Are you a Nazi?... Erm, I've never been asked that before but this was on my visa application and I'm pretty sure it isn't a trick question so I chose 'no'. God only knows what happens if you choose 'yes' but you're not a Nazi... you're a bloody stupid Nazi. This is the United States of America, a nation that apparently spends more money per year on porn than the whole Sub-Saharian African debt. God bless 'em. We arrived here from Rarotonga, the largest of a group of 15 islands collectively known as the Cook Islands and absolutely nothing happens there [View Full Entry]

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They say that the south island is more spectacular than the north, its certainly bigger and got less people and with so few people in such a vast expanse ominously the locals have apparently 'adapted' to become a "rugged" and "individual" breed. Our plan was to travel down the length of the west coast on State Hwy 6 as far south as Queenstown and then double back crossing over to the east coast to finish in Christchurch; and in another 16 days and 2000 kilometres thats exactly what we did. Across the Cook Strait the ferry winds its way through the [View Full Entry]

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Kia Ora Bro (hello) from Aotearoa; the land of the long white cloud. "Everything here is more magnificent. The landscape is familiar in the sense it has been formed by rain, but the vegetation is unusual and the mountains seem so much sharper. If you're looking for what the poets used to call 'the awful' - a sense of awe - that is what you find in New Zealand. And its wild in a way that England isn't wild." - Sir Ian Mckellen Gandalf is right, it beats the shit out of England and despite having only 4 million people there [View Full Entry]

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G'day. What is crazy... casually but potentially dangerously weaving through traffic at will to cross the road or pressing a button and having to wait to cross even if the road is empty because of the fear of an illogical fine? Or, pavements with gaping holes and signs overhanging that pavement which are likely to rip your head off or a culture where people are suffocated by a blanket of safety and can blame someone else for their own idiocy and lack of attention thereby relinquishing all personal responsibility and people live in fear of being sued? Or that a commodity [View Full Entry]

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"Our people are inspired by ardent patriotism. This is an invaluable tradition of ours. At all time, wherever the Fatherland is invaded, this patriotism forms an immensely powerful wave sweeping away all dangers and difficulties and drowning all traitors and aggressors." - Ho Chi Minh, 1951. "My ultimate wish is that our entire party and people, closely joining their efforts, will build a peaceful, reunified, independent, democratic and prosperous Vietnam, and make a worthy contribution to the world revolution." - Excerpt from President Ho Chi Minh's Testament. "We hold t [View Full Entry]

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''Well of course the universe is gradually slowing down and will eventually collapse inwardly on itself according to the laws of entropy when all its thermal and mechanic functions fail, thus rendering all human endeavour ultimately pointless'' - Bill Bailey So now this post has a context I can continue... Cambodia's relatively recent history continues in the same vain as its surrounding neighbours, in a nutshell, arguing amongst themselves before and during the French arrived and conquered then eventually the USA sent in Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone to get the job done but [View Full Entry]

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For travellers Laos' apparently serene way of life is a tonic for the soul as it continues to function from its stock of French-era buildings and ancient Buddhist wat, despite its turbulent and secret history of war and revolution. During the period between 1953-1973 Laos became the stage on which the clash of communist ambition and American anxiety over the perceived South-East Asia 'domino-effect' played itself out and saw Laos rather disproportionately as the crucial 'domino'. Between 1960-1973 Laos became the the theatre for the 'Secret War' which saw the North Vietnamese funnel massive [View Full Entry]

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Made it to Laos, the most bombed nation in the world and i'm still not allowed to touch people with my feet. We crossed the border from Chiang Kong into Huay Xai with no problems and waited for our boat. Now I had visions of demi-grandeur not unlike a Mississippi steamer to float down the Mekong for two days but instead it was nothing more than a glorified longtail boat - if you sat at the front you couldn't sit because there wasn't any seats, if you sat at the back you went temporarily deaf from the roaring engine and if [View Full Entry]

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From Ko Tao to Chumporn jump to Myanmar to re-new my visa back to Thailand for a bus to Bangkok then an overnight train to Chiang Mai... i'm talking about the road! The sleeper train was quite the experience and everything was catered for by folk who jumped on the train when it stopped to sell you stuff out of a bucket. There was no effort made to disguise the fact the toilet was simply a hole directly on to the tracks, so if you were quick enough you could take a crap and run to the back of the train [View Full Entry]

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There is only one word that can describe the journey from Ao Nang to Ko Samui - wank - although no pleasure was involved only the effort. In brief an overland journey landed us in the south-eastern mainland port town Surat Thani. Being the only westerners on the bus we were herded off and taken to this blokes restaurant and left to stew (with a menu) thinking this is a little strange, where's the boat? Turns out the port was actually still one hour away and this dubious detour had meant we missed our scheduled boat; i was mad. Anyway we [View Full Entry]

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