"Was bus that just pulled out" quick gasp for air "going to Shichirui?" and another, I asked the group of 3 that were waiting at the Sakaiminato bus station. "No (in English)" one of them says , "That one leaves from over there (in Japanese)". I had pulled up in the carpark on the wharf side, and thinking the bus was due to leave at 8am I ran, only to see a blue and white bus ("the bus you need to get will probably be a blue and white one") pull out of the depot. After taking a few minutes to catch my breath I wandered over to the queue and started chatting to the afore-mentioned bearers of good news, who incidentally were waiting for the same bus. Who did I see later when I headed ... read more

10 short days, lots of sun, new friends, great food, lots of traffic, only-in-Thailand experiences, some rain, did I mention the traffic? The traffic is probably the first thing to hit your senses in Thailand (if not the heat). I think 4 people + groceries was the most I saw on one bike, kids welcome. The traffic safety campaign award would definitely go to the poster in Patong asking people to "Drive Fast Be Careful" :-) Yes they did, but ummm, don't know that they always were... Usually in the battle between going somewhere new and revisiting a place which created great memories, I'll take the adventure into the unknown. Thailand is one place though that I'm quite sure I'll find myself going back to. Here's some of the leftover photos..... ... read more

One thing I wanted to do in Thailand was ride an elephant. Most of the options for that also included hiking, orchids, butterflies and some form of rafting. The butterflies were, well, disappointing I thought. Not many around, and not a lot of colour. But out the door, turn left and things picked up. More colours and varieties of orchids than I knew existed (note - I'm no 'green thumb'). Back into the van and a drive of about I'm not sure how long because I dozed a bit, then it was out and onto Shanks's pony. The intended elephant ride from the mountain village which was our next stop turned into the lunch break. Not because we suddenly developed a desire to try elephant meat, but because the guides were an elephant short for our ... read more

It was raining. Not a light shower, but looks-like-the-rainy-season-has-started-early type of rain. Guess where I was off to.......yep, I had planned a day of island hopping - in the sun. All you can do is cross fingers and push on with things. Purely for the sake of ease I had decided to join the tourist horde to check out Ko Phi Phi. Given that I had only one more day in the area and wanted to see as much as I could, I figured there wasn't much point taking the longboat charter option because the masses were still going to be there. Would definitely do it though if I was going to be most of the day in one place. Thankfully there were only two places where it was pretty full-on numbers wise - the wharf ... read more

Actually, there was more than a pot - way more. Discovered in 1526, at the peak of its production around the early 17th century one third of the world's silver came from the Iwami mines. Many of the technologies and methods used here spread to other parts of Asia. One of the mine shafts is open to the public, the many others are closed off with grates at the entrance. Getting into those would be one way to not be found in a hurry... 500 sounds like a pretty good number - Gohyakurakan Created to commerate those who had died working in the mines, the initial plan was to create 16 stone arhat/rakan (Buddhas), but the idea grew and despite problems raising the funds eventually it was settled that there should be 500. These aren't 500 ... read more