Ed does the AA

New Zealand at last

edd_powell — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:10:00 GMT

Greetings from possible one of the furthest places I could be from the UK - Auckland. Let me start by back tracking to my last blog. Since then I made it out of Cambodia in a mini van full to the brim of rucksacks and people through rivers, roads (sort of) and borders. I reached my destination after around 12hrs in a fixed position or as I like to call it solitary condrivement - Koh Chang. Clutching what was left of my ear in my hand I headed to the nearest pharmancy where a slightly dodgy looking thai guy gave me a dose of the strongest anti-biotics he had behind the counter. Koh Chang was an island that was around 8-10hrs (depending on the wind direction) from Bangkok and was supposed to have beautiful beaches and cheap accomadation according to my french friend Flo. It kinda did but the weather and my health put a downer on the time. After 2 days I headed back to Bangkok and met up with Ben Affleck and Mike from Koh Tao and Cambodia and chilled (loose term) for a couple of days before I flew to NZ. After spending whatever local currency I had left I departed for the airport. At the airport the quantas welcome desk woman failed to reach my requirements. My logic was to arrive late and see what I could blag with my cute put on for affect English accent. The hussle was on.... Question 1 - Could I have an upgrade please. No. Question 2. Could I have extra leg space please. No. Question 3. Could I have an aisle seat. Yes. Praise the lord, I thought I'd lost my mojo. Then in true kick you in the crutch style whilst entering the plane good old BA lead you through 1st class, then business class to the ramble at the back of the plane. Talk about Bullseye scenario - lets look at what you coulda won. Anyway, the couple I sat next to were quality Austalians who understood the policy of not talking to much but holding intelligent conversation when we did. They obviously had taste, they were returning from a holiday in the UK. 13 hours later, a mad dash through Sydney airporrt, 0hrs sleep, LOTR 2 Towers, Extras season 1, camp air stewards and crap plane food I reached my destination. All in all, it was an excellent flight. I revelled in the amount of leg room due to the confinment of the last 2 months. The real fun was about to start. Auckland shone like a beam of light as you approach the airport. It seemed clean, golf courses a plenty and hot showers. As I exited the plane I headed to passport control where I was met with a massive queue. Surely there is some form of racism happening when the NZ passport holders have more staff controlling there line than us Brits! Anyway after the fat NZ women let me pass I went to baggage. Here I was amazed that my bag was waiting for me already (only in Germany have I exprienced this) so I though now I only need to exit the place. Wrong. NZ has this random quarantine/ Bio hazard check thing that you have to go through. Now this check point was far to small and needs expanding because the queue was huge! After dodging yet more fat NZ people (seriously they could film fat camp here. Its like fern Briton mated with Jonah Luma and there love children were walking around) I had to declare what substances were in bag because they could be a bio-hazard to the country- How I thought, could a bamboo football be a hazard? After I had my bag searched I then had to go through an x-ray machine. Suddenly remembering I had not declared the cambodian knife in my bag, I skillfully distracted the fat NZ women from looking at the x-ray machine and instead made her look into my baby blue eyes. I finally exited to see Paul waiting for me with his legs crossed as he had needed a piss for about an hour as I had been delayed going through. We finally left and I couldn't help but notice there was no-one around! The population over here is by far inferior to anything I have seen as there is litarally no-one around. That afternoon Paul took my to some beaches and showed me around Auckland whilst fun lozzer stayed at home with Gracie whom I met for the 1st time which was cool. She is cute and cos I'm such a natural with children (hmmmmm) we struck a rapour. I then got messaged by a friend of mine who I worked in Turkey with 6yrs ago telling me she was working in the city so we've now hooked up and we're gonna go snowboarding at the weekend with a group of people. I've also stayed at Rosie & Pete Amess' place for the last couple of nights (good friends from Cheltshire) so its been cool catching up with them. Anyway I'm gonna go but Ill upload pics of my trips to the sky-tower and beaches shortly. Hope all is well where ever you are, NZ is surprisingly warm considering its winter. Until next time, Whats next. Ed p.s ear is nearly back in 1 piece. p.p.s if you wanna chat to me, my skype name is ed-powell(maverick) and you can catch me either first thing in the morning or last thing at night. Email for an appointment.

All is Dark on the Cambodian front.

edd_powell — Thu, 2 Aug 2007 16:34:00 GMT

Hello there, well its been an interesting couple of weeks, how do we start - like all good stories at the beginning.

Well I think I last spoke to you when I was in Phnom Pehn having skipped through the wonders of Angkor Wat and the fact that I managed to buy the last Harry Potter book!!! Within 1hr of purchase I had 4 offers made to me for when I finished it. After PP I travelled to Kampot. Kampot is a small town inbetween PP and the coast and the jouney there was interesting. The four of us agreed that it would be just as cheap to get a taxi to our destination that was a orphange near Kampot and the Taxi drivers friend assured us that he knew where he was going. This was not to be the case. Not only that he spoke no word of English and clearly had no clue to where he was going.

After about 20 mins of him asking people where this supposed place was things got a bit fruity. We decided to cut our losses and get out of the taxi. We managed to find some English speaking people who tried to explain to him that we were not prepared to pay the full amount as he had not taken us to our destination. In actual fact we had not clue where we were. He started to get angry. My negotiation skills worked at keeping John and Marie from full on unleashing English courage on him and we managed to organise another minivan to take us toKampot. In the end the taxi mans answer to all of this was that we could afford because we were from England, interesting point I thought, and valid, but you still left us in the middle of no where! He left with the full amount. Clearly principles do not exist in this part of the country.

We finally arrived in Kampot late afternoon and checked into a guest house which had clean sheets. A welcome surprise as in the last place I stayed I got eaten alive by bed bugs. At the end of this hot day I revelled in the fact that i had Harry Potter to turn too another blessing in dusguise (or maybe under an invisbility cloak??)

