Taro's Travels

Ebbs and Flows

UNITED KINGDOM | Friday, 12 Sep 2008 | Views [83]

Beneath London's streets the water pipes leak; they were installed the century before last, and are showing their age. All across London the roadworks continue; the water pipes are being dug up and replaced. By 2010, proclaim the signs, another Victorian ... Read more >

Authenticity

UNITED KINGDOM | Monday, 8 Sep 2008 | Views [121]

My ability to happily suspend disbelief appears to have withered. There's a shop stuffed with Beatles memorabilia at 231 Baker Street, and a shop dedicated to Elvis memorabilia next to that. A couple of doors further up, nestled between numbers ... Read more >

In Highgate Cemetery

UNITED KINGDOM | Tuesday, 2 Sep 2008 | Views [102]

The granite blocks have been squared and polished. The low wrought iron fence, now gently rusting, has been set to ensure that visitors approach from the pebbled main circuit via the short flagstoned walk and not over the lawn. The graven inscription ... Read more >

Linear Minutiae [finally completed]

UNITED KINGDOM | Friday, 29 Aug 2008 | Views [87] | Comments [1]

Behold, a reasonably unadorned chronology that will be updated from time to time for the benefit of those who for some reason enjoy this kind of thing. Sat 29 Aug: Bus from Canberra to Sydney; Flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi. Bored yet? Sun 30 ... Read more >

When I'm 64

INDIA | Sunday, 4 Feb 2007 | Views [62]

[written ages ago but only just released from draft] Tired of lying in the sunshine -- ("Time" / Pink Floyd) I've had my April 1st entry sketched out for half a year. It was to be called "Adventures in Fiction"... Read more >

Second Looks Part 1 [Posts #1-#20]

INDIA | Thursday, 1 Feb 2007 | Views [479]

You miss things on a first look. Sometimes you miss a lot. In Pokhara, for instance, I arrived in the mid-afternoon, headed over to North Lakeside to find a room, and then took a wander. It was pretty enough, with sun on the lake, and clouds ... Read more >

Fun and Games

INDIA | Friday, 26 Jan 2007 | Views [781]

Carom Carom is a cross between pool and air hockey played with a square wooden board and some discs. The object is to flick the game disc at a disc of your own colour and knock it into a corner hole. The board is coated with a layer of chalk, ... Read more >

Roads and Traffic

INDIA | Monday, 22 Jan 2007 | Views [817]

I first saw Nepali trucks (which share their style with Indian trucks) at the border town of Zhang Mu. Chinese trucks were drab and staid. A typical Nepali truck is bright and decorated to the point of garishness. Its body is painted a brownish ... Read more >

And the Meek shall inherit Room 101

INDIA | Saturday, 20 Jan 2007 | Views [952]

It was the nearest hotel to Pokhara's Camping Chowk and the price was too low, but I took the room anyway. If I was to return to Kathmandu the next day, having just returned from trekking, it seemed silly to lug luggage all the way to Lakeside North, ... Read more >

The Perils of Power

INDIA | Saturday, 30 Dec 2006 | Views [488]

That he was on holiday did not stop the UK electrical engineer from burbling enthusiatically on the dangers of electricity; the Australian sparky he was conversing at was less effusive. Their group and mine were sharing a bus back from the Mekong ... Read more >

Nation/Statements

INDIA | Monday, 25 Dec 2006 | Views [1080] | Comments [2]

When the British colonised Australia, their culture and agriculture were imposed on a country that was in many cases unsuited for it. Seasons were six months out of phase, and the soil, climate, and weather patterns were so different, that by the ... Read more >

Taro of the Jungle

NEPAL | Tuesday, 5 Dec 2006 | Views [750] | Comments [5]

Sauraha, gateway to the Royal Chitwan National Park lies about eighty kilometres south-west-west of Kathmandu as the kag flies. By road it's a six hour journey. If you add a couple of hours rafting on the Trisuli River, it's a full day's ... Read more >

Avatars

NEPAL | Thursday, 30 Nov 2006 | Views [459]

Shakyamuni Buddha, he who was Prince Gautama, and Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, current King of Nepal, have more in common than just royal blood and birth within Nepali borders: both are seen by Hindus as being incarnations of Vishnu. Avatar or ... Read more >

