wazzaonholiday

Tibet: Shangrila, the roof of the world, the land of snows... with a lovely touch of cultural genocide thrown in for good measure. Since the last update, I've travelled in Tibet through some of the real highs and lows of this trip so far, until visa restraints, and general travel weariness, deposited me in the veritable oasis of western goodies that is Thamel, Kathmandu (of course this means the location of my blog is technically wrong, but how could I not write at least one blog from Tibet?). It all augured well. The Dirtman had arrived in Chengdu safely, we'd met Mottie, a self-styled Israeli monk (and our future magnanimous benefactor), and Lhasa beckoned. The forbidden city, the holy city for tibetan buddhists (and travellers alike) at the roof of the world! The warning signs were ... read more

Its amazing how one song by Monty Python can be so useful. Well, its only Wazza on Holiday once again. After 3 great weeks together, Yvette has had enough and is on her way back to Sydney, and I'm stuck here on my own in the amazing mountains of Yunnan. Its a hard life. We spent the best part of the last week or so in the mountains west of Deqin, about 180km by winding, mountainous road northwest of Zhongdian. The town itself is a small, decidedly depressing settlement (although boasting a kick-arse internet centre, auspiciously enabling me to see highlights of the mighty Maroons flogging of NSW last week) in a valley feeding into the upper reaches of the Mekong, but we stayed about 10km west at the village of Felai Si, which had magnificent ... read more

After suffering a 30 year secret war while the world's eyes were on Vietnam; enduring the most sustained bombing campaign in history (leaving most of the land unusable due to unexploded ordinance); experiencing ongoing skirmishes between Royalist Hmong Rebels and the Pathet Lao Government; and being heavily reliant on foreign aid with no real industry; you'd forgive the Lao people if they occasionally wanted to walk around with a frown on their face. But these are the most outwardly happy and friendly people I've ever met while travelling. I spent the best part of the last 2 weeks travelling in Lao's Northwest from Luang Prabang, before entering northern Thailand for a few days of partying (so far) in Chiang Mai. By far the experience of the trip so far was the 8 hour slow boat trip ... read more

Here in Hanoi, one of the western-style cafes (named the Kangaroo Cafe, and of course there are about 3 other rip-off "Kangaroo Cafes" around town!) sells T-shirts which proclaim, in Vietnamese, "No! I do not want... motorbike, cyclo, postcards, cigarettes, t-shirts, etc.. now go away!". I think it sells well. If the locals here actually learned the word "no" in their standard issue Vienglish textbooks, they're not letting on. In this city, with its amazing old quarter complete with a maze of narrow streets (named after the products sold on the street - I'm staying on Thuoc Bac Street, which must be Vietnamese for 'Pots and Pans") and motorbikes blocking every path, you are accosted non-stop by motorbike and cyclo drivers wanting to take you places as you walk (quicker than them) down the middle of ... read more

No, I haven't made a pilgrimage around the Indochinese sub-continent, getting to know the poor, swimming across the Mekong to a leper colony, and learning the ways of communism in my pre-revolutionary youth... yet... I'm in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City since its 'liberation' in 1975), city of Motorbikes. There are 6 million people in this city and an estimated 5 million registered motorbikes or scooters. At all hours, the streets are like rivers of bikes riding 4 or 5 abreast in each direction, with a few crazy taxis, buses and private cars floating along. To cross the road here, you don't wait for a break, you just walk across, preferably not looking, as the traffic magically (the drivers here use 'the force', not their targetting computers) avoids you. I've been here 5 days now, staying ... read more