We walked across the bridge into China and I marvelled that people could still walk into a protected country in 2008. I do not count crossing Europe¡¯s non borders where customs officers have become a rarity and the fences have been taken down. This was the People¡¯s Republic of China. The largest Communist country in the world, with a controlled economy and a state that ¡°likes to make sure that things go smoothly¡±. This is as far as I will go at this stage, not because I am typing this up in High Yunnan on the boundaries of Tibet, but because [View Full Entry]

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(Roof Top Room Elizabeth Hotel Hanoi North Vietnam. The re-unification express was immediately re-named the re-fornication express by me for our video production “good god there is a wog on the train”.(outraged people please note that I am the wog). Our Spaniards are interesting enough and the night passes with some conversation and lots of sleep. It soon becomes apparent that the reunification express is the star attraction of Vietnam. Travelling by train in the daytime is the way to travel in this long and strange country. The Vietnamese have a patent inability to build beautiful with concrete, and through development [View Full Entry]

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Hotel Ten Xian Hoi Ann Central Vietnam I am writing these notes on the first real desk that I have come across on our travel. Our room is large, cool airy and has french windows that are thrown wide open. Hence the airiness. It overlooks a deep green paddy field,; this being Vietnam, I can not tell whether it is a faux paddy field or a working one. The test, one suspects is to note whether a water buffalo comes along at some stage, chewing things, or pulling a plough. We are in the middle of Vietnam, halfway through the country [View Full Entry]

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We left the Okay Guesthouse a little late. Our hosts had organised a river ticket for a slightly overpriced ferry ticket to Chau Doc and the Socialist republic of Vietnam. The ferry turned out to be a 30 foot fibreglass boat with an inboard yanmar diesel engine, a Vietnamese Captain and a cool box half full of cokes and beer. We all climbed on board and Capt "Nguyen" started the engine. After offering us beer, he stuck his earphones in, tuned to radio Hanoi and we chugged down the river at a respectable 15knots. The Mekong was brown and the banks [View Full Entry]

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Angkor Wat. What a disaster, and yet how good for Cambodia. Angkor wat is full of foreign tourists. The heat is intense. The humidity fills up the courtyards like fog. You sweat, you drink, you stop sweating, you worry. The rains are coming, but they have not come. You have to record what you see but the sweat runs into your eyes, you keep shooting, frame after frame, teh Nikon motor drive whirring and whining as your eyes fog over. You drink more, you enter another courtyard. The Japanese barge you out of the way while taking their “special photo”. You [View Full Entry]

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To explain our time in Bangkok, I must go to India. In 2000, in a fog bound Darjeeling, I met a man called Alan Horowitz. A buddhist, a former jew, (can you ever be former?) a thinker, a resident of Taipei, (Taiwan-China) a thoroughly clever man, but most importantly a kind and decent man. He was accompanied by his partner PeiYen, a beautiful quiet lady and who carried an ancient Nikon. Very rarely she would use it; but only with black and white film. She was a photographer in the true sense of the word. I was in Darjeeling to see [View Full Entry]

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Eight years ago, I came to Bangkok, I wandered the streets, lookedat some huge Bhudda, bought a horrible shirt, met some people, and got stuck wondering where to go. Eventually I managed to make a decision and bought a ticket to Cambodia; the next day flew out. We boarded the ancient Royal Air Cambodge 737 at 0700hrs. I had only had one hour of sleep, but I had made the flight. At the front of the plane was I met a youngish Englishman, who happened to be a dive master. We got to talking. "I Got stuck in Bangkok mate" He [View Full Entry]

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This is by no means my finest post. In fact its mundane. It is a catalogue of stress. But if you are sitting at home or work and you are numbingly bored, then please do read on. This may brighten your day slightly. R ----------- Thailand, Bangkok, Banglampoo district, 23.04.2007 Sitting here in Rambutri street with the thunder booming over my head I realise that Bangkok has changed little since 2000. The water is pouring off the roof and the street is uncharacteristically deserted. Of the city course has changed slightly, but I don't really notice the difference. The new airport [View Full Entry]

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17.04.2008 Pemba to Zanzibar Yesterday, was a day of waiting. We packed our final personal items, packed our stuff, and waited for the minibus to take us to the airport. There is a major fuel shortage in Pemba and so we all had to go into one minibus. Stuart and Emma, (our managers) were flying out first, so the rest of us waited in the Old Mission Lodge. We ate some chapatis and strange spring rolls while waiting for our flights. The Zanair let410 landed gracefully but late, on 5000ft long runway and rolled out. The sun was low in the [View Full Entry]

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The rains have come to Pemba, but not quite to us. Thunder booms and rumbles to our south. The sky is filled with heavy clouds but the sun beats down on us relentlessly. We have officially closed. Our last guests, a splendid pair of birdwatchers from Canada departed this morning. We have started packing up and the dive centre and kayaks are all inside the building. Stuart has been pulling gearboxes off engines, in the hope that we can find out what has gone wrong with the cooling systems of all our 60 horse power Yamaha engines. Eventually the last hidden [View Full Entry]

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