We stayed in Kampot for 4 days and here we chilled in the river, lived on a floating guesthouse and performed one of the best gigs ever. It was a 30min slot on a guitar I brought from PP for $15 and needless to say I only played one song. The gig was a secret one where they did not know I was coming. The reception I got was similar to that of Robbie Williams at Knebworth. My crowd - an orphange, my song - if your happy and you know it. Truely a great gig.

After sleeping a couple more nights under a mossie net next to a pond for $0.50 a night we headed to the coast. I had finished harry potter and was now back in the land of the living. However, I wished I stayed in my harry world a little a bit longer.

What happened next was probable the most devestating to happen since Delirious recorded Audio Lesson Over.

We entered Sinoukville which is a town on the beach. We met up with some friends and headed out onto the beach in the evening for a night out. After returning to my room at 4.45am I went to bed. I woke in the morning to John and Beth next door with the Tv on full blast and them talking over it - they clearly have no concept of volume - and headed to get some food. On my return I crashed out for a few more hours. To my shock when I woke, my camera, lens and phone had gone! The only way I could express how I felt at that utter moment is this - imagine its the end of the footballing season, last game and its Arsenal vs Spurs. Arsenal only need to draw to win the title and the ref is Graham Poll. For some reason he has booked berbatov 3 times and he is still on the pitch playing. Its then in the 95th min of the 1 allocated minute of extra time that he scores the winner and spurs win the title. That was how I felt!!!!

The staff at the hotel were crap, the manager was like a Cambodian Basil Fawlty. He was uninterested as a panda trying to make love and refused to do anything. The best bit was when the so called police turned up they wanted me to pay them $20 for a report. Needless to say I politely told him shove it up his cambodian arse. He said his boss would arrive first thing in the morning as it was now 5pm and the police have closed for the day. Thats right, don't commit any crimes between 9-5 but after that your ok. His boss turns up the next morning and gets my details and says he will come back with the report later. The same guy who asked for money turns up with the report and again asks for money. I asked him if I could look at the report and a soon as obtaining it I again told him to politely hit the road.

Now i know the difference between right and wrong - I grew up with a policeman as a father but over here its playground rules. It's sad state of affairs wen you lose something which holds more value than money and know one can be bothered to do anything about it. Over here its about surviving and if you can make a buck or two along the way its a bonus, I just hope that someone has made an awful lot out of my camera and using the money to do good rather than bad. Right from the start I have clearly stated that its only a camera and things could be worse. For example, when I was in the Chaing Rai in North Thailand I met a really nice american guy with a fixed smile. He was so cool and happy and when I asked him where he was going next so he could join me if we were going the same way he informed me that he was having to cut his journey short. He and his parents had been kinda travelling together meeting up every now and then but he was having to go back to the USA because his father was in a local hospital with a collapsed lung. He wasn't pissed off at all because he recognised there are more important things to be thinking about. So I look at my predicament and think it could be a lot worse.

Anyway, at the moment me and me knew friend Florien (he's french and trust me ladies, you would dig him and the accent) are trying to get back into thailand so we can seek medical attention on my ear. However the boat refuses to leave due to the weather. What they actually mean is the boat is not full enough yet so come back tomorrow. SHIT! (sorry - had to get it off my chest) Its very frustrating being a place that has cost you a lot of hassle when you don't want to be. As much as the last few days have sucked, Cambodia is an amazing place and I reccomend it to anyone who is in this neck of the woods as I have loved it. Its a shame that its resulted this way. At the end of the day it could all be worse and as Florien puts it - you can't take pictures with you when you die. Im still trying to work out what French philospher said that - maybe jean-jac goldman or gerard deperdure.

THis is Ed signing off from a corrupt Cambodia.

Whats next

p.s sad typo-critics can start the abuse now.

p.p.s I miss Harry Potter already.

Vang Vien - Cambodia in a nutshell

edd_powell — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 18:49:00 GMT

Fist things first, thanks for your blogs on the last entry, I am spreading much love around the world. Secondly spelling - I admit myself I'm crap. I don't have time to check but we all know what I'm getting @ (ok that "at" was on purpose) so for this entire entry Im going to purposely spell bad and see if you can still read it.

So I left Luang Probang last Tuesday and what can I say, its been a highlight. Anyone who enters Laos should now do t0o things, the gibbon experience and Vang Vien. WHy I hear you cry from rainey England 3 things - Friends, Family Guy and more importantly - Tubing! Tubing sounds like a sexual act but is actual watersport. basically you sit in a rubber ring, let the river pull you down stream, and when you see a bar you like you get of and by a beer for 50p. At each bar you have different rope swings that throw you out into the river. This goes on all afternoon untill it gets dark. Won thing I noticed was at each bar the testosterone levels grew and grew as men challenged each other to try different tricks. If there were cameras rolling you'd think it was top gun 2.

SO after staying in Vang Vien for 1 extra day, I departed from Vientienne where I would get a fligt to Siem Riep - home of Ankor Wat. Hear we met up with some friends from Koh Tao and chilled for a couple of days (bear was 25p). After a couple of days I went to Ankor Wat which was truely incredible. Its massive! I'll upload pics soon.

After Siem Riep I travelled to Phnom Pehn where I met up with the Koh Tao guys and am staying at a guest house that borders onto the mekong river. Yesterday we had an intense day seeing the killing fields and the prison where they tortured an killed over 2 million people but I'll save this topic for when I get back. Can't really some it up in 20mins.

(Alan Partridge please take note now) Tomorrow I'm to volunteer for a few days doing stuff. Deciding what I'm going to be doing tonight but Ill let you all know once I've decided.

Got to go but Ill blog again shortly.

Have fun ripping this email abart.

Whats next...

Rejected or Accepted?

edd_powell — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 12:53:00 GMT

Hello, Im gonna get straight into it so here goes.