When Snacks Attack

NEPAL | Saturday, 18 Nov 2006 | Views [515]

I seem to be on the "Eat Whatever the Hell You Feel Like Diet" and it's not appearing to be doing me major harm. An essential part of this diet is the ingestion of a balanced quantity of junk food. Two classes of this might, perhaps, ... Read more >

Language and Culture

NEPAL | Wednesday, 15 Nov 2006 | Views [1071] | Comments [1]

One advantage of trekking with my guide Shyam was that I could pick up a little - and I do mean a little - Nepali while on trail, thus putting my 8 year Linguistics degree to some minor use (well, we also had a brief Tibetan lesson in Lhasa, but ... Read more >

Those Two Certainties

NEPAL | Tuesday, 14 Nov 2006 | Views [296]

It was time to get my pre-trip shots, and my doctor had spent quite a lot of time in Nepal [she has credits for the Health section in a few Lonely Planets, but not, ironically, the Nepal 6th edition, which is what I have]. October or November? ... Read more >

Annapurna Sanctuary

NEPAL | Monday, 13 Nov 2006 | Views [664]

Zero "I'm not going to pay someone ten dollars per day to walk in front of me", said my neighbour Sandrine. She lives in a mountainous region in France, and is to the fact au fait with trekking and orienteering. I don't know how ... Read more >

Tibet: Art, Religion, Politics

NEPAL | Sunday, 5 Nov 2006 | Views [841] | Comments [1]

Sacred Art Buddhism has a large cosmology, with its six realms (inhabited by humans, animals, demons, hungry ghosts, demi-gods, and gods), buddhas (past, present, and future) and boddhisatvas, though whether they're viewed as genuine entities, ... Read more >

Happy New Year

NEPAL | Thursday, 26 Oct 2006 | Views [304]

I'm the last of our little group of passengers left in Kathmandu, Col and Jaap having both flown off to Thailand this morning, and I'm sitting in an Internet cafe just off Jochne, better known as "Freak Street". Freak Street, which runs ... Read more >

Heights and Depths

CHINA | Monday, 23 Oct 2006 | Views [495]

20: End of Phase 2c (Beijing to Kathmandu via Tibet) The last dinner of our tour was held in a Tex/Mex-ish restaurant in Kathmandu, and afterward our tour leader Brett was presented with a little scrapbook as a thank-you and memento ... Read more >

Wheels Within Wheels

CHINA | Thursday, 19 Oct 2006 | Views [387] | Comments [1]

The Wheel of Dharma The Wheel of Dharma is one of the eight auspicious symbols in Tibetan Buddhism. Present in many religious artworks, as well as underlying some Tibetan Buddhist rituals, it signifies the cycle of death and rebirth. ... Read more >

Yak

CHINA | Saturday, 14 Oct 2006 | Views [516] | Comments [1]

In Romanised Tibetan, "a" is pronounced roughly the same as the start of "about" or the "u" in "hut" rather than the "a" in "hat"? That doesn't make "Yak" quite "Yuk"... Read more >

Health and Hygiene

CHINA | Thursday, 5 Oct 2006 | Views [890] | Comments [3]

(In which Taro continues in his quest to provide Way Way Way Too Much Information) Steve: "He's a fountain of knowledge on squat toilets" Taro: "I'm a bidet of knowledge" There are lots of cultural differences to ... Read more >

Surfaces

CHINA | Tuesday, 26 Sep 2006 | Views [344] | Comments [1]

Yesterday, in a park near Tianamen Square, we saw some traditional-looking buildings that had recently been built and another that was in the process of being finished: a couple of square metres of bare concrete was left uncovered and labourers perched ... Read more >

38 short notes

CHINA | Thursday, 14 Sep 2006 | Views [531]

(5) DdaDACDF (3, 4) If I'd done as much travel as I've done, I would have taken the Gecko's tour from Hanoi rather than from Saigon. I don't think that I would do Hanoi-Beijing overland solo, though. (1,4,3) ... Read more >

Oil and Water

CHINA | Friday, 8 Sep 2006 | Views [316]

