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 [View Full Entry]

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Solo backpacking , 19th July - 31st July, 2006 Hi ho from The Lao People's Democratic Republic! (where's the hell's Laos? Map). One of "the last quiet places on Earth", only a million visitors make it to this landlocked communist state each year. The ex-French colony still feels like a secret and lives up to all the hype you hear on the backpacker trail. Plus, although it's the least visited and poorest country in the region, most who pass through agree it's definitely the 'jewel' of Southeast Asia - it's gorgeous here. Hectic markets, busy streets, chaotic hustle and bustle are [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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Solo backpacking , 29th June - 9th July, 2006 "Johm riab sua" from Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital - back here after 2 days in the equally unpronounceable beach town of Sihanoukville! The trip began with the notorious border crossing - the transition from Thailand is far from graceful or gradual - Cambodia hits you like a wet Mekong River trout to the face. Poipet, the infamous border town is very much Scam Central, you're immediately greeted by dozens of people peddling various cons and rip-offs targeted towards the new and ignorant backpacker. The town itself is home to a cluster of [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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EMAIL 8 - Friday, February 2nd Clashing with the British Ambassador, saturating the Hong Kong press again, selling a hole, wild monkeys and awesome Year of the Dog celebrations - an eventful month in Honkers. Yesterday Phil and I went with some friends to the beach (25c in mid-Winter! ha!) and achieved two world firsts - we sold a hole, twice, and photographed a Buddhist monk in the said hole. It was a successful experiment in ‘anti-real estate’ in one of the worlds most consumption-driven societies; it was also testament to the dumb crap that can spontaneously unfold [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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26th December 2005 Email Journal It was an intense first night in Hanoi - a real assault on the senses. I also got my testicles grabbed by a passing bloke on a scooter. I was all up for exuding cultural sensitivity, treading lightly and with humility in a country that no-one could even visit 20 years ago - and then someone goes and grabs your jiblets on Christmas Eve. It’s not what you want really. The exploitation inevitably continued in the financial sense, repeatedly paying double or sometimes 10 times more than the surrounding passengers/diners/shoppers etc… I gue [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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EMAIL 1 - Thursday, August 25th. How's tricks guys? This place is nuts, loads to tell -- coming to the end of our training, told everyone my name was 'tommy' which has kept me highly entertained. Amazing how quickly it’s all become so normal, and I’ve just scored a LUSH city apartment living with a textbook hippy, ginger scouser called Danielle! Naturally. The flight experience was comedy (in a near-death kind of way). I was officially kakking myself after no less than 5 planes went down in the preceding weeks - including the Venezuelan one the day before. After a terrori [View Full Entry]

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