I received an email a week or so back from a friend of mine whom I hadn't spoke to in quite a while. The person had found me through facebook and had realised I had left the good ship England and had ventured to pastures new. The content of the email through me a bit because I wasn't sure how to interpret it. Meant with innocent intention, the person suggested that I might be running away from certain things. At first I did not know how to read the message, initially I thought "how does someone who I have not spoken to in a while come to this conclusion". I then started thinking "am I actually running away from stuff?". I did not reply to the message and thought untill I fully understand the content of where the email was coming from I won't reply.

So I have travelled from the Gibbon Experience to Luang Prabang on the slow boat. A friend of mine was a life saver and kindly gave me Angels and Demons by Dan Brown and amazingly it made the 2 day slow boat journey all the more enjoyable. The boat was filled with many nationalities, English, Irish, Dutch, The Yanks, Ozzies, you name it they were there. What really made me think was that every pre-conception you have of the inhabitants of these countries are correct. I could go a step further and devide them up again into a demographic of traveller types. Firstly, lets touch on the nationalities.

The English - They arrive late to the boat and expect there seat to be like a thrown waiting for them apon arrival. By the end of the trip there pissed.

The Germans - They get there early, weigh up the best seat and stake there claim.

The Yanks - Now I believe there to be 2 kinds - the quiet intelligent kind, or the over friendly. The quiet ones sit and read and engage in conversation but not small talk, they also laugh off the vietnam war at how stupid they were. Then there are the over friendly - they make there way around the boat telling people about where there from and where they should go.

The Irish. These are the really loud ones who blow hot and cold. One second they'll be asleep, then next they will be dancing and singing every irish song under the sun including the corrs - trust me, it happened. It was run away if your interested.

I could go on. We now have the traveller demographic.

The family - commonly parents have had there child/children a little bit later on in life and now have decided to take them on a 3 week intense holiday. Mainly from Oz or Scotland.

The hippie - These are the main make up of my demographic. They are normally anti most things and pro everything. I.e F##k the government, legalise drugs, western businesses are screwing 3rd world trade etc. However, they do nothing about such issues and just bum around from country to country wearing there hippie trousers and linen tops with dred locks and multiple piercings and crap tatoos.

The Searcher. This crosses over from the hippie and can be commonly found looking out into the horizon waiting for an answer.

There are more, but I won't proceed any further, you get the idea.

So I am sat on this boat, my arse is asleep from the wooden bench I'm on and I think, which one am I. I'm certainly not a hippie or a family and then I think, "am I a searcher?". I dismiss the thought and eventually arrive in Luang Prabang. Here I visited some waterfalls with some people I met on the boat and basically chilled. This morning I had a brain wave in the shower. The answer to the email, "am I running away?" The answer is NO. It's quite the opposite - I'm running towards something. What it is I do not know but I had another thought whilst still showering. Is it about acceptance or rejection? The last few years in Cheltenham have either been about acceptance or rejection and here I am in Laos going over the two words. I came to the conlusion that rejection is by far more a powerful thing to master because through it we become stronger. As an opinionated, generalising guy I thought that if we all conform to be accepted, where and when do challenge the person we are, the leadership we follow the relationships we are in and the friends we hang out with. In a nutshell, Ed is not running away, he is looking to the future and how he can contribute through questioning where we are and where we are going. My challenge to everyone including myself from a cheap bedroom in Laos is, do you long to be accepted, or are you prepared to be rejected???

Ok, thats enough deep talk from me, untill next time,

Whats next.

p.s you find slideshows of the gibbon experience and Laos stuff at these links.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=8911&l=e198f&id=505411301

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=8551&l=e31e6&id=505411301

The Gibbon Experience

edd_powell — Mon, 9 Jul 2007 17:20:00 GMT

Hello. I have finally reached Laos. It was a bit of a rush to the border as I realised I had lost a day somewhere so it was literally get to Loas von-trap style (although I did not leave in the middle of the night to escape the nazi's).

One thing that I have been looking forward to on my travels was the gibbon experience. This is a trip that is in the bokeo reserve in North Laos and is basically living in the jungle for 3 days with a differece. The difference being that you live in trees - thats right, in trees!!

As soon as I crossed the border - the mekong river - I headed to there office quickly because I was running very late - a rare thing for me. I got there before the other people had left and before I knew it. The group was made up of an educated Yank, a Canadian (not the celine sort), an Irishman and 3 more English people. We all got into a truck - thats right you guessed it, a hilux.

The trip to the jungle took about 2 hours before it started getting hard core. It had been raining so the tracks were very very muddy. No problem for a Hilux i thought. Thats was untill I noticed that the back tires had no tred on them. This should be interesting. Whilst crossing a river (I held on tightly to my camera) the Hilux stuttered but it wasn't till reached the other bank that it started to struggle. We all got out and true Brit style I stood and pointed out where they were going wrong rather than help.

We finally reached the village where we would start the trek. From here on it was tough. The jungle was so muddy so grip was limited. Another thing we would look out for was leeches in the mud. We got to the first check point high up in the jungle and to my amazement noticed a bear. This was not any normal bear, this was a pet bear that the locals had rescued from poachers. It was very playful as it was young but it provided great photo opportunities. N

We left this place after about 30mins and headed up further. Now transport around the jungle is an experience itself. The aim of the project is to protect the jungle and the wildlife by living in the trees and to accomplish this you get around on zip lines. These aren't the sort of health and safety ones you find in the UK, these are full on 400 metre long, 50 metre high cables that are high up above the jungle surface. We reached our first line and before I knew it I was zipping along hoping that the Laos people know how to tie knots in cables. After a few of them I was confident in the technology and was taking in the view.

After another 2 hours trekking and zipping, we reached our last line. I went for it and was blown away by the scenary. The only thing that comes close is the Quantocks back in the mighty Somerset (cleeve hill in chelters is more of a mound). It was just incredible and the sounds were amazing. Our house was insane too. It looked like something from Neverland. RIght at the top of the massive tree in the centre of the landscape, it provided awesome panaramic views of the jungle.

