For me Beijing was a fantastic few days of historical culture.... well, Ming and Qing dynasty which is 1368AD to 1911AD ish. I'm writing this in X'ian where everything is Shang - Qin dynasty (1700BC - 207BC) so I'm starting to re-evaluate my concept of old and historical.... but that's another blog ;0) And of course I was meeting Ann who was coming out for a wee visit from Blighty!! I was also keen to see how things had changed - I came to Beijing one New Year with Colette, a friend from work. It was freeeeezing cold then so I was looking forward to seeing how different things looked in the summer. Ann and I planned to rendezvous at a hostel I'd booked - I arrived on the night train from Suzhou and she was ... read more

Well, despite all my reservations my dodgy 'just give us your money and we'll sort it' china visa turned out to be OK - I just can't believe it was so easy to get! I crossed the boarder from Hong Kong to Shenzen where alas immigration stamped my kosher visa with a nice dodgy entrance stamp, so now each time I check in to a new hostel we have to have the 'where did you enter china' conversation! Ahh well, at least it's improving my chinese vocab! I'm in a place called Suzhou at the mo.. it's cold, raining lots and has been for the last two days... in fact today was the first day my fleece moved from the bottom of my rucksack since I left NZ, a v sad day indeed :0( If it ... read more

Headhunting was undertaken by a number of indigenous Borneo tribes, particularly those from the interior of the island..... but is thankfully now an illegal activity ;0) Why heads were taken is a point of conjecture....sometimes it was during war, sometimes as part of a ritual ceremony... the head was revered and perhaps believed to contain the soul-like matter of the deceased, maybe it was a trophy to show courage.... The Singapore Museum has an example of an engraved skull from headhunters... but no-one knows why it was engraved. Hair from the severed head was used to decorate the shield of the warrior... I guess it looked rather more intimidating in battle! Bario is a small village in the Kelabit Highlands, home of the Kelabit people - a tribe of headhunters that lived isolated in the jungle ... read more

We're in Kota Kinabalu at the mo - KK is the capital of Sabah, Sabah being one of the two states that comprise Malaysian Borneo (the other is Sarawak which is where we're heading next). I've been in Borneo for a little over two weeks and am slowlyyyyy getting used to the heat and humidity... or maybe it just feels that way having spent a few days on a beach where the toughest decision was when to go for a swim!! Apparently it's supposed to be the end of the rainy season here at the mo.... well, I'd hate to be here when it was the middle of the rainy season! We seem to be having a downpour every afternoon at the mo but it's actually a nice relief from the humidity. Anyway here's how I ... read more

I was supposed to be going up to Auckland to see U2... who then canelled (well, hopefully postponed to November but that's another story!):0( As I had already paid for a flight from Auckland down to Christchurch to meet Helen for our weee South Island road trip (that'll be the next blog!!) and I couldn't change it, I thought I'd go up anyway and spend a few days visiting the Coromandel Penninsula... one of the places that I really wanted to see but hadn't had the chance yet. I was really glad that I did - they were having a mini heat wave so I spent 3 days sunbathing on the beach!! Much more fun that the rain and wind I'd left down in Welly! I hired a car from Auckland and drove to a place ... read more