The Hutchie's Am-asian Adventures

Gallery: Thai Islands

hutch07 — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 15:36:00 GMT

Island hopping

Gallery: Malaysia

hutch07 — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 15:16:00 GMT

Malaysia

No woman is an island......

hutch07 — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 18:53:00 GMT

...unless her name is Jeannot. Or at least that's what Cham the Chapati Man claims. Greetings friends! It's been a while since our last update, but fear not, we have been blazing our way through Malaysia and the Thai islands and have many Am-asian adventures to report.

None more intoxicating than our night in M.D. Curry House, Kuala Terrenganu, in the company of Cham - the man who taught the boss of Ferrari how to make the perfect chapati. An impressive claim, although not perhaps as impressive as if he'd taught him how to build cars or fine tune engines or something. Anyway, Cham had aslo met Elvis and Sean (pronounced Seen) Connery and was fond of serenading his female customers. Since we were the only customers, Jeannot was treated to a one on one performance of such classics as "It's Now or Never" and "Diamonds are for ever"!It was also through the medium of song that Cham made his startling claim that Jeannot's name translates to "Island" in Hindi. The song goes "Oh Jeannot, Jeannot, Jeannot, Oh Jeannot", which, for those of you who don't speak Hindi, means "Oh Island, Island, Island, Oh Island." You really had to be there to appreciat how much emotion one man could cram into such limited lyrics. Once we'd made this connection we were able to sing many other heartfelt Hindi classics such as "Oh my Jeannot in the sun" and "Jeannots in the stream". Good times!

Aside from chanters (or should that be chancers) like Cham, Malaysia has loads to offer the humble backpacker and we took in the historical town of Melaka, the waterfalls and lakes around Tasik Kenyir, and the beautiful beaches of Cherating and the Perhentian islands/ Perhentian Jeannots.

Next up were the Cameron Highlands. Famous for tea plantations and lush, rolling hills, it was a cracking contrast to the blissful beaches we'd just left. Humid, rainy and cold at night, it was like Scotland (with the added humidity of course). We hooked up with a local guide called Yam for an adventure into the hills, which included a trip to the BOH tea plantation. BOH is like the Tetley of Malaysia and the people who pick the tea are called the BOH Selectors. (Haw haw- Jeannot believed that - you'd think she would know better by now!)

Anyway, we had a pot of freshly picked tea and a cream scone (They do a lovely scone!) before heading further into the jungle for a special quest. Our objective was simple - find the biggest flower in the world. Although this sounds like an outlandish aim, it turned out that the world's largest flower - the Raffleasia (after Thomas Raffle) - was in bloom and only two hour's trek into the jungle interior. You know you've been travelling too long when a smiling stranger beckons you towards dense vegetation with his machete and you go without even conferring with one another. Needless to say, machete man was a good guy and lead us on our sweaty way. Have a swatch in the gallery (coming soon) at our big botanical find. It truly was a big old flower and it carried a bit of a nasty stench too, thus the reluctance on our part to get our heads too close in!

As a reward for our flower finding exploits, the villagers in machete man's village let us have a go of their blow pipes. Cue jokes about wacky baccy! No, not thsoe sort of blow pipes - the other sort. You know....the ones you fire poisonous darts from to kill things. We both managed to hit the target on the tree and there was even a stranage moment where everything went into slow motion and Bryan Adams popped up, singing that song from Robin Hood.

Our final stop in Malaysia was in Kuala Lumpur. We'd sepnt time there before on honeymoon, but we wanted to return to see Anthony's ex-colleague, housemate and honorary Scotsman, Greg. We spent a brilliant few days with Greg and his wife, Denise, who treated us to numerous curries, roti breads, tea tariks, Tiger beers, and our very own Indian outfits. Denise proved to be the Malaysian makeover queen and wouldn't let us leave without buying us the full outfit (right down to the earrings for Jeannot). All we need now is an Indian wedding to show off our new wares (Come on Raj! How's about it?) And so with a heavy heart (and an even heavier rucksack) we siad farewell to our lovely Malaysian friends for another few years and flew north to Thailand for a final stretch of R + R. And that's what we're doing right now. R-ing and r-ing. We do have more to tell and some great foaties to share, but the waiter just brought our drinks and we need to finish them before the massage in the Spa at 6, so until next time folks......Cheery bye!

Gallery: Cambodia

hutch07 — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:19:00 GMT

Cambodia

Not on dorm form

hutch07 — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 11:28:00 GMT

We are in Singapore now, after flying down from Cambodia yesterday. For those of you who have been in Singapore, you will know it is a bit pricier than the rest of SE Asia, so for the first time on this trip our budget limitations find us in a hostel. Although we are geographically in the same place as most of our co-habitants, we are not really in the same place, if you know what we mean......well we're certainly not in the same place as the 18 year old boys in the two bunks opposite. Some of our differences include:

- We just got up at 7am to miss the rush for the shared shower room and get out to see the sights, while they just got in from a club about an hour ago.

- We don't believe in the Lynx effect.

- We can whisper.

- We know that Trinidad and Tobago is not in Africa. No joke, one of them said it.

Ah, the youth of today!

Anyway, this place is wonderfully clean and ordered compared to where we've just come from, so we're off out to bask in its modern cleanliness.

We have a blog and some fab photos from Cambodia (which was am-asian) but it's taking a little longer to get organised with that. We just had to write this one now and tell you, simply because we're up so blinking early and the dorm haven't started serving brekkie yet! Not easy pushing thirty you know.