That night we ate a much earnt meal and went to bed at 9pm!! The next morning we were woken by the sound of our guides zipping into the house. Morning being 5.30mam to go gibbon spotting. We did not see any but by 10am I was knackered as we had been trekking for aboout 2 hours or so. Today we also went to a river and got covered by leeches on the way. In the afternoon I plucked up the courage to slowly winch myself out to get some photos of the tree house. I'm not scared of heights, and am a big of a dare devil, but it still scared me.

That night the staple diet of sticky rice that we had been eating at every meal including breakfast was starting to look not so appertising. Again we went to bed early.

The last day was spent eating, you got it, sticky rice before we exited the tree house for the last time. It was sad, but we were all glad we were going home as we were all craving coke of the canned kind.

The trek back was knackering as the sun was blazing down and I was a bit de-hydrated but we eventually got the village where the hilux beaming like a truck in shining armour was waiting for us. We may not of seen any gibbons but the experience was worth it!! For all those who maybe about to go on the trip here's a couple of hints -

Take gators, Coke/ sprite, biscuits - Orio's, crampons (not tampons) and nerves of steel as the wasp infected toilet is a real test. And lastly ammodium, it saves you an aufull lot.

Right I'm off to Luan Prabang on a slow boat, until next time.

whats next.
Ed

Back From The Wilderness

edd_powell — Wed, 4 Jul 2007 19:38:00 GMT

Hello everyone.

I am currently enjoying my last night in Chiang Mai before I head to Chiang Mai. What can I say, Mai has lived up to what I thought - it's incredible. A crawling metropolis of activity at a relaxed speed set with hills so big the cloud covers them as the backdrop.

Along with Alfie (my latest travel friend) I arrived on the night train from Bangkok which was surprisingly comfortable. After a short taxi ride we arrived at our destination before we would trek. Here we had chance to freshen up (take a turd) and get some breakfast before departure. Before we knew it were in the back of a, yes you guessed it, a hilux picking up our trekking group along the way. Our group was a mixture of americans, a samoan, an australian and a few english. On the way there we were entertained by our tour guide who would hang off the back of the truck, climb onto the roof and generally try to decrease his life expectancy.

We finally arrived at a village tribe on top of a hill somewhere where they immediately tried to sell us wrist bands. I'm no scrooge but I declined. I mean do the declare such sales to the tax man? I wasn't funding this sort of evasion. We had lunch - 3 guesses but if you guess rice your 3/4 there, and then we departed.

Our guide to the trek was an interesting fellow. He just pointed, grunted and was generally quite peculiar. Thoughts ran through my head of being in different situations ie. "if I were to die out here, would he eat me instead of carry me home" & "could he indeed swim faster than a shark?" & "how far could I run flat out before I passed out if he started chasing me with the fixed grin that now haunts me in my dreams!" I was soothed when I thought back to a West Wing episode where I just thought - what would Leo do. I also realised that Tom (interesting name for a Thai guy) was at the back in the distance following us. He met us at the hotel before we left turned out to be a legend - From then on I was relaxed and took in the scenery.

The afternoons trek was good - but hard core. There was me thinking that it was gonna be a stroll in the park but it wasn't. We were hacking through paths that had been overgrown by the jungle and slipping down hill sides - I have the scars to prove it. Was this day ever going to end! As the jungle trek progressed I managed to have a chat with everyone and we all realised that our tour guide (the grunting one) was actually a mute. The great thing about the trek was that me and alfie met a couple called battlecat and coconut. battlecat or Ross was from Oz and coconut or phoebe was from Samoa. From then on they recieved hours of abuse from us English, but to be fair they took it well and gave as good as they got. The ashes came up a lot as a come back. That evening we got to our hilltribe and the 4 of us bathed in a rock pool tending to our scars. Later on that evening, after the tribe kids had sung to us (that went on to long) battlecat and coconut went off to smoke some optimum (or opium I thing it is called in the west) whilst alfie and I as well as the 3 brit girls had a conversation on politics. This was a huge amazement to the Yanks as they clearly weren't as well educated us and struggled to enter the talk.

The next day mute boy woke us up with a grunt and before we knew it we were off trekking. Today we had lunch with another hilltribe and met this cute little boy who's mother died after a week of him being born. He was amazing at football. Later on that day I rode an elephant (on top) which took us close to our next evening stop. Today was by far one of the best days for scenary as I got to see proper thailands rice fields and hills. That night we played drinking games and got covered in charcoal.

The next day mute boy discovered he had a whistle and woke us with that. He was beginning to wear thin now. Today we rafted down a river and I ended up having to give one of the Brit girls a piggy back because she showed to much weakness. Showing weakness amongst the yanks to me was like insulting the queen to her face. Needless to say I stepped up and carried her to our next destination.

We returned home to Chiang Mai where we all met up for some beer and then decided to play the infamous game of I have never. By the end I was amazed by what some people have done. Coconut seemed to have done everything twice.

The one great thing about Chaing Mai was the night markets, there amazing. So much to see and buy, I could have spend a fortune. It made Burnham on Seas sunday market look like a scene from Eastenders. I brought some material and some other stuff so will show people when I get back.

Lastly, Alfie and I as well as Coconut and Battlecat rented out mopeds and explored the surround hills - quality. Me and alfie also did a fastfood challenge. KFC, Mcdonalds and Burger King all inside 24hrs - Bring on the local cuisine.

Anyway got to go, currently in chiang rai before heading into Laos on Saturday.

Until next time, Whats next

P.s please find link below for pics.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=7101&l=c10e3&id=505411301

Trust me, I'm an advanced diver!

edd_powell — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 16:18:00 GMT

Hello to all, I'm back again and am writing to you from Bangkok. Before I start I should mention that I have been restricted by certain people (not mentioning any names but read between the lines) about the content. I will do the best I can to paint the picture.

