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Published: February 19th 2009
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We've been in Australia 2 months now and have some hindsight-induced thoughts on our trip in South-East Asia:
1. The moped is king. It serves very well as both an off-road vehicle and a family car. If it fits (e.g. on a footpath, narrow back alley etc.) it will go there. Watch when you're walking.
2. When you order 2 or more meals in a restaurant they will very rarely come out at the same time. Even if you ordered the same thing. You get used to sharing whatever comes out first because you will have long finished by the time the second meal arrives.
3. Moto/Cyclo drives will often offer you drugs if you turn down their original offer of a ride. What a service (Side note: direct correlation noticed between level or Mike's facial hair and frequency of offers).
4. Women often work on building sites. How equal opportunities.
5. It is acceptable for scaffolding to be made from bamboo tied together with string.
6. In Laos you sometimes have to wake up restaurant owners to order a meal.
7. In cities everyone wears surgical masks while cruising around, even when its
not really smoggy.
8. Europeans use the word 'make' all the time. Why is that? For example, 'I'm going to make a trek' 'Can you make a picture?'. Personally, I reckon I could go a few days without saying 'make'. Also, they understand each others' English accents but not English people's.
9. People weld things on the pavement with the old 'hand in front of eyey' protection system.
10. Asian food is usually better in the Western World. Western Food (i.e. a pizza or burger) is crap in Asia. The exception is Laos Laap. Awesome.
11. Laos is awesome. From the gorgeous Luang Prabang night market, outstanding scenery & brilliant fun of tubing in Vang Vieng, friendly rural southern Laos...it's all so great.
12. To quote Cat's spot-on comment "...the service slogan isn't so much 'the customer is always right' but more 'it is perfectly acceptable to shout at or run away from the customer if you don't feel like dealing with them or like what they're saying'"
Modes of transport we have used: Plane, luge, cable car, bus, train, sleeper ferry, longtail boat, speed boat, slow boat, sleeper train, regular dodgy train,
sleeper bus, elephant, back of a ute, tuk-tuk, moped and, once, a car.
Casualties of the trip: 1. Pen Knife left in hand luggage from Phuket to Singapore. Incidentally, same pen knife was not discovered in same bag on any previous flight.
2. Mike's Cap. x2. One blew off Mike's head while on the back of a tuk-tuk in Ko Phangan, the other was left on an aeroplane in Phuket.
3. Sunglasses x2. One I left on a mini bus in Vang Vieng, one Mike broke.
4. Footwear x3. They fell apart.
5. Bandana - lost in while swimming in a pool at the bottom of a waterfall in southern Laos.
6. Washing Line. Left at Mira bay, Perhentian Islands.
7. Sarong. Fell apart.
8. Thermometer clock. Dropped by Mike one too many times.
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