After the vague disappointment of Angkor Wat, did Ta Phrom live up to my high expectations? It did and more - absolutely magnificent!... The temple itself was impressive enough; mighty stone structures covered in delicate carvings of flowers and seductive 'apsaras' (heavenly nymphs), carved balustrade window frames (designed to look like wood), arched passageways, and so on. But what makes this temple such a special place is that the whole mighty construction is being slowly but inevitably reclaimed by even mightier Nature. Deceptively fragile tendrils caress the walls & buildings, slowly wrap [View Full Entry]

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After Jen left, I decided I needed some time alone, in a totally foreign place, to clear my head and gain a sense of perspective. Cambodia was an impulsive but inspired choice, with the vague plan being to visit Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. Stopping briefly at the university to arrange next term's enrolment, I set my room in order and then packed quickly. Photocopying the relevant sections from my LP guide and packing only the bare essentials, (half-filling my day-pack for almost a week away), I was soon ready to set off. It was with a strong sense of [View Full Entry]

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It was time for the one part of my PADI Open Water Scuba Diving course I'd been quietly dreading... At a depth of 18m in the big blue sea, I had to take my face-mask all the way off, briefly exposing my nose to the water and running the risk of breathing some in. This may sound easy enough to avoid, but practising this skill in the shallow section of the pool the day before, that's exactly what I'd done. Despite concentrating hard on breathing only through the regulator in my mouth, I'd taken a bit of water into my nose [View Full Entry]

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We interrupt our regular broadcast to bring you a special report from Bangkok, as the proverbial dust settles after the recent coup d'etat and life returns to normal... =) Thanks to all of you who've called or emailed over the last week to check how I was; your concern is much appreciated but totally unnecessary! To reassure you a little, I thought I'd put up some photos I took the other day and tell you a bit about what it's like to be living here right now. If you're looking for a well-informed and insightful analysis of the current political climate [View Full Entry]

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In contrast to its dubious distinction as the most heavily bombed country in the world, (between 1964 and 1973 the U.S. dropped two million tons of bombs on Laos, roughly 30% of which failed to detonate and remain dangerous today), my experience of Laos was of a peaceful, extremely laidback and very beautiful place. Rugged limestone cliffs, emerald-green forests, pristine jungle waterfalls, friendly people, a relaxed atmosphere everywhere you go, and all to be enjoyed with what is probably South East Asia's best beer... What more can one ask for? As always of course, my enjoyment of this tr [View Full Entry]

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Telling others about my Mum's visit, I'm sometimes made to feel slightly embarrassed about the 'thrifty backpacker' style in which I showed her around a little of Thailand. This never lasts long though, because I know for a fact that's the way she likes to travel as well. Not just for the money it saves but more importantly because you gain a richer experience and it just feels like more of an adventure! For example, I recently recommended one of my favourite Bangkok guesthouses, (just a street away from busy Khao San), to a couple of friends my own age. They [View Full Entry]

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It's 3am and I'm standing with a group of good mates on a white sand beach, brightly-coloured 'buckets' grasped tightly in our hands, howling at the glorious full moon high above. On the beach all around us, fluorescent body-painted travellers from every corner of the globe are dancing like crazy people. A few metres down the beach to my left, a group of Thai fire dancers are whirling flaming sticks with wild abandon, flinging them up into the air, leaving fire-trails in the night sky. We can feel the heat on our skin but it doesn't seem to matter right now. [View Full Entry]

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I know travel tales are at their best when they involve a few hair-raising escapades, daring deeds or, at the very least, a decent dose of discomfort... Unfortunately (for you, at least) there'll be absolutely none of that in this entry, as I set out to describe for you the idyllic life of an International Student at Rangsit University. (For some more exciting entries, check out some of my brother 's latest adventures around Europe - running with the bulls in Pamplona, bungee jumping off dam walls James Bond-style, dancing like a dervish at Tunisian weddings...!) As for me, duri [View Full Entry]

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Having put off this blog update for so long, I'm now finding it surprisingly hard to cast my mind back to my last week in India. I can hardly believe it was only six weeks ago! I think the vagueness of my memories may be partly due to the fact that I was fairly exhausted at the time - I just didn't have the energy to get up to any memorable adventures. I also noticed, around that time, that whenever I came across a new 'sight' I immediately started looking for good shots of it, rather than looking at it and [View Full Entry]

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If my last entry had a basic theme of camel-related excitement, I'd say that the theme of this one is going to have to be public transport-related discomfort. =/ Over the course of the week that this entry covers, I spent roughly 45 hours on public transport, all of it in the cheapest possible class. But before becoming intimately acquainted with India's public transport system, I took a couple of days in Delhi to relax after my mad dash through Rajasthan and the day out in the desert. To understand the two days I spent in Delhi, you could basically say [View Full Entry]

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