Manx

My arrival into London was hindered by the terrorism scare. I suppose I was lucky compared to others; I only had to wait an extra 4 hours to get out of Italy - but at least I got out. It wasn't until later that I realised how many people had been delayed and why. Last time I flew into London was after the bombings last year. There was a lot of extra security around then, too. Thursday was similar - extra police, extra checks, the clear plastic bags with people's necessary only hand luggage inside. As I write the sun has just peeked out but it's been about 20 degrees and grey the whole time I've been here. I got caught in the rain yesterday afternoon. After the relentless heat in Croatia and Italy I've got ... read more

Have arrived in Italy after leaving Asia behind. The change is, needless to say, extraordinary. It's been strange to come from Laos, where there are signs of poverty in your face on a daily basis and everything is so underdeveloped, to then be in Italy - and in the north where many people are quite affluent. Venice is still as spectacular as I remember it. We went to the film festival last week and saw The Terminal. I also saw Steven Speielberg in the flesh and got a glimpse of Tom Hanks. I was surprised the crowd was so small - but then, you had to be lucky to see anything because the press were plonked down right in front of the viewing area and there was no real consideration for people who wanted to watch ... read more

I left Pakse at 7am.  My tuk-tuk driver was a lazy bastard and took me to the wrong bus station so I missed the truck I was supposed to catch down to Champasak.  I ended up hiring a sawngtaew for the reasonable price of $3 as I wasn't going to stay in Pakse a moment longer than I had to; there's very little to do there except drink fruit shakes and eat too much Indian food at the cafe opposite my hotel. I was driven to Ban Muang by the Mekong at a breakneck speed.  There's something frightening and exhiliarating about travelling so fast.  I tried to convince myself that if we crashed I would land in one of the mud puddles with a wallowing buffalo and be ok.  At Ban Muang I caught a boat ... read more

Rain is the common theme since I left Vientiane at 5am two days ago.  On the way to the bus station it pelted down so hard I thought the tuk-tuk driver had parked us underneath a waterfall.  The sound ofthe rain hitting the bus station's tin roof was so loud I had to shout at the guy behind the ticket counter for him to hear where I wanted to go.  The seven hour bus trip to That Khaek went surprisingly quickly. I sat next to a very nice Lao woman who gave me gum and tried to share her baguette and dried chicken with me.  She insisted on speaking to me in Lao once she knew I could speak the language a little bit; mostly it was beyond me and even though I kept apologizing for not understanding what ... read more

Well, yesterday was the last day of my working career in Laos; I have very mixed feelings about going.  Obviously, I'm excited abut heading to Europe to teach but I'm going to miss everyone here alot. I have spent the morning doing mundane things like throwing out old pairs of shoes that I forgot I owned and cleaning out the refridgerator.  Very exciting stuff!  I caught a tuk-tuk down to the post office and have sent a bunch of photos home.  $US27!!  Seemed kinda expensive to me for 4kg of stuff but maybe I'm just so used to everything being ultra cheap here that when I see double figures I'm like - what the #$Z%!!  Yesterday turned out to be a really sad day.  One of the students from school died overnight.  She'd been in hospital with Dengue ... read more

Sad news from the temple... the old monk who used to sit on the steps of the drum tower with his old dog died.  The temple was crowded yesterday for his cremation.  The rain came down off and on and there was alot of chanting throughout the day from those who came to pay their respects. In less serious news, my el cheapo $50 Chinese bicycle has finally quit on me.  It's lasted for 11 months but it too, sadly, has passed away.  With only six days left here I have decided to leave it outside.  There's an old man who comes by with a wooden cart; he collects pieces of scrap metal and bottles - just about anything.  I'm sure he'll be happy to have the frame. Busy packing and avoiding cleaning so...  ... read more

Well, I'm starting to feel it now.  It's taken awhile but now that I only have two weeks left here the sense of 'leaving' has hit.  It probably has alot to do with starting to pack up my house, actually packing bags and giving stuff away that I don't want to carry on with me to Europe.  The bummer is that I'm feeling a bit sick, just a head cold that's grabbed me and won't let go, probably because I haven't had time to rest and my mind is on so many things at once at the moment.  But, I will manage a week of R&R as from next week as I plan to go down south to Champasak; it will be interesting to see if I love it as much as I did Vang Vieng, Luang ... read more

So I have spent the whole of summer anticipating but not seeing a single snake - until yesterday.  After tales of cobras in houses and snakes in bedrooms and sunning themselves on the warm roads after the heat of the day has gone, I encounter my first snake in the middle of the school's playground.  What is the first thing I see?  Two of my students going at it with lumps of wood in a killing frenzy.  I tell them to get away but another kid just says to me, 'We will kill it.'   Finally, the two kids stop thumping the snake and it's laying there, completely still, faking death - despite the whalloping it had taken.  I finally get the kids to move away from it and the school's guard comes over with a little broom.  I'm ... read more

Well, the party turned out to be a funeral.  Apparently, funerals are semi-celebrations here.  It seemed the whole neighbourhood was nextdoor.  The street was clogged with vehicles of every kind - tuk-tuks, motorbikes, cars and utes and everything in-between.  Music from morning until night for two days; it seemed like a great way to celebrate a life.  I didn't see the monks come, as they usually do, but perhaps I was at work.  It hasn't stopped raining for two days.  The kids have decided to rename summer school 'winter school.'  I can't say I blame them; it's difficult having a schedule of outdoor events planned only to have it rain on their fun all the time.  I suspect some re-thinking needs to go into the planning stage considering it's rainy season at this time every year ... read more

The people nextdoor are having some sort of celebration today.  They've erected huge, colorful tents and have set out the compulsory red plastic chairs for their guests to sit on.  Hopefully, with all the rain of late, the chairs don't sink into the muddy ground.  For the guests' sakes I also hope the neighbours' dogs are chained up because you don't want any of those fangs sinking into your leg!  Imagine the rabies shots - ouch!  So, lots of music, alot of laughter, it will probably go on 'til late but it's better than their nightly karaoke sessions - talk about setting off the neighbourhood dogs!  Getting a bit sick of skirting the muddy puddles that form in the pot-holed dirt roads every time it buckets down.  By the time I get to work I have ... read more