untouched wilderness and it did not disappoint The only downside is that Palawan is the cockerel capital of the world. The little menaces are everywhere. Cockerels are supposed to crow at day http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Palawan/Sabang/blog-230441.html After seven months of travelling alone and meeting random travel buddies along the way I was delighted to have a companion for the next three weeks My friend Justine was flying out to join me. The past few weeks had been tough. I had only seen one other traveller in three weeks and it had been quite lonely at times. So the prospect of travelling with an old friend was extremely welcome. We met http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Bohol/blog-229008.html Four hours by boat over choppy water and we reached the sleepy village of Port Barton. In hindsight coming here was a mistake. There was very little to see or do. It was a haven for older men and their twentysomething Filipino companions. The men spent their days in the hotel bars getting legless. The men would sit at one table swapping tall stories and drink their beer and whisky chasers. Meanw http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Palawan/El-Nido/blog-228726.html Why oh why do airconditioned buses always turn the aircon onto full Itrsquos as if they only have two settings ldquooffrdquo and ldquoright letrsquos make 'em freezerdquo. The direction vent above your head canrsquot be turned off and so you are subjected to an icy breeze throughout your journey. Irsquom usually sitting there wearing a fleece and I am used to cold weather. T http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Sorsogon/blog-227993.html Originally my next stop was the far North of the Philippines to visit the former headhunter tribes of the Kaylinga province. But after speaking with several locals I changed my mind. I had heard this area was a true wilderness a remote mountain region which is rarely visited by tourists. A place where the tribes still live by traditional means and you would see livestock running around everywh http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Banaue/blog-224185.html Tokyo is a shopping Mecca. If it exists you can buy it here. If it doesn't exist you can probably order it anyway There is an impressive district called Electric Town which is packed with sevenfloor superstores containing every electrical item known to man. This is the place you look if you want to see what we'll be buying in England in a years time. There is a department store called Takshi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-223166.html