"How much to Mutrah?" "No not yet, I wait" Much haggling is futile as this man would still not take me without a full taxi. No other taxi's were driving past so it looks like I was stuck. Getting around Muscat isn't as easy as I had heard. Taxi's are seemingly readily available but are willing to exploit tourists. Buses don't seem to run anywhere but to and from towns and cities. The hot arabian sun makes me swealter and there is no shady refuge in sight. A man wanders across the road and he converses with the taxi driver. He [View Full Entry]

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The plane touches down in Dubai after 15 long hours of crying babies, no sleep and a man behind me who likes to kick chairs repeatedly. I was only too happy to get off. A very long walk takes me though customs and bag collection. Standing on the curb with no idea on how I was going to get from here to the bus station within 45 minutes, a lady askes me if I knew where anything was. She was from India but had been living in London for 8 years. We put our heads together and got a shared taxi [View Full Entry]

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Seasons greetings from Singapore! Yes that's right, bearly a few days into November and the christmas spirit has hit Singapore in a big way. An obtrusive Christmas Tree stands in front of Raffles City and Orchard Road is decorated with banners and other christmas junk. There is even a few peoples mobile phones spouting electronic christmas carols. Christmas seems to come earlier every year and as I pass through the Singapore streets I am reminded of that. The trip has come to an end now. We spent the last day in Singapore crusing around the harbour checking out the Merlion that [View Full Entry]

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Phuket. Nothing but a breading ground for dead beats, posers and seedy old men with Thai women half thier age. The locals don't care who you are or where your from, they just want your money. Maybe I'm being unfair, Phuket bares and uncanny resemblance to Surfers Paradise which I quite enjoy, but this place is different. It's just sleazy. I guess it was what I was expecting but I still thought I'd enjoy it. It gets a bit tiring being hassled perpetually to buy the same old crap. T-shirts, watches, illegal substances and deadly knives, guns, brass knucles and mace. [View Full Entry]

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Another bus trip awaits us. We have caught more buses on this holiday than I care to count. A foggy morning provides a beautiful sight as it crawls gently over the tips of the Vang Vieng mountains. It becomes obvious very quickly that the following 7 hours on the bus may well be very enjoyable. The mist engulfs the tall, staggering mountains. The sight off the long fall cliff is formidable. The constant slowing down to carefully plot a course over the fallen rock and debris is a reminder how dangerous driving on these wet mountains can be. We stop at [View Full Entry]

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We drive through the extremely thick smog and pollution. This was our last look at Hanoi and it's a relief. I didn't mind Hanoi but the pollution and the chaos was getting too much. Thinking back to how I had to scrub the filth from my feet just from walking around, I was somewhat glad to be leaving. Arriving at the airport an hour before our plane leaves usually would raise some anxiety but 10 mins we are through customs and begin killing time. After an extremely short flight and hassle free customs we are in Laos. The "bible" claims Vientiane [View Full Entry]

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15 minutes late. I wonder if our bus to Halong Bay will even show up. My apprehensions relieved as it makes an appearence 35 minutes late. 4 hours of chatting and getting a feel for the group. It's a pretty good one. 2 girls from London, two women from Orange, Australia. A couple from both Norway and France and a man from Singapore. We arrive at Halong City. A huge feast awaits us. After we head for the dock, in true Vietnamese style, we are left waiting for 5 minutes. In Vietnam, 5 minutes means anywhere between 5 minutes and 3 [View Full Entry]

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The bus slowly fills up. Within half an hour, my space is limited from a full row of seats to squished in a corner next to 3 dirty, smelly vietnamese who could not speak english. One had a fasination with telling me that Manchester United won the soccer. Perhaps he thought I was English. "Yes, Go Man U" I reply, waiving my fist in a half hearted victorious way. I seek solice in the politically charged rhymes of Rage Against The Machine and close my eyes. Our trip to Hanoi had begun. Excitment builds as we pass through Danang. Many sources [View Full Entry]

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The final day in Saigon. A trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels is organised. Never before have I felt like such a tourist. Getting an air-con bus, a tour guide and rushed. It just seemed against our travel plan. I guess some tourist things have to be done. We stop on the way to look at rubber trees. I thought to myself, "hmm wow" (With a large amount of sarcasim) We move on and arrive at the complex. We are hearded like cows into a small video room. The poor VHS quality makes me laugh. We only get 5 minutes before [View Full Entry]

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Screaming down a road that is barley big enough for our ute to fit down. We dodge other cars, bikes, dogs and begging children. Squeezed in the back of this old rusty ute, that even puts mine to shame, with 8 other travellers, clenching white knuckle tight. The dust and smog lashes my face so hard it almost threw me off back. The thought that I might actually die, although ordinarily would, did not cross my mind. This was the way of life in Cambodia and one gets used to it a little too easily. We arrive at the port where [View Full Entry]

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