wanderingwal

The cold rain whipped inside the speeding tuk-tuk’s plastic covers, soaking our clothes and chilling us to the bone. We had woken at dawn to begin the two-hour journey to the lost Khmer temple of Beng Mealea, located just 77km outside of Siem Reap in northwestern Cambodia. We finally come to a halt in large dirt clearing. A few restaurants and stalls, selling fresh coconuts and souvenirs, the only indication we’ve arrived. We step out of the little compartment and stretch our limbs; our driver gratefully walks away from the handlebars, his palms pressed hard into the small of his back. A long causeway leads to someplace partially cloaked by trees; its surface riverine with cocoa-coloured water. As far as we can tell, there is nobody else around. At the end of the causeway we’re greeted ... read more

We’d been kicked out of the cool air of the library at closing time; downcast we dragged our feet back towards the hostel. We began climbing the hill leading to King’s Cross, Sydney’s least salubrious area, that little dorm on our minds. Through creative use of little space, four bunk beds had been squeezed into it. The library had provided us with some relief from the heat but now we were stuck with it. The room was small and stifling; I remember waking up every morning soaked with sweat, my covers and pillow damp. There was a small fan in the corner of the room, but the grill on its front was so built up with dust and grease that even when holding your hand up to it there was nothing. You couldn’t even see the ... read more

Cecilia met us outside Loki, the party hostel, and from Loki we followed her to the otherwise typical Plaza de San Pedro, different only for the monolithic building on its east side. San Pedro prison in La Paz might be the most notorious prison in South America. A city within a city, the prison is entirely run by its inmates. An enterprising British inmate named Thomas Mcfadden started running tours of the prison over a decade ago, and despite having long since been released, the illegal tours continue. Aussie backpacker Rusty Young went on to write ‘Marching Powder’ after befriending McFadden on one of these tours and voluntarily spending three months inside with him. We’re instructed to enter the prison in two’s. Bolivian women carrying bundles wait outside the former monastery but we’re escorted right past ... read more

This isn't as good as I had hoped it would be - I had such a blast in the Philippines that I waited until I was back in the UK to write it... Think that says more about the Philippines than I ever could!? We were in Baguio when the typhoon hit. We were hoping to see the Ifago rice terraces but none of the buses were running because of the weather, and now we were stuck. I didn't want to go back to Manila. It was either that or stay here. Outside, the pattering of rain could be heard throughout the day and all through the night. Our clothes hung sodden in our cold, damp room. The news broadcast pictures of Manila's main boulevard deluged with rushing water, its palms bent in the wind. Our ... read more