When you enter Thailand overland you only get a 15 entry visa so for the first time we had to be really picky with where we visited and for how long, breaking with our habit of getting stuck nice places for longer than we expect. Koh phayam is the kind of place you either stumble on while being adventerous, or in our case, get told by a friend that you simply must visit. September is height of the monsoon season so prices are lower everywhere and most popular spots are nearly empty. At phayam, the kilometers of crisp beach were dead empty; we saw only 3 other people on the beach in the 4 days we spent here. We arrived via ferry to the island and were quite hungry so stopped at the first place that ... read more

It may seem funny when half way around the world to go back to the work we left in Canada but the 2 weeks we spent up in the highland jungle were stellar. Permaculture perak farm is a small operation run by a czech couple in the secluded jungle near the small town of lenggong. The farm has been there for 2 years and is still developing its infrastructure as well as trying many new farming techniques. Jenna and i first heard about the farm when we were waiting in KL international airport for the morning bus just after arriving from india. There was a discarded newspaper in the seat next to us and the first article we read was about this farm and on the spot decided it was a good idea to go there. ... read more

Everyone has had a slice of dear Melaka; the dutch, portuguese, british, chinese, invading armies of islam. It is quite the colourful place, literally, the british painted the whole town red at one point to assert the place as the dutch had left every building bleach white. The food here, whenever restaurants happen to be open is varied and great. The hours suck and we often have to wander for nearly an hour to find a non-western/corporate (ie mcdonalds) place to eat. There were never any exports from Melaka so the invented themselves as a megaport and all trade routes passed through here to seek protection from the monsoon winds. Nowadays it is kinda boring and there is not much more to do other than eat and look at nice buildings. Many restaurants 0have this deal ... read more

Well i do not know if cows feel sacred but it is something i have been wondering this whole trip. Most of them are fed garbage by their owners but they get to sit down in the middle of highways and stop thousands of vehicles as they please so i am at a loss. We are in famous Calcutta/Kolkata and it is my favourite Indian city so far. Just walking around is a feast for the eyes in the older parts of the city. Chalk-a-block with amazing colonial buildings, albeit crumbling and rotting from the inside out, Kolkata oozes charm and well just lot of ooze is around. There are more people living in the street than i can remember from other cities but there is something different here. There is just so much livelinesss and ... read more

We are still sitting at 1500m above sea level here in Manali but compared to the areas we just left the air is thick and moist and the sun a little less close. Completing the himalayan circuit through Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh is a test of your tailbone. The only roads that switchback through the terrain are barely roads and would never be legal or open in any western country. In the course of our circuit we traversed the 2nd and 3rd highest motorable roads in the world. The highest one is out of the way and expensive to visit and only 300 meters higher than number 2. At the peak of Chang La, 3rd highest, the military that guard and maintain the area give you a free cup of chai and try to get you ... read more