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 had taken the bus from Yangon to Inle. It was a long journey and very uncomfortable. After some time the bus began to [View Full Entry]

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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 spent in Kowloon. As we were headed to mainland China, we were reluctant to withdraw any more Hong Kong dollars and so pooled our remaining change for [View Full Entry]

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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 we have been given an incredible amount of misinformation, which I would like to believe has at least been well intentioned. One guide book states that the Philippines is [View Full Entry]

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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 ran in to Andrea and Astrid, the German girls I'd met several weeks prior in Malaysia. Even Marcus was there. Weeks ago I dedicated an entire blog [View Full Entry]

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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 relief of all was to be there, wherever it was that we were. We had the name of a cheap hotel and the 'bemo' driver wanted to charge us 20,000 [View Full Entry]

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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 eventually hung as though suspended where the air became so heavy that all movement ceased. Time could be measured by the amount of smoke that filled the interior, as one [View Full Entry]

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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 relieved to see that I was there waiting. It had been a good 6 months since we'd seen each other last although he didn't appear to have changed much. As he drew [View Full Entry]

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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, sunstroke, many rounds of vodka and inedible food. The mosquitoes feasted, jellyfish stung, and everyone suffered sea rock cuts and grazes that all seemed to require [View Full Entry]

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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 plantation photo shoot. The next day I braved the mud and the rain to tackle the mossy forrest obstacle course - crawling through [View Full Entry]

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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, some dancing, lots of Indian food, sightseeing and many very interesting conversations on life, religion and love. And to top it all off, [View Full Entry]

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