Fortunately for the Sounds in Fiordland, there's plenty of rain to like, something in the vicinity of 7-9 meters annually, about a third of which seemed to fall while we lolled about for a few days in the area. However, extreme rain in this neck of the woods isn't the grim reaper for holiday goers that it would be in other tourist hot spots. The large volumes of water create hundreds of waterfalls that only appear after/during such downpours and the low hanging clouds clinging to the mountains also provide an aura that some might describe as eerie, others romantic. The trade off for this eerie/romantic ambience is that most outdoor activities are put on hold. Plus, the dim, grey light makes for some tough photographic conditions. So don't come back complaining my images are heavy ... read more

To go or not to go, THAT, was the question. Aung San Suu Kyi said "don't come" based on the theory that tourism only reinforces the ruling junta's behaviour. The troubles of a couple months back didn't make the decision any simpler. Why then, are we here? Selfishly because we wanted to. We can also justify it because there are plenty of arguments in favour of visiting, most notably, the rank and file people of Myanmar need the funds. Like the majority of independents we avoided wherever possible channelling our dollars into government coffers and rather into the pockets of those who really do need it. The overwhelming opinion we developed was that the people of Burma are desperate for tourists to visit. As a consequence of the incidents this year, tourist numbers are WAY down ... read more

Not happy again Jan. Hong Kong is part of China, according to the pundits, so how come when we do this blog, the entire map of China isn't filled in red. Just HK. I was hoping for the opposite to present the illusion we'd covered more territory than actual fact. Speaking of HK - chaotic, noisy, polluted and plenty of people speaking a language that sounds like a tin can being kicked down the street. Things didn't start off too well because my darling wife thought it would be a lovely idea to share her flu that she picked up in Dubai. Enough of the whinging because HK, despite its claustrophobic drawbacks, is exciting, particularly by night. After the sun sticks its head away, the skyline lights up and is a spectacle from all angles, particularly ... read more

Bombing of US Navy vessels, kidnappings of foreign tourists, tribal warfare including car bombings. This genre of headline had a lot of people asking, "why the hell are you going to Yemen?" I initially put these enquiries down to western ignorance to the everyday reality of this corner of the world. When residents of other Arab nations we have visited asked the same question, I'll have to confess some lingering doubts concerning the wisdom of visiting this country. "So answer the question Yeatesy, why did you go to Yemen?" Glad you asked but I'm not quite sure. Maybe I should simply quote Mallory, "Because it's there?" The question mark indicating there wasn't a lot of conviciton in that reply. Photographically it looked amazing, the Old city of its capital Sana'a is a World Heritage site, it ... read more

Out of Syria, across the border and before you knew it we were "CROSSING JORDAN". Amman is the capital and the inevitable first stop for most tourists rolling in from our direction. Amman is hardly your quintessential exotic Middle Eastern city but there were enough distractions in and around to occupy us for a couple of days. There's nothing particularly wrong with Amman but nor is there particularly anything right with it. Petra, on the other hand, is THE must see and everyone who visits Jordan does see. There's a reason for that. Petra is (I'm trying to think of an appropriate enough non-cliched superlative but it's just not happening) out of this world. (That will have to do). Someone asked me how I would rate Petra relative to the other great archaelogical sites we've been ... read more