Hell Is Other People How do you politely tell someone that they're driving you and others insane? On the last night in Hanoi, I left Long, Cam, Jock, and Margie at the Draught Beer place down the road while I had a shower.... Read more >

Sands

VIETNAM | Friday, 1 Sep 2006 | Views [301] | Comments [2]

Sleep and Time I'm used to spending a week in a place if I don't feel like moving - inertia is my major driving force. Phase two of my travels consists of two months of package tours - the first a Gecko's from Saigon to Beijing; the second an ... Read more >

Mars and Venus

VIETNAM | Monday, 28 Aug 2006 | Views [309]

Kallisti "9", said Tom - an assessment of one of the girls on our trip. No holier-than-thou-ness, please: male or female you probably rate people too. "9.5", replied I, "until she spoke". I have a low irritation ... Read more >

Interlude: Books

VIETNAM | Thursday, 24 Aug 2006 | Views [263]

Those of you who enjoy the work of Jeremy Clarkson may be glad to know that I picked up The World According to Clarkson, a collection of his Sunday Times columns, a few days ago. Those of you who dislike Jeremy Clarkson will be glad to know that it ... Read more >

Companions: Travelling and Drinking

VIETNAM | Wednesday, 23 Aug 2006 | Views [297] | Comments [2]

You see and hear English words that are (practically?) unused in Australia - anyone know what a "suzerainty" is without looking it up, for instance? "Confluence" (a joining, specifically of rivers) crops up quite frequently - not ... Read more >

Dalat: Kitsch

VIETNAM | Tuesday, 22 Aug 2006 | Views [248]

When Dalat, in Vietnam's Central Highlands, is viewed from a distance, it gives a very Central European impression. Many of the larger buildings are from French colonial days. The lake is a manufactured one; the hills in the background natural ... Read more >

This Floating Life

VIETNAM | Friday, 18 Aug 2006 | Views [264]

In the minibus coming back from the River Kwae were A. and R., two Brisbanites. "I thought you were foreign so I was speaking to you really slowly", said A., on discovering I was also Australian - the peril of being half-Japanese, ... Read more >

Animals

VIETNAM | Tuesday, 15 Aug 2006 | Views [266]

I think the last time I'd been to a zoo may have been Ange and Kieren's wedding reception; the only visible animals small and tasty. Saigon's Historical Museum was closed on Mondays, however, and since the zoo was adjacent it seemed a waste of a ... Read more >

Wars

VIETNAM | Sunday, 13 Aug 2006 | Views [372]

History is fungible Every War Museum I've been to has presented its own version of events; I suppose that the history presented by the Australian War Memorial is similarly individual, but since it presents a history aligned with what we learned ... Read more >

Angkor: The Geometry of Computer Games

CAMBODIA | Thursday, 3 Aug 2006 | Views [346]

Banteay Samre, 15 km north of the main Angkorian clusters, consists of a central temple on a stone island, surrounded by a (now grassy) moat, in turn surrounded by a square high wall, surrounded by a walkway a couple of metres wide, surrounded by ... Read more >

Angkor: Places less touristed

CAMBODIA | Wednesday, 2 Aug 2006 | Views [310]

West Gate I'd not intended to visit Angkor Thom the day I did - the Western Baray and its temples were sufficient, I thought, to keep me occupied, but those plans had been scrapped once I'd seen the track. Instead, I found myself bouncing over laterite ... Read more >

Angkor: Earth and Water

CAMBODIA | Friday, 28 Jul 2006 | Views [282]

Muddy Waters There are two main families of bottled water in Thailand/Laos/Cambodia. The (relatively) expensive type is normally indistinguishable from standard Australian brands. The cheap type comes in 900ml soft bottles with the label ... Read more >

Long Journeys

CAMBODIA | Wednesday, 26 Jul 2006 | Views [511]

A Minor Alignment of Patterns... So I check out of my hotel, dump my bag next door (where I'll be picked up for the overnighter to Pakse ), and walk up the street... and there's Jim, who's in town for a day before heading over the bridge ... Read more >

Vientiane

LAOS | Monday, 24 Jul 2006 | Views [308]

