Hi all, My travel notes are a slight departure from the norm this time round, as I decided to visit Myanmar over Easter - home to an oppressive military regime and target of an international tourism boycott. My reasons for going are set out below, and I attempted to minimise the amount of money I gave to the regime, though this was not always straightforward. "Burma will be here for many years, so tell your friends to visit us later. Visiting now is tantamount to condoning the regime." Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the League for Democracy (NLD). "We don't want tourists on the government tours; we want more tourists like you." Retired civil servant, Yangon. "The cost of a holiday could be someone's life" Free Burma Campaign UK " fully ... read more

January 3rd 2006 & 9th July - 19th July, 2006. After seeing the North at Christmas I'm back in 'Nam now, primarily so I can use the phrase "back in 'Nam", but also to check out Saigon and some of the coastal towns. I suffered couple more traumas this week, as if various tropical diseases and snakes in backpacks weren't enough during my travels… I can afford nicer hostels but find myself with an inherent, hard-wired and masochistic urge to seek out complete dives to save a few dollars - my basement room a couple of nights ago wasn't too bad and even had satellite TV, but I was rudely awoken at 4am. You know the crawling sensation you sometimes get on your skin and it turns out to be nothing? I ignored it too at ... read more

Solo backpacking , 15th June - 29th June & 31st July - 10th August, 2006 It's not every week you get to cuddle a tiger, ride an elephant and bike and raft through the jungle! ... On my first couple of days here I saw the Grand Palace, a massive golden reclining Buddha and a huge weekend market just on the city outskirts (which aside from a puppy and kitten section, has a big 'bra section' in which I got distressingly lost). It's the rainy season and it's hotter than a goat's behind in a pepper patch - apparently the world's hottest big city, but a different kind of hot to Hong Kong. The summer in Honkers is more of a I-want-to-eat-my-own-legs-and-die kind of humid - whilst here you actually get some respite in the shade ... read more

A 24-hour train, doorstep-to-doorstep, all of Chinese civilisation literally whizzing past on a direct route to Beijing. I went for the cheap sleeper option, which was fine although the squat toilet was pretty foul by the next day and - as I was on the top bunk - I kept banging my head on the roof. The sadistic driver seemed to have a penchant for hard braking, causing the carriages to suddenly bang together - the purpose of the big metal bar along the side of my bed became clear and I only slept sporadically. By pure coincidence, a friend also working with our teaching charity in HK was on the same train destined for the same hostel, so I passed time chatting, reading and trying to communicate with our friendly neighbours. Rail is the best ... read more

EMAIL 5 - Thursday, November 17th Peeps, How’s Ingerland working out? My school’s currently on total lockdown - it’s ‘showtime’ as the school inspectors prowl the corridors, lurk in dark corners, ‘shadow’ selected students, inspect teacher’s records and generally strike terror deep into the hearts of all my colleagues. I’ve never seen anything like it - the teachers are designing incredible multimedia lessons, the kids are being constantly threatened to behave, the place is so clean I can see my face in the blackboard and suddenly the printers all work. It’s almost too perfect and the assessors will no doubt see it - but the school has a reputation to maintain as one of HK’s best. It’s made me recall how I’d feign confusion when Ofsted inspectors descended on my old school, asking teachers why ‘we ... read more