Six days into the trip and I can finally rejoice at the pleasure of having caught some kind of cold or mild influenza. Having finally managed to fall asleep in the early hours my body protests violently at the thought of having to get up and about already. At least the stomach is feeling mildly better, but I am not in the mood of taking any chances since we will spend most of the day on the narrow ledge that passes for a road between Jakar and Mongar town, so I skip the breakfast. At 200 kilometers today's stage is the longest of the trip, and we are calculating at seven hours at a minimum, stops not included. I go down to the restaurant to say goodbye to the other travellers still in Jakar for the ... read more

My alarm goes off at seven in the morning. Drifting out from sleep my first conscious thought is that I don't want to get up. I think about the joys of a cold shower on the freezing floor tiles and find the concept quite easy to resist. Dorji is still snoring and I ask Tshering what the weather looks like. He pulls the curtain to the side and a gloomy grey light shoots into the room. Marvellous, it still looks like crap. After a bit of moaning I finally get up and take that shower, just as horrible as I had imagined. I can't wait to get out of this place, and if the places further east will be worse than this this trip will turn into a misery. After breakfast we quickly pack up and ... read more

After a first night in the country I wake up to a gloomy and cold Thimphu. Packs of dogs did their best to keep me awake during the night, but will have to try better if they wish to succeed. I didn't really go to bed last night, but collapsed on my bed with the lights still on and the TV force feeding me with the world news, the last I would hear for quite some time. Tshering is picking me up at 7.30 so everything has to be done in a hurry. Anyway, we both have a lousy track record for being late, and around 8 we've finally completed the checkout of the hotel and I meet Mr. Dorji, our driver who is to accompany us for the rest of the trip. Can't remember his ... read more

The last week in Bangkok had been kind of hectic. With the military coup plot interfering with the planned opening ceremony of the new gigantic Suvaranbhumi (pronounced suvanapoom) International Airport, I am sure there were a few of us onboard the plane wondering if we'd be leaving the airport bags in hand or not. The shift had taken place just two days earlier, a reported 800 truckloads of luggage and equipment had been sent from Don Muang Airport as the last plane had landed up north. There were a number of disheartening reports in the local press, hundreds of passengers stranded without their luggage, malfunctioning computer systems and things like that. Then there is the fact that the entire airport is built on marshland and there were concerns raised about the quality of the surfacing of ... read more

With Kay returning to work again I took the opportunity to just enjoy my last two days in Bangkok before it was time to head back home to Europe again. After a few days in Singapore the heat in Bangkok felt much drier and almost welcoming, a feeling that will wear off with prolonged exposure for sure. I finally had time to return to Bangkok Photo and make a thorough inspection of their shelves and exited with a handful of new filters, mainly for my new 72mm lens. My equipment pile is now getting a bit on the cumbersome side, and I do not look forward to future trip preparations where I may have decide to leave some pieces back home. Kay took me to the big IT mall (what was the name again?) where I ... read more