Low Season There are advantages to travelling in low season - even-cheaper prices being one of them - but there are downsides too. Repairs and maintenance are done during this period: the museum in Kuala Selangor was closed, for instance, ... Read more >

Luang... Prabang... by... Boat

LAOS | Thursday, 20 Jul 2006 | Views [1295] | Comments [4]

Farewell Thailand There wasn't much to border town Chiang Khong: an internet cafe that closed at 11pm, turning me out into the waiting thunderstorm; a main street terminating at the Mekong - not long, but long enough for a wet bike-ride home;... Read more >

Northern Cities

THAILAND | Saturday, 15 Jul 2006 | Views [276]

Maths: E- Despite previously claiming to loathe long-distance travel of as much as seven hours' duration, I decided to break the eleven hour journey from Bangkok to Chiang Mai only at Ayutthaya, a one and a half hour train ride from Bangkok. ... Read more >

Bangkok: Fashion and Grooming

THAILAND | Sunday, 9 Jul 2006 | Views [1013] | Comments [4]

A Close Shave I'd stopped shaving every day. Cold showers, though fantastic in evenings if the heat of the day is yet to dissipate, are not quite so pleasant when the shower is actually cold... and of course cold-water shaves make cold showers ... Read more >

Bangkok: Red-light Stop, Greenlight Go-Go [Not Particularly Safe For Work]

THAILAND | Wednesday, 5 Jul 2006 | Views [1333]

[ This is rated M for suggestive language and scenes of an Adult Nature. It's probably safer NOT to read it from work unless you have a relaxed internet policy ] The Naked Truth One of these days I'll complete ... Read more >

Myanmar (Burma): The Daytrip

MYANMAR | Saturday, 1 Jul 2006 | Views [537] | Comments [3]

Q: How do you eat an elephant? A: One bite at a time. I hate long-distance travel, so I decided to break Phuket to Bangkok into three chunks, stopping in Ranong and Phetchaburi (Phetburi). Phuket and Phetchaburi were pretty well uneventful - walked ... Read more >

KT, Malaysia to Phang Nga, Thailand: Villains and Caves

THAILAND | Tuesday, 27 Jun 2006 | Views [711]

I hadn't been reading the news for a few days in KL, and hadn't received any warning bulletins, so Chok Eng's warnings about multiple bombings in Southern Thailand since June the 15th came as an unpleasant surprise. It seems that there was rising ... Read more >

KL to KT via Cherating: Roads travelled and untravelled

MALAYSIA | Tuesday, 20 Jun 2006 | Views [1779]

I was originally going to write about turtles in Cherating. There's a turtle sanctuary there, with a small museum with models of turtles, diagrams of their breeding cycle, some turtles in a pond, and two tubs of baby green turtles waiting to be released ... Read more >

Kuala Lumpur: Interludes with Friends and Friends of Friends

MALAYSIA | Sunday, 18 Jun 2006 | Views [437]

Details, or the lack of them : Yes, this is hideously late - it took ages to write and then ages to be vetted. There are blog entries that have been easy to write but this hasn't been one of them. I did random touristy things, but KL was mainly ... Read more >

Fragments from Pulau Penang

MALAYSIA | Monday, 12 Jun 2006 | Views [513]

I've been slack and haven't finished writing up Pulau Penang, which was ages ago (World Nomads allows setting post date). As I really need to start writing up other things, please enjoy some disjointed paragraphs, without introduction or ending, instead ... Read more >

Melaka: Food and Museums

MALAYSIA | Monday, 5 Jun 2006 | Views [813]

I went down to Melaka last Friday with Ray, his distant cousin-in-law Joanne, her friend Jamie, and her boss Samir. I was meant to have gone to Melaka earlier in the week, but my first (and hopefully last) bout of Traveller's Diarrhoea left me ... Read more >

Taman Negara: Journeys

MALAYSIA | Monday, 29 May 2006 | Views [661] | Comments [2]

The well-touristed village of Kuala Tahan sits on the eastern bank of the milk-coffee Sungai Tembeling where it's joined from the northwest by the smaller but equally muddy Sungei Tahan. It's an uncomfortable three hours upriver to get there by wooden ... Read more >

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