1. You don't swear anymore if you step on cow dung. 2. It's July and the monsoon is at its worst but you are still in Goa, playing to be a baba and living in the jungle. 3. You've found a way to make the 10 rupee begging kids to give you money. 4. Explicit carvings in places of worship don't make you want to photograph them anymore. 5. You drink tap water in order to cut expenses. 6. You pray to Hanuman and think it's perfectly normal to ask for advice from a monkey. 7. You manage to spend days [View Full Entry]

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Where to go after traveling the usual suspects? Here are some new ideas I came up with surfing the net while recovering from a Monday night drinking binge today. 1. Samar and Leyte in the Eastern Visayas, Philippines. Why: I could use a Red Horse* beer. The general idea: Buy a motorbike, tricycle or a Filipino style used jeepney that says "Jesus is with me" on the sides and "Guns'n'Roses" on the front and tour these relatively little known islands. 2. Bangladesh. Why: A detox in muslim country might be welcome. The general idea: See the Sundarbans sanctuary for tigers, well [View Full Entry]

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And the answer is quite simply: Because I always wanted to. Well, not always, but ever since I was 10 and for the first time in my life saw backpackers in Piccadilly Circus in London, where my loving but unimaginative parents had taken me for a holiday (one could give them credit for choosing Armenia, Soviet Union to be the first foreing country I ever went to, but I think my mom is a commie, so no wonder.). It was a group of two guys and a girl. I remember them having huge backpacks and looking stranted in the rain, peering [View Full Entry]

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4. Meet the only hot English teacher on the planet in a guesthouse on the outskirts of Beijing, China. Have a great night out in Sanlitun whisking down Tsingtaos like you had just escaped a desert monastery run by the sisterhood of though shalt not drink. Wake up seriously hangover 5 minutes before your bus to Simatai to see the Great Wall of China. On the way, eat the leftovers of a spinach pie that did not taste good to begin with. Feel a little sick and eat nothing the whole day - after all you've got a dinner date with [View Full Entry]

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3. On your first day in Montego Bay, Jamaica, find your way out of the resort area since it just sucks. Let your traveling duo be approached by a fellow, who only seems to want to show you that he excels in questioning you on where are you from, what do you do, and what is your name, blaah, blaah, blaah. Half an hour later, as the guy gets more and more tedious by the minute, exchange a few words in Finnish with your friend and decide to ditch the bore. Next, learn that labeling this dude dull was a serious [View Full Entry]

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1. As the backpacker bus from Bangkok reaches Poipet on the Cambodian border realize that you are the only traveler on the bus whose ticket is valid only to Poipet instead of the site of Anchor temples, Siem Reap, 8 hours on from the border. Get absolutely pissed when the driver demands you to flash in more bahts to take you to Siem Reap and walk out of the bus. Flag down a tuk tuk and enter Cambodia on your own. Not knowing what's awaiting, feel a certain sense of pride of not letting those scammers take advantage of you. Flag [View Full Entry]

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Half a year since I got home from the Phills a new trip is finally approaching - and this time it will be a proper trip around the world or at least far. I've set up a new blog, which you can find here: [View Full Entry]

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Here's a few places I thought would be worth mentioning when it comes to eating and drinking in the Phils. 1. Rowena's place on Sugar Beach, Sipalay. As Sugar Beach only has a few guesthouses and nothing else, the variety of places to eat is very limited. There's no variety in the pricing either - all of them tend to be fairly expensive compared to everywhere else in the Phils. But lo and behold! You only need Rowena's and you'll be set. Rowena, a lovely young mother runs her own place at her home. Drop by a few hours earlier and [View Full Entry]

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Here's a list of places to stay I liked. It's probably not of much interest if you want to spend more then a tenner a night on accomodation. Luzon 1. Friendly's guesthouse, in Malate, Manila. The fact that they have a free wine night every Saturday pretty much tells all about this friendly and convivial if slightly messy guesthouse. The atmosphere makes up for the unimpressive rooms. Do book ahead, this place fills up every night. 2. Greenview Lodge, Banaue. Nice enough to chill out after the two or three day hike to Batad. 3. If you get to choose, then [View Full Entry]

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1. Make friends with a Canadian from Hamilton, Ontario, who's one of those old, fat and bald Westeners with a Filipina wife. Make enough noise discussing his original home town Durban, SA, to completely piss off a grumpy French tourist who'll come telling you to shut up. 2. Walk around the pleasant little Dumaguete and once at the market look up for a beauty parlor. While being manicured and pedicured by two elderly, friendly Filipinas discuss politics, economical situation in Iceland (is it really bankrupt? Geez.) and cock fights with your manicurists husband who's hanging out there at th [View Full Entry]

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