boristhegreat

Sometimes it only feels like yesterday that I was excitedly and nervously dropped off at Gatwick airport to begin my trip around the world on the kind of freezing winter’s morning the UK specialises in. In reality it was almost three years ago and counting. I guess names, places and even experiences become a blur when everyday is an experience for such a long period of time. Change becomes a habit and if you’re not careful it becomes difficult to remember that everyday you’re living a dream. Experiences which would otherwise become cherished memories become easily forgotten. Feeling the mist of an unnamed jungle waterfall softly cooling your face in the tropical heat; smelling the sulphurous toxicity of an active volcano burning your nostrils as you creep into its crater; seeing tribal people freely living their ... read more

‘This winter it’s very bad’ said Ulzii, our hired translator for the trek, ‘at worst it’s maybe -52C or something, many people losed cattle and this spring it’s very sad and the cattle is still so weak’ she explained as we marvelled at how she’d managed to learn English so well having lived her entire life in such a barren outpost, in addition to ‘Darkhad’, ‘Tsartan’ and her native Mongolian languages. ‘That is why nobody, they don’t really want to hire their horses to us because they still so weak and the horse it’s very important’. The scent of fresh pine sap carried in the soft breeze over Tsagaannuur became only stronger as we arrived at the departure point of our trek; a small log cabin on the edge of the taiga forest where we would ... read more

Like a moon landing, Ulaan Baatar rises from the barren nothingness of the Mongolian steppe - a city occupied by more than one million people and almost half the minuscule population of Mongolia; the most sparsely populated independent country in the world. Venture some five kilometres from downtown and the city ends abruptly as you fall from the proverbial cliff of civilisation, and into the bleak beauty of an undulating landscape devoid of barriers or boundaries, evidently untouched by its millennia of human habitation. Save a few barren outposts with inflated prices due to their inaccessibility, buying anything in Mongolia outside of Ulaan Baatar is difficult, hence we were required to buy some journey essentials prior to leaving, namely food, drink, clothing and cooking equipment. Gathering all the necessities for our long trip took longer than ... read more

Buon Ma Thout and the Central Highlands 27th - 31st March 2009 Buon Ma Thout and Kon Tum When we arranged the bus tickets from Saigon to Buon Ma Thout we had forgotten it was a Friday and hence we quickly realized we’d left it too late to catch a local bus. They were all full. Even though it would take marginally longer and cost more money, we decided to catch a night bus back to Dalat which would arrive at 5am, and from there we planned to catch a local bus to Buon Ma Thout. Vietnam, like China, has invested a lot of money in tourism and like China they try very hard to make you stick to a well trodden tourist trail. Try to veer away from it, the infrastructure suddenly disappears and things ... read more

Peace, quiet, forests, waterfalls and a happy Lee & Caroline - Dalat 20th - 22nd March 2009 This is my kind of place; cooler climate, endless forests of towering pine trees, the beautiful smell of pine sap in the unsullied air, twisty roads, dirt tracks to explore and minimal effort required to escape the crowds. It’s been so long since I’ve been anywhere similar I’d almost forgotten just how much I love places like this. I was born for the hills; when I used to compete in cross country running and cycling years ago the hills were my forte, they’re where I feel happiest and most relaxed and the type of scenery I appreciate most - more so than any city, beach, flatland or desert - and the subtropical hills surrounding Dalat provided us with the ... read more