Blogs from Asia - page 14787

It seems there’s a formal code for walking in the street in Hong Kong. There are two speeds: “amble with obligatory zig-zag path” and “Get out of my way I’m late”. Both are the same speed but the second uses quicker, smaller steps and you tend to travel in straighter lines. Most importantly though, get in other people’s way. It doesn’t matter how you do this but techniques often include not looking where you’re going, not looking like you’re going where you’re going, walking diagonally, looking backwards, slowing down in narrow gaps (or ideally stopping; past-masters will change direction) and walking straight across the front of other people. Examples include leaving a shop and not even contemplating the chance that there may be someone walking on the pavement already, crossing at a pedestrian crossing and showing ... read more

I'm back. For those of you who haven't been subjected to one of these before, or haven't had to endure countless previous tales, i've been to Bangkok a few times before. And like those previous occasions i'm rather enjoying myself at the mo, and would like to stay longer. Bangkok, despite being a hustling, bustling sort of place, is still very relaxed, a la the rest of Thailand. Taxi drivers will still often take you to the wrong place (usually a gemstore of some description), and the heat has been up around and above 40 degrees, but all is still well. The city specialises in food, shopping, and gigantic buddhist edifices. Prostitution and crime are also significant sidelines (if you're into that kind of thing). My experience this time has been similar to those I have ... read more

hello, Laura - Still in Shanghai til Monday, then we get a train to Beijing overnight. It was such a hassle getting train tickets - we ended up going to the train station twice, couldn't get tickets on the day we hoped, and had the only ones left were 1st class (at least we get to travel in style!). Not to mention the irritation of queuing in a 50 people queue in a country where pushing in right at the front desk is perfectly acceptable! So we find ourselves with a few days extra to spare in Shanghai. We had a chill out day yesterday and stayed in the hostel until dinner (partly because we'd been woken up in the early hours by the sound of a wall being demolished in our hostel). Today we went ... read more

One of the biggest problems with carrying around a big camera is that at some point you become paranoid. It's just such a lucrative target. And so you tend to hide it and take it out only for brief shots and then quickly hide it back in your pack. Of course, you end up missing many photo ops because the camera's in your bag most of the time. While walking around Litang this morning, I decided to keep the camera on me and not in the bag, given that I felt safe enough walking around in a small town and not a big city. I saw a Tibetan monastery on an outlying hill and on a whim decided to walk up there. What I did not count on was what having the camera out in the ... read more

Salut a vous tous... Ou tout du moins a ceux qui continuent de lire ma prose !!! Merci a eux... C'est donc a dire : merci a vous. Merci de rester fideles, et de ne pas m'oublier, meme si le temps et les kilometres nous separent... pour quelques temps encore. Me voici donc de retour a Mc Leod Gang, apres presque 1 annee et tant de choses experimentees... J'ai meme la faiblesse de croire que ce dernier voyage m'aura amene bien plus loin que je n'etais jamais alle... Ni en avais meme reve ;o) 3 semaines passees a Mc Leod, avec un soleil splendide permettant une vue tres degagee sur les lointaines montagnes enneigees, malgre quelques jours de pluie... Un environnement que je vous decris en quelques mots (et quelques photos) : *les himalayas eternels en ... read more