Gunfire rattled up and down the darkened streets. From our vantage point up on the rooftop, we could hear the sharp retort of - what sounded like - a gun somewhere down below, to be followed seconds later by rapid retaliatory fire from an automatic - further up the street. Periodic shouting broke out in the smoke filled streets and alleyways of the town while overhead, a starshell exploded with a deafening "BANG" that thudded through our chests with heart-stopping violence. We were in the small Karnatakan town of Hampi in south-central India. Had you been brought blindfolded to the rooftop of our hotel without any prior knowledge of what was going on, you could be forgiven for thinking that you had ended up in the middle of a war zone. Fortunately, you would be wrong ... read more

The wonderful thing about S E Asia is the variety of landscapes and experiences to be had there. You can mingle with remote hill tribes, be bowled over by hi-tech mega cities, climb an active volcano, explore the ruins of a 'lost city', trek through virgin rainforests or simply kick back on an idyllic beach. In the course of a year, we had done most of these things - and more. Moving on from the region would be hard for we had come to know it quite intimately. This wasn't the end however. We were still 5-months away from returning home. In the interim, there was still one last challenge - India. Following our return from Australia, there was time to say "Goodbye" to S E Asia as we made our way slowly back to Bangkok. ... read more

When we awoke to our first morning in Australia, it was to the almost forgotten sounds of indigenous birdsong; wattlebirds, Australian magpies and honeyeaters. Excitedly, I pulled back the blind covering our window and looked outside. It didn't seem to matter that it was a chilly 5 degrees centigrade, nor that it had rained during the night - out there was Australia and we couldn't wait to become re-acquainted with it again. We had arrived the night before on a flight from Singapore, swapping the heat of tropical Asia for the chill of a southern hemisphere winter. Dropping below the Tropic of Capricorn and alighting in Perth, it was a shock to discover how chilly it was (a balmy 3 degrees centigrade, no less) and that our few 'cool' weather clothes were totally inadequate. Fortunately, Viv's ... read more

Rest and recuperation. Most of our friends back home probably thought that our trip was one long holiday... what on Earth did we need a period of R & R for? Long-term travel however - as anyone who has done it will know - is not like taking a holiday. Without realising it, the effects of heat and constant change; of switching time zones and cultures so often, of going without sleep and making do with a poor diet - could run a body down. Before you knew what was happening, you had opened the door for fatigue and illness to slip in. When you reached the stage where nothing seemed to touch you anymore and you wondered why you kept going, you had probably pushed things too far. Recognising the symptoms before you reached this ... read more

It was 2:30 in the morning when Viv woke me. She was red hot and complaining that she had a terrible headache, stomach cramps and aching joints. "I think I need to see a doctor," she whimpered. The fever had been building for the past two days, but we had both been hoping that it was nothing serious and would pass given time. But instead, it seemed to be getting worse and even paracetamol was having little effect. Fighting back feelings of panic, I got dressed quickly, running through a mental list of diseases that might be causing the fever. Foremost among them was the thought that it might be dengue fever or malaria. The symptoms seemed to fit but only a blood test would tell us for sure. Ever since a frightening brush with ... read more