So I have now left Koh Tao where I was at for a week or so and can now succesfully add advanced diver to Ed's bow. It was an interesting week which involved lots. Let me start from when I completed my open water status.

There were 6 of us in our group and for a celebration we played the infamous game of "ring of fire" (thanks Sarah, it now has cult status). We then embarked on a night out of cocktails and chiang (beer) in bars along the beach. Eventually the night comes to an end and I find that Steff has gone missing as well as marie. Rule No.1 has been broken - never give the girls your crashing with the key to your room! I eventually find Steff back at the dive centre and does she have the key - you guest it - No! Still no sign of Marie. I'm getting angry. I ended up sleeping in the bar on a pile of bean bags listening to the sea crash onto the shore hoping no stray dogs would take a liking to me in my defenseless state.

We finally tracked down the door key and the lesson was learned - Ed carries everything as the excuse was, wait for it; "sorry, I did not realise I had it!"

Now I am proud to state that I have actually seen a turtle before in the wild. Unfortunately it was dead and stunk of that smell you get when you walk into a dog owners house and they don't clean it properly. However, luckily I was able to see one in Koh Tao, unbelievable in my room that I was sharing! So much so that it would not move from the bathroom and due to this I decided to bunk in with a friend. The girls however decided to stay. Maybe it was a pride thing. After another day the girls were told to change rooms. Everyone - READ BETWEEN THE LINES. It was not me.

Now as an advanced diver (trust me) you get to do some cool things. For example you get to dive to 30 metres. You also learn navigation. But what did it for me was the night dive. This was an unbelieveable experience as you literally can't see anything apart from what your torch shines on. Whilst your down there you have this x-files sound track which the ocean is orchestrating and it struck me that throughout all the time I have spent in Thailand, is silence possible? From the word go there has been this constant soundtrack beeing played that has spanned many genres of planes, tuk tuks, diving plus more. Last thing before you go to bed you hear lizards and first thing you hear cockerils. Is it possible? Even underwater you hear loads of weird stuff!

Anyway, I'm now heading up North after what was possible the most turbulent boat crossing ever. Alfie, my new London Underground travel companion threw up several times off the back of the catamaran and is still swaying today. Tonight I am off to Chaing Mai to trek for 3 days so I will speak to you all soon. I have abadoned Bridget due to constant questions of have you got the key, is the door locked and what we doing next. Bless her, the London girl is out of her depth, but is finally relaxing with some newly found friends - mum she'll be fine.

Right, till next time.

Whats next?

The Journey South

edd_powell — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 14:22:00 GMT

Hello everyone, after a bit of a gap, I'm back to report on what has been happening East side. Well, firstly Bridget (Steff) has arrived. Now Steff brings a certain uncertainty to my travels as she has not really done any planning and refuses to turn her phone off for longer than about 5 minutes. Anyway she appeared through the doors of the arrival area clutching a massive rucksack. What it has in it I hate to think but clearly there is no taught process to her packing. Not only was she carrying such baggage but had also managed to befriend two randoms from the plane who we subsequently had a beer with. After one night in Bangkok, we headed south to Koh Tao.

The journey south was planned to military precision on my behalf. I had got a good price and to Steffs horror we were going to get the night bus so we could get a night’s accommodation as well. We turned up to the coach and were surprised slightly by the lack of co-ordination present. We entered the bus having been given a sticker and in true teenager style, headed to the back. The bus stated and we were off, no looking back now. It took about an hour or so to get out of Bangkok and as soon as were, the bus stopped - this was to become a regular occurrence over the next evening.

Now growing up as a child in a family of 7 was both fun and exciting, but on long journeys could get frustrating. Sitting in the back of a Peugeot 505 listening to audio tapes was a novelty, but it would run out after a while, especially when you have a high-maintenance sister like steff. I was reminded of such memories after 5 minutes of being on the bus. Questions such as, "Ed I'm cold have you got a blanket" or "Ed how long is this journey gonna last again" and my favorite "I can't open the toilet door, can you come and do it for me?" - Ed is thinking there might someone in the toilet and that Steff should wait for them to come out. Needless to say Steff happily used full use of the back seats confining me to just two out of a possible 6!

After various different stops for I don't know why reasons and 0hrs sleep the bus stops again and a man comes up top and tells us to get off at the side of the road. Let me point out that it’s around 3:15AM and we are on the side of some freeway in the middle of know where. We get off along with some other travelers and watch as the bus takes off and leaves us there in a cloud of smoke. 20 minutes pass and still nothing. 30 minutes pass and still nothing. Eventually nearly an hour later 2 men arrive in you guessed it "a Hilux" beckoning us to get on and sit in the back. It was at this point I started thinking if I could get a good price for Steff, I might be alright.

After around 10 minutes we were dropped off in some ghost town and were told someone would be back in 2 hrs to pick us up. At this point I did some maths. The time was 4:15am; I had been awake for around 19hrs, been traveling for 10hrs and was hoping I was in the right place. I was, we ended up on the boat heading towards Koh Tao.

The journey to the island was pretty quick. We were then in under 90 minutes and were picked up by our scuba people. We are staying in a resort on the South West of the Island and have a room near the beach. After being awake for around 27 hours, I played it safe and crashed in the shade. Steff and Marie did not however and now have some pretty sexy red burn marks. I laughed a little inside.

I have today completed my open water diving and will up date you on that next. Enough from me cos the meter is running.

Until next time, what’s next...

p.s check out the pictures so far here -

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=7101&l=c10e3&id=505411301

Bridget comes to Thailand.

edd_powell — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 00:39:00 GMT

When my brother first spoke to me about joining him for part of his traveling adventures, I was a little unsure as to whether I wanted to – the suggestion came at a time when I was feeling a little bit fragile and concentrating on getting through those emotional pains was my focus. But after he bombarded me on an almost hourly basis with pictures of the beaches, and the Bangkok skyline at night, I wondered why on earth I was only thinking about it. I was booked and mentally already there a matter of days later.

