http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/thisisjoy/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from thisisjoy en-us Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:58:56 BST Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:58:56 BST The tiny flame flickered furiously as it bent to resist external control. Its unrhythmic dance served to tease its master as the glow swooped and swayed paying homage to the wind. Rising swiftly upward then all but ceasing to exist the fire defiantly demanded its audience take heed. In response two burly hands encircled the performer to which it slowed in tentative obedience. The master was in http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Croatia/Dalmatia/blog-270883.html Its taken a year to post this unfortunately but here is ROME http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-270860.html http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/blog-161013.html http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/-le-de-France/Paris/blog-148177.html OxfordnbspEurope raquonbspUnited Kingdom raquonbspEngland raquonbspOxfordshire raquonbspOxford By thisisjoyMarch 31st 2007The blogs are back and itrsquos a relief to me that despite working full time in London I am still managing to get away. Oxford was a welcome break to the city bustle and I don't think I'd quite realised how much I was missing a bit of nature and open space http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Oxfordshire/Oxford/blog-148163.html This blog has remained unpublished for nearly 5 months. Although the photos have long been arranged and captions created at each attempt to consider the story it represents I am faced with a delicate and difficult task To tell a tale that will perhaps be cryptic to most but is in fact the only way I know how. I left Thailand in January 2007. In the days leading up to departure there was a mass http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/blog-118978.html As my travels though SE Asia have drawn to a close I've been thinking back over the months and many places I have had the chance to visit. On one of my last days in Burma I set my IPOD to shuffle and was excited to hear one of my old favorite songs. The words fit how I felt and still do feel in a poetic way about the world and the people in it. Here are those lyrics and some faces of those I've http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-117375.html gt Hours from Inle to Bagan 12gt Number of arses that can fit on bus seat for two from Inle to Bagan 1 12gt Number of people permitted on the bus unlimitedgt Tourist entry fee into Bagan 10 USD.gt Local Burmese food along the way 0.70 USDgt Mandalay beer for Bindal on arrival 1.50 USDgt Chinese tea for me complementarygt Dirty double room per night 4 USDgt Horse http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/blog-117228.html I had no idea what to expect from Burma. Out of all the travelers I have met along the way only two had actually been there before. Everyone else had stories of people they knew who knew other people who had dared to risk traveling within Myanmar's untouched territory. I couldn't seem to get 'the bus ride from hell' story out of my head no matter how hard I tried. A guy I met knew another guy who http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Inle-Lake/blog-113688.html Last night I was reminded that people are actually good that human nature is not completely devoid of kindness as it has so often appeared to me of late. Through the following story I would like to pay tribute to three strangers whose selfless generocity has both impressed and challenged me.Back in June I was in China with a friend. We stayed several days in Hong Kong the last of which was spe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Bohol/blog-111007.html The Philippines has so far been nothing I had expected. Somehow I'd imagined it was a country full of nurses and smiles. It appears however that the nurses have all gone abroad and I've been worried at times that they've taken the smiles with them.I met up with Bindal in Manila. Since then we have had a succession of sleepless nights on buses and stressful days organizing buses. Over that time http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Banaue/blog-110293.html I almost didn't want to post this blog. I rather selfishly wanted to hide and to protect Gilli Trawangan's beauty to save it for a time when I'll be back there again. But unfortunately the secret is already out. Somehow along this well worn tourist trail all roads lead to Trawangan.The first person we recognized was the guy from the bus to Lovina. Then the Irish girl from Senggigi. After that I http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gili-Islands/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-108577.html We finally pulled into the Probolingo bus station at 10pm. We'd been told we'd arrive at 6. It had been a long and grueling day battling heat exhaustion bus fumes hunger and those intense inquisitive stares. The bus had stopped off frequently along the roadside for the men to relieve themselves. The women had to wait for 8 hours and even then the bus nearly left without us. But the biggest r http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Java/Mount-Bromo/blog-108506.html The air hung heavy with heat and humidity and the stagnant smell of clove ciggarettes. I was tempted to smoke too anything just to kill time. The man up ahead was enacting a sort of repetitous rhythm light inhale exhale inhale exhale... His breath was the only means by which the air around us moved. Thin strands of smoke weaved and danced their way upwards until they slowed merged and even http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Java/Yogyakarta/blog-106942.html Josh and I were lucky we even met up. With virtually no forward planning our last conversation several weeks prior had ended with okay well I guess I'll see you in Bali then...As I looked through the crowds and surfboards pouring into the Denpasar Airport I hoped he was on the flight I was expecting. Eventually Josh emerged from the flow of passengers looking somewhat disheveled although http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/blog-105380.html The six of us left Tanah Rata together a band of travelers who had formed some bond over beer and idle dorm room gossip in the days leading up to departure. Each had time to kill and enough spontaneity to head in the direction of the unknown. Someone pointed on the map the others nodded in agreement and so the Pangkor Plan was formed.The next few days were a blur of sun worship sunburn sunstro http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Perak/Pangkor-Island/blog-103511.html When I arrived in Tanah Rata I only intended to stay for a day. It was a relief to escape the heat and bustle of KL but the higher the bus weaved into the mountains the darker the clouds loomed. I barely had time to run for shelter before the skies opened up and the rain began to pour. Cold wet and tired there was little to convince me to stay beyond the obligatory mountain hike and tea planta http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Pahang/Tanah-Rata/blog-102565.html Kuala Lumpur has been an awesome week. I had to stay longer than anticipated whilst waiting for my Burmese visa to come through but now that all is set I'm off to see what I can of the rest of Malaysia in the week I have left. The real highlight of the past few days has been hanging out with two of my dorm roommates Shammi from Bangalore and Jukka from Helsinki. There has been some drinking so http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Selangor/Kuala-Lumpur/blog-101597.html I met Marcus in Melaka. He peered through the dormroom doorway and seeing he had company came forward to offer a friendly handshake and cheesy grin. From that point on the usual onslought of traveler queries ensued Where are you from When did you arrive here How long are you staying Where will you go next What would you recommend around here How much does that cost How long are yo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Malacca/Malacca-Town/blog-100526.html Before arrival I had been very curious to know who it was that made up Singapore. What was their language food customs and ethnic background. But I'm not sure if my questions were answered in a way I would have expected Singapore is such a diverse mixture of people culture and religion that perhaps that in itself is Singapore's symbol diversity.I decided to avoid the comercialised Merlion of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-99775.html