Ang-kor Blimey!

hutch07 — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 02:15:00 GMT

Greetings from Cambodia all you good, good people. This place rocks like a big rocky rock, rocking up at a rock concert whilst eating a stick of rock. It has surprised us and charmed us in equal measure, and it's a place we'd love to return to as there are undoubtedly more remote parts of the country which sound well worth visiting too. Essentially we've done a big triangle round the Tonle Sap lake/river, starting from Phnom Pehn, travelling to Battambang and then across the lake to Siem Reap - the home of Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and all the other incredible temples. Also the home of Angkor butter - well at least we think that's what the cows were doing wandering around a few of the temples! (See pic - you'd never get that at Edinburgh castle! Although you do get Highland coos at the Burrel Collection I suppose).

Anyway, to cut to the chase, we thought a list of 5 things we didn't expect to hear/ see/ say, best highlights the wonderful unpredictability of this place:

1. "Do you want to stop and watch this cockfight?" - Jeannot's moto driver, Mr. Bat, touring us round rural Battambang.

2. "Do you want an open shave as well?" - Anthony's street barber, Mr. Ling, trying the upsell after he persuaded him into the Phnom Penh market barber chair.

3. "How's your diaorrhea my friend?" - Another of the friendly moto drivers checking on Anthony's wee bowel problem. Who didn't you tell Jeannot?

4. "Tony Hutcheson. Tony Hutcheson. Over here, over here. I'm Mr. Bean!" Mr Bean, our personal guide and tuk tuk driver, racing to meet us off the boat as we arrived in Siem Reap. (Our pal Mr. Bat had handliy passed on our details - you've got to admire their initiative, although not sure if it's entirely inkeeping with the Data Protection Act).

5. "Waaaaaahhhhh trrrraaaaiiiiinnnn!" Both of us upon seeing the oncoming train on Battambang's famous single track bamboo train. Basically you ask a wee man if you can have a go on his train - then his two sons carry over two sets of wheels, a bamboo plank and plonk an outboard motor on the back. Everyone piles on the train and you set off along the dis-used railway. When you meet a train coming towards you, both trains slow and suss out who bears the heavier load. The lighter train has to get off the track and the heavier one proceeds. Fortunately we had five adults and two motorbikes so nobody was getting in our way! Railly funny so it was!

Aside from these unexpected moments were the parts that we had read up on and were prepared for, but which still brought us up short. Looking into the monument filled with skulls at the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek was truly chilling. We travelled out there early in the morning and apart from the sound of children's singing drifting across the field from a nearby school, we were completely alone. We'd both read a lot about those who suffered under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, but this moment really brought home to us how much this country has had to endure. In spite of this, the people here are fantastic and there is no sense that they feel sorry for themselves or wish to dwell in the past. We were lucky enough to be taken out to dinner by some lovely Cambodian people in Phnom Penh They are the most positive, intelligent and generous people you could meet, and we encountered more like them in every place we stopped.

As for the temples of Angkor - well far better scribes than us have tried and failed to sum them up in words, so we'll stick with our sun headline of Ang-kor blimey! We loved them. It's no wonder the Cambodian people are so proud of what they have achieved. We used up all three days of our three day pass and took in twenty different temples, shuttled round by Mr.Bean, who had a knack of getting us to the right place at the right time - i.e. avoiding the Japanese and Korean coach tours!

So, that's about it from here. The loop is over and we're off south to Singapore. Hope you're all doing well. Keep the comments coming peeps. Lots of love, The Hutchies xx

Gallery: Central Vietnam

hutch07 — Sat, 3 Mar 2007 02:45:00 GMT

Auf Weidersen Tet!

hutch07 — Sat, 3 Mar 2007 02:07:00 GMT

Xin Chao from the heart of Southern Vietnam. We write from Ho Chi Minh City (so called because the Communists didn't wish to "Let Saigons be Saigons" Ho Ho!) Yes, it is almost the end of our time in Nam (Charlie Sheen said it was OK for us to call it that, as long as we keep the flashbacks to a minimum when we return.) We will be sad to leave, although not sad to see the end of the Tet festival! This celebration for Vietnamese New Year goes on forever and subsequently the normal runnings of transport, museums, shops, etc. go up the proverbial Mekong without a leg to stand on (if we can mix metaphors so brazenly). Our planned sally down the coast on the Reunification Express train was scuppered by all the locals travelling home for Tet, so we were confined to these dreadful "tourist buses" where Jeannot shared a particularly memorable night on a broken seat next to a big man who'd definitely had sprouts with his Tet din dins. However, passive windypops aside, Vietnam is a great place.

The pics of Halong Bay and Sapa show how stunning this country is. Our trip to the Black Lsui tribe in Sapa was nearly rained off, but handily our wee guide had a friend with a jeep. The hire price was a bit steep, but we were able to spread the cost with two nice Australian ladies and it was "jeep at half the price".

The next bit about our day trip to the Unesco World Heritage Site at Tam Coc is not for Mums - if we type it really quickly and close together they won't worry - Wehiredamotorbikeanditwastops! See the pics.

After Tam Coc, we stopped off at Hue (Ancient Capital and home to the best conical hats), Hoi An (best silk in Vietnam - Ants got some tailor made silk pyjamas - Jest!), Nha Trang (beach and snorkelling) and now Saigon. Tomorrow we're off to explore the Mekong Delta before taking a boat into Cambodia for Country Number Four. It really has been such an amazing (Am-asian) experience thus far. We're on the downslope now having passed the 57-day halfway mark on Monday night (celebrated with one too many beers with some travelling chums Dave, Lucy, Adam and Val) but hopefully there are many more adventures ahead. Stay tuned folks. Missing you all lots. Cheery bye from Nam for noo. xxx

Gallery: Northern Vietnam

hutch07 