Being a PA you’d think I’d be uber-organised. But no. Planning everyone else’s lives often leaves you with little time for your own. Narrowly missing being fired yesterday (my lunch hour turned into a 4 ½ hour boozing session…much to my boss’s displeasure) I didn’t feel in the right frame of mind to pack. Then I couldn’t find my passport. But instead of freaking out I remained calm. Really calm. And this set the scene for my packing. A few bikinis, not much else. This was the first time I’d been totally relaxed before a departure. I’m even fine with busing it down to the islands (even though I was adamant I was going to fly).

When it was all done, I checked out my brother’s choice of tunes on his laptop that he has let me look after for him in his absence. I had to laugh when I saw some of them, but it didn’t stop me listening did it? ‘Never Forget’ – Take That, ‘These are the days of our lives’ – Queen. I was starting to get a bit sentimental. And realised that I am very close to creating some of those memories that I’ll be thinking and laughing about for years to come. Because when Ed and I are together, mischief comes calling.

See you on the East side.

Steffi

Bangkok Nights - The Ballad of Teddy in a Tuk Tuk

edd_powell — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 23:30:00 GMT

Well I'm finally here! I arrived at Heathrow, or as I like to call it, lets do uber security checks just to slow everything down (idiots). When I finally got through the frisks (which I kinda enjoyed) I reached the departure lounge which to my horror, does not have a burger king!!!!!

When boarding my plane I was impressed by the choice of films at my fingertips - Groundhog Day and About A Boy to name a couple. When it came to viewing a film I was tied between "Becoming Jane" a period piece based on Jane Austin and her life, or "Shooter", a film based on a sniper veteran pissed off at the military asked to come out of retirement to help stop a plot to kill the president. Needless to say I picked the latter and it was great. Marky Mark Wahlberg strutting his stuff really passes the time.

So I eventually arrive at Bangkok airport. Well its a stark difference to Heathrow - Artistically designed, air-conditioning and quick turn-around with baggage. I was impressed. The only thing that comes close to the speed in which my luggage arrived is at the Quench gig I did in Kiel (Germany for you un-educated plebs) at Hamburg airport - (zugarden, schnell - I don't know how to spell.

As soon as I was off the plane I was on a bus heading to Bangkok. Where in Bangkok I did not know, but I hoped it would stop at my B&B-It did. My B&B (praise the lord) had aircon and a tv (which means I can watch the US Open) as well as a warm shower. RESULT.

On my first evening I wandered around like a fish out of water but found a great place to have a few beers (50P each) and read the book my bro gave me - wild at heart (amazing read so far, cheers Tom).

Today bought a different scenario - the tuk tuk. Some how a gentle stroll ended in me in the back of a tuk tuk cruising around Bangkok.

A "tuk tuk" for anyone who does not know is a 3-wheeled vehicle that is like a go-cart on the open road with a roof. Thrashing through the back roads of Bangkok, not knowing where I was heading was an experience I shall never forget. I ended up at a palace thingy where some woman was chanting (thats right a woman. I'm not being sexist but I though monks were men) over a PA system and in the background you could hear Whitney Houston singing the theme tune from the bodyguard - very deep I thought. A giant buddha with Whitney in the background. Very surreal, Shame it wasn't Whitneys over clasic Queen of the night - that would have put the cat amongst the buddhist pigeons.

Anyway I'm amazed at the buildings here. You have poverty side by side with the rich temples - whats that all about. Don't wanna be controversial but surely any religion should have some sort of social action involved where the rich (well any sort of class or above) give and help the poor. It doesn't happen over here.

So I'm still cruising around on the tuk tuk when he drops me off at a suit shop and ushers me in. I was not really sure what was going on but the guy was adament I was going to buy a suit. Boy did he have a shock when he was given the hudson glare. The hudson glare for those who don't know is a look I inherited from my mother which scares the living sh*t out of anyone - not many have seen it. Needless to say I left the shop without a purchase.

Marie my fellow Bridgie (God Bless the free land of Somerset) campatriot joined me today, and we have just returned from beer and thai food where I have earnt several hairs on my chest due to the spicey food. Another thing I noticed tonight (I know this is all random) is to Al "big fan" Hoggs delight, they all drive hiluxes - crazy!!

Anyway, time is up on the meter. I'm sure grammatically this is terrible(thats 6.4% chiang beer for you), but hey untill next time, this is Bangkok nights signing off.

Whats next,

Half Empty or Half Full? Pt.2

edd_powell — Tue, 5 Jun 2007 20:20:00 GMT

Previously on A&A (said in J-Bauer voice)

Ed has survived his birthday karaoke, leaving do and ran the gauntlet that is the Almoundsbury Interchange on bank holiday weekend and survived.

beep-beep-beep-beep-beep (beeps with massive intense reverb)

So I am finally back in the land of the free that is Somerset. Like Frodo returning to the shire I am gracing Bridgwater for another exciting adventure - and trust me, they always are.

Twinned with places that I have never heard off, Bridgwater offers a lot to the individual.

So let me set the scene and I won't sugar coat it. Bridgwater is a hole. It's got noting really going for it. Its in the top 15% of under-achievement wihin secondary schools, has drug and employment problems and was lablled the "moss-side of the west country" by the late great Joe Strummer (Lead singer of The Clash for you un-educated plebs). To top it all off, Bridgie is in a conservative regime and has been since I was born - proof that the conservatives may come with fancy ideas but in actual fact will only work in the middle classes and not where proper government is needed - here (I'll come back to this later).

Having said all this, Bridgwater is amazing - and I mean that. It is drenched in tradition and most people who slag it off probably have never been here as it has so much going on. As soon as I pull into zion, I have a text message saying that the lads are in the pub, come down when your ready. That night I met up with friends and talked about the dreamteam I had just narrowly lost (gutted) as well catching up with stuff. That night I headed into town where I met some more friends - one of which now has a baby girl, works full time and makes it work - give that girl a medal!

