So, i'm sitting in between a local MP and a big time property developer drinking bad red wine that passes as OK port. Slimy chickens feet are served followed by clear gloopy sea cucumbers - a delicacy that proves people will think anything tastes good if they are left in the middle of nowhere for long enough. Sibu in Malaysian Sarawak is not in the middle of nowhere, but its having a good go at it. The nearest decent sized town heading west is at least a 12 hours drive, the road in other direction leads to Brunei... if you can make it through the jungle. That jungle is dotted with villages and houses but generally, there isnt much there if you turn off the track untill you get down to Borneo. I looked on Trip ... read more

Dubai rises out of the desert, all tallest, newest, richest, biggest and most expensives. The worlds tallest building. The Most expensive hotel. The Newest city. The Largest shopping centre. So what? Who wants to discover that the worlds tallest building is really tall? Or that you can shop in a place with lots of shops? Or spending lots of money on a 7-star hotel provides amazing service? Dubai excels in superlatives, but fails with surprises. But thats how its meant to be - safe, ordered and predictable. Every shop is a western brand, Starbucks on every corner, Gap clothes in the shops. Price is the only measure here. Hotel ratings used to only reach 5 stars, so Dubai invented the $20,000-a-night 7th star, cleverly leaving out the 6th star. Quality here is not measured by that ... read more

I didnt hear the gunshots. I was dancing, chatting and drinking with an assortment of party people and local folk wearing fluffy red and white santa hats. The music went dead. The crowds evaporated away. A light rain was falling as mist in the night. The party was over. Three young boys were shot on the beach on Phi Phi on Christmas day. The passengers on the well-worn route through the islands of Thailand know the route even if they haven't taken it before. It has its own history, literature, fashions, gossip and rumours. Sitting on a ferry, or on a cramped minibus, advice is swapped over copies of the Lonely planet and Alex Garland's 'The Beach'. From Koh Pang Yang through Samui and down to Phi Phi, the chat and gossip increases. Friends are made, ... read more

''Maybe this basement was bricked up in the War'' I suggested. The backstage area of the Social Club in the Montmartre is a odd-shaped, angled-walled, tiny basement that would have been a useless place to store anything. Upstairs, the club was pounding its stylish house music and downstairs, escaping with me was American Benjamin with his thick, art-student glasses and the two girls from East Berlin and Austria. They all give me odd stares at my basement comment and I remember the old phrase... 'don't mention the war' Paris, the capital of France has attracted foreigners and invaders in all its history, and as the Nazis advanced, people bricked up their valuable jewellery, wine collections and paintings in secret basements. Now here we were, a new wave of invaders, freely quaffing the free beers in the ... read more

I don't have a crystal ball. But in ten years time, I bet we won't be racing the world around on cheap flights. Lets all cross our fingers and hope that the price of oil goes back up and keeps going skyward. For the good of the world and our kids, lets hope 'Budget Flights' are just a silly passing fad. 'Pay peanuts and you'll get monkeys' is the old saying - I paid peanuts for my flight, and monkeys now are boarding the plane to Valencia. Clambering aboard, pushing and jumping over the seats. Howling and shrieking as their child-chimps smother chocolate over their faces. An international chimps tea-party at 20,000 feet. The Hoi-Polloi, cattle class, scum-shuttles... cheap flights are grim, ugly, noisey and responsible for the increase of air travel - and air travel ... read more