tom_mirr
hello, just reached a stage in my life where i figured the years are catching up and i am going to have to settle down a bit and be a bit more responsible. so i left the country and am now getting up to all sorts on a round the world trip. enjoy!tomontour
Travel Blog Posts
June 14th 2007
Indonesia - what a treat! its not all natural disasters, terrorist activity and major transport catastrophes y'know. in fact if you exclude the thunderstorm and the bus breaking down i didnt experience anything of the sort. I entered indo through medan and began with a big push north to aceh province. destination Pulau weh, a little tropical island with great diving and snorkeling and ( i find myself saying this a lot ) a great place to chill. one morning i decided to take a dip in the sea, but walking out through the rocks to the deeper water i stepped on a mean ball of spikes that is a sea urchin. it was really painfull and i was forced to urinate over my foot to ease the pain much to the amusement of everyone else. ... read more
May 24th 2007
Borneo, a naturalists heaven. i did not see any and felt a bit stupid when i arrived in my birthday suit but i agree, clothes or no clothes borneo is a great place. from singapore i flew into kuching, capital of sarawak province and a good base to visit the parks of the south. on my first night i found myself sharing a beer (well we had one each actually) with none other than the one and only Peter John. i know, i couldnt believe my luck what are the chances? first night in sarawak and i bump into the worlds most famous iban tribesman turned radio DJ turned malaysian popstar. from kuching i spent a day checking out batu national park and some proboscis monkeys. if you do not know what these are think of ... read more
April 16th 2007
When god was doing his creation thing, shrimp were probably made on a friday afternoon, just a bunch of spare parts thrown together. goby fish are similiar, the most pathetic of the fishes, small in size and not a lot going for them. but together they survive and firmly hold on to their place in the food chain. these guys partner off you see and live together, the shrimp burrow whilst the goby does the housework and other stuff. how does this work? do shrimp and gobys speak the same language? are they pre programmed to do this? who knows. it is just another one of natures amazing stories. in a world plagued with greed and destruction seeing these two basic lifeforms happily working together despite all their differences, i realised there is hope for this ... read more
March 3rd 2007
'Life is a rollercoster, just got to ride it.' the words of the late, great ronan keating. never have these words rung out more true than a visit through cambodia. From the highs of chinese new year, parties on the beach and the awe inspiring angkhor wat temples to the chilling reminders of cambodias dark past the killing fields, S-21 and the landmine issue. cambodia certainly was an emotional rollercoster. My arrival in Phnom Penh (silent p i've been told, so p'nom enh) clashed with what is perhaps the biggest celebration in SE asia, chinese new year. just as i was finishing up breky with the recently formed crew, a procession of locals burst through the doors of the guesthouse with cases of beer and roasted pig in tow. Not being one to turn down a ... read more
February 22nd 2007
We heard them before we saw them and within seconds they were on top of us. Palms outstretched and screams of "bon bon"and "wondolla". we were in a village in the heart of the DMZ and the place was hot. training kicked in. i brought my camera to the aim and gave it to them with 7.1 megapixel of full metal jacket. i ran for cover. the guy to my left had his nikon on automatic and was shooting a bunch of women and children. a shout came from the rear. "heh-coo-me. we must go." we had been there just a few minutes and already they were pulling us out. we popped smoke and withdrew to the vehicle. no one spoke on the journey to kah sanh combat base. this was my baptism of fire - ... read more
February 3rd 2007
8 hours, a winding dirt track and a modified pick up truck. 17 bodies bouncing about in a contorted mess, coughing and spluttering on the dust and the fumes. As far as rides go this one was way down there, yet somehow it felt good. Gone were the thailand days of air con and reclining seats, this was hardcore bone crunching, stomach churning travelling. I was back on the road! Muang Sing in the very north was my first stop. It is a colourful market town and from here i was able to visit the hilltribes and surrounding countryside. The villages were realy rural and untouched, they were some of the most undeveloped i have seen so far on my trip but the people worked hard and were happy. Maybe this is because they are not ... read more
January 7th 2007
So it appears i am a big hit with the thai ladies. i dont know what it could be, i just have to walk down the street and they try and lure me into bars for a drink and utter something about longtime. they are so very friendly. No, but seriously now if i had a pound for every time i had been offered a lady i would have about 13.50 by now ( 50p for ladyboys). Anyway enough about the infamous sex industry. that is just one of many good things about this fantastic country*. I arrived in bangkok from india and it came as a very welcome break. The place is amazingly laid back and more westernised than many western countries. living is not too much trouble at all here and it is no ... read more
December 8th 2006
I think that i may have been a little negative about india the last time i wrote and i now regret that. I had just arrived you see and i have since realised that this place requires a period of aclimatisation. Despite its many problems there are many good things about india my favourite being the fact that you can wee anywhere. This is a fascinating country, rich in culture and so much diversity. You could write a book about every single day you are here - its crazy. Anyway, so this is india since varanasi: Agra - The Taj Mahal Regarded as the symbol of eternal love, this is Shah jahans monument to his favourite wife who died after giving birth. Described as a tear on the face of eternity - perfect in every way. ... read more
November 16th 2006
So, i finished up with a couple of days in chitwan national park and once again nepal did not fail to impress me. This region is reffered to as the Terai and is basically dense jungle filled with wildlife. Whilst there I took a river trip in a dugout canoe, a guided walk through the jungle and an elephant safari. I saw various species of insect and birds, some monkeys but best of all was the crocodiles and the rhino-saurus'. A pretty special experience was taking a bath with the elephants, i had a nice play with them and i just hope they dont forget me. I had such a great time in nepal, everything about it; the people, culture, food, scenery, activities - i could go on. It is definetly a place i would like ... read more
November 10th 2006
Pokhara-Gorkha-Kathmandu So i finally departed Pokhara and headed back to Kathmandu, on the way i took a stopover in Gorkha a historically important town with an old fort at the top of a big hill. I arrived back to the hussle and bussle of Kathmanhu which for what it is - an over populated city in a developing country is actually quite an enjoyable place to be. The first couple of days i spent sightseeing. I visited pashapatinath a temple on the bagmati river and here i witnessed some open cremations, Patan which is pretty old and has a lot of temples, Durbar square the focal point of kathmandu which contains several temples and swayambhunath also known as the monkey temple. After two days of this i was pretty templed out so on the third day ... read more
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