Whilst I’m at home I’ve been getting around using my mothers classic nissan micra. Now this is the older sort that has only done around 45,000 miles and believe me when I say it is like driving a go-kart!! Throwing this thing around country lanes is a lot of fun and I have driven to see many delights that is Westward Ho! (that’s right Ho!), Exeter and most importantly, Johnny Depps new house.

The next morning my parents asked me if I wanted to go to the local church with them (this was the place where I grew up). I thought why not, could be a laugh (normally is at Christmas and Easter). What I witnessed was investment at its highest. Here was a place where anyone would turn up - a few examples for you. Geoff the mobile disco man - why he is called this I do not know but he drives an imaginary bus around the place and will be often seen reversing around a corner; reformed alcoholics - so many that they use non-alcoholic communion wine now; and an incredible over-enthusiastic drummer who drums far to loud to an interesting tempo.

My point is that the Church get's a bad reputation for being boring and out-of-touch but here was a group of people actually welcoming in people that the average person would probably shrug off. Its a place where people can feel safe and secure and where actually people will show interest in them.

So as I head into town, I listen into people's conversations. There amazing. You here stories about how a guy - obviously from Liverpool cos of his accent - had beaten up another guy, and about how someone else has left someone else for another guy. However, as I walk around you get an enormous sense of togetherness. Everyone seems content with what they have, or haven't got. It's like actually, I may not have all things I want but I don't care becuase I'm happy with what I have - anything else is a bonus. It's rare that you find this. I found Cheltenham to be a real place where you have to be constantly trying to better yourself. We need to get bigger, or the numbers need to be larger than last time or we need to be moving forward. The problem with this outlook is you forget the things around you and you loose focus on what really matters.

So as I come into land, I feel that actually even though Bridgwater has a bad reputation, it actually is a great place to be. Its next to the beach, at the foot of the most beautfull hills you will see in this part of the UK and there is always something going on. In light of what I have seen in the last week, I 100% believe that the government need to invest in churches more rather than mickey mouse schemes - regardless of what you believe, churches are the people that are gonna make the difference in social action. Secondly, the atmosphere is very much that of everything is gonna be OK and that in actual fact, the glass is always half full, whether it gets filled up does not really matter, but if does it's a bonus.

Anyway, I'll post again shortly.

Untill next time, whats next.....

Ed

Half Empty or Half Full? Pt.1

edd_powell — Tue, 29 May 2007 21:37:00 GMT

Greetings again to the now 70 or so people who have been reading up on my adventure. My travels have taken me to Bridgwater - home of all that is good and pure through blurred spectacles. I have divided this entry into 2 as I like to keep it short so people can quickly read them rather than putting it off because they're too long. Firstly, let me please state to everyone who I have left behind in Cheltenham - thank you for the memories, investment and journeys we took (some still on-going). Friday night was emotional (bloody beer and hay fever) but was humbling to see how many people came for a final toast and putting the world to right session. The final departing process (as all Powell departures are) started early and went on for a bit. When I was finally ready to go, surprise surprise, Tom had perfectly planned a no.2 toilet stop. Now Tom is a writer and takes his time with everything (story telling his forte). Needless to say I had read the novels of Prust and thrown one final insult at the house cat (sorry Amy) when he finally surfaced with a smile on his face. Now departure actually started on the 24th (my birthday - it's not too late to make a travel contribution) where I was treated to beer and rounder's by my work colleagues (Never did see Paul Drake swing the bat!), which was great fun. In the evening some friends and myself discovered a karaoke bar in Cheltenham - at which point I would like to add it does not even come close to Bridgwater karaoke as far as quality and comedy are concerned. For my performance I did an excellent rendition of Mandy by Barry Manilow. I got down off the stage (raised seating area) to a rapturous applause. Strange I thought that never happens. Anyway shocked at the ratio of men to women (about 10:1) I carried on knocking back whatever the bar threw at me - or to be precise, Jamie Hill, Dawson & Dave Brae. Jamie I can cope with, I've gave him his fair share x 10 on his stag do; Dawson and I used to do this for fun - not just for occasions; but Dave, you are in trouble - word of advice, get training now cos your stag is going to come around fast, not even Jimmy will stop me. Anyway its been a long time since I got driven home in a shopping trolley and 2 sambukas, 2 tequila slammers, 1 glass of what resembled whiskey, 5 pints of carling (not Boddingtons Dawson) and about 6hrs sleep I was unbelievable up and ready to go to work with no hint of a hangover - Bring it on! My final day at work was cool, said goodbye to everyone was informed the karaoke bar we were in was a gay bar - that explains the applause. So me and PMTD (Powell Management Transport Dept) embark on the 1hr15min journey back to the “Water" at around 2.30pm. We did not get back till just after 5. We hit stupid arsed Londoners thinking a bank holiday weekend in the West Country is a good idea. Now why is this? For the price you would pay in fuel, the journey time and the cost of food etc it would be cheaper to hop on the channel tunnel or even get on a ferry to Holland. I imagine they're all bankers who don't know their arse from their elbows, only the yen from the dollar. To bring some clarity and context (Trinitites bare with me, Ill give you an anecdote in a second) my sister went to Cornwall from Somerset (15 mins from the Devon border control) and it took 5 hrs!!!!! I could have been nearly in Scotland in the same time (trust me I've done it - bad gig in Dundee) and then to make matters worse, the van had a puncture!! It was kind of fun stopping on hard shoulder and like true men, changed it ourselves. Lewis Hamilton may have had better luck at Monaco if he used us to change Alonso's tyres. Anyway I had the last laugh on the bankers cos it pissed it down all weekend - should have checked the weather whilst buying and selling. Anyway, finally arrived in Bridgwater, which is where pt.2 will start........??????? Stay tuned. What's next? Ed

The Man In The Mirror reflects his Brothers In Arms.

edd_powell — Sun, 20 May 2007 23:20:00 GMT

So let me begin by saying a couple of things.... Firstly, I have exactly 5 and a bit days left in Cheltenham before I depart back to the land of the free that is Somerset - more precisely Bridgwater (or sesswater for those who inhabit it), Secondly, before you read any more of this, go to your itunes and select one of the following tracks Michael "what happened to my face" Jackson - Man in the mirror or Dire "put your head band on" Straits - Brothers in Arms. My reasoning for this is that this article is deep, so hit play and enjoy. Now I've started to clean my room out and I start to dig up a few things that get me reflecting on the 5 years that I have been here. The first thing that I dig up is a photo album that my old housemates of Winstonian road created. Its titled "All That You Can't Leave Behind" and it displays some of the antics that I got to up in my uni days. Pictures range from battle of the band competitions (which I still am recovering from now - we should have won!!! Ahh the riots that followed) to images of themed nights out and various dance manoeuvres that have been created over the years. Its strikes me that in such a small period of time people change – physically that is, we were all so fresh faced back then – also skinnier. It also reminds me of what an adventure we were all on, and how we felt we could take on anyone - especially chavs. I keep finding mementos too. Whether it be a 5 pint beer card which I got for winning the pool competition, various Quench publicity that I keep or even the winners medal I got for winning the go-karting at Mark C's stag do (Ed R its ok, you stick to 2 wheels, I'll stick to 4) - I kept it all. It's not till I get round to the dusting part of the cleaning phase that I realise my mirror needs a clean. I get the cloth and polish and start to give it a wipe. Here comes the cheesy part - I clean the mirror and realise that when I leave Cheltenham that’s it, I'm starting fresh and the old Ed will start a new challenge. A new beginning and new people that will not have a clue who I am or what I'm about that will look at me and see me as someone new, not the Ed they new at Uni or in the pub or giving his realistic opinion on a subject. So when I look in this mirror I'm cleaning, I see the future looking back at me, not the Ed of now. So I go to the local beer garden (The Railway - make sure you're all there on Friday 25th) and chat and chill with friends bantering about stuff and using the body's anatomy to stress points and opinions - mainly the genitalia (use your imagination) - and head back to the house after only one beer (that's rare) and go up to my room. Its now that I realise that the mirror I had cleaned prior was actually not that clean, but smeared and still dirty. Two things I learn from this is that a: I'm crap at cleaning and b: no matter where I go next, the effects of my friends, the memories I have obtained, the nights out I can't remember, the battle of the bands that I should of won, the episodes of the West Wing that were life changing and the long term relationship I was in (plus much more other stuff) will stay with me wherever I go. No matter where I go and situations I am in, the man in the mirror will remember everyone and everything because even though you're not with me in A & A, you ALL will never desert me, my brothers in arms. That’s it for now, what’s next.. Ed

Gallery: Cheltenham

edd_powell — Mon, 14 May 2007 06:36:00 GMT

The Final 2 Weeks

Who needs Ray Mears when you have The West Wing

edd_powell — Sun, 13 May 2007 21:30:00 GMT

So this is how it starts, I'm sitting next to my friends, Dave Brae, Amy C and Jezzer watching the classic film that is 'There's somthing about Mary' and I couldn't help but think that I will miss my lazy Sunday afternoons doing nothing. Dave keeps using my Mac (which I will miss when I leave) to check his facebook site so he can ponder over his soon to be wife (thats Emma) and how sexy she is. Meanwhile Jezzer, Amy and I are the singletons in the house who are throwing insults at him for being too smug that he is getting married and we're not. Firstly, I would like everyone to know that I'm no Aaron Sorkin or Bill Shakespeare so don't expect any award winning writing. Just expect the usual banter that you would get from me if I was there in the flesh. Anyway, back to the point that is this week I had an email from Mark, my very helpful agent from Worlds Apart to tell me my e-tickets have arrived. Ok, can someone please explain to me how an electronic ticket can arrive? I take a stroll down to the agency where a guy who has either drunk too much calpol, or has had too much sun (as we're in the UK, i'll go with the first option) hands me the tickets - a print out of an email. HOW IS THAT ELECTRONIC? My point is that my tickets have arrived and I'm thinking crap, I've got stuff to do. Many people ask me why I'm going away?? The truth is there is not a clear cut reason, I mean I love Chelters. I have made some amazing friends in the 5 years that I have been here and I will leave with so many memories. Whether it’s stealing stuff in certain states of conciousness in my first year of uni, trying to share a stage with Jamie Hill or trying to teach people my sense of humour (some/all people still struggle), its been fun. I think my best memory (and there’s many) would be discovering The West Wing. My brother once told me (and it took him 15 mins to get to his point - he's a writer and had to include every single flippin piece of detail) that his vicar (he works for a church) told him that with him being in leadership has never dealt with an issue that has not been covered on the programme. I like to think that this will be true with me and my travels. I've watched and read books on Ray Mears and trust me, The West Wing prepares you more. Whether its dealing with guilt, independence or feeling alone, its dealt with it. I like to think that when I'm in the middle of nowhere with no accommodation for the night and a monsoon kicking off, I'll cast my mind back to the The West Wing and think, "what would Leo do" and I'll be ok. At this point I would like to thank my bro, Jamie Hill and Steve/Min Clarke for lending me the series, and for their counselling when I completed the 7 season journey. Whilst I'm on the subject of DVD's, if anyone has any of my collection, please could they return them. Anyway, enough from me for now, I'm still recovering from a birthday boat trip around Gloucester (not much to see, but the company was great). I will post throughout my travels, please don't correct me on my spelling or grammar ( I still don't know my There from Their). In the words of Jed Bartlett, "What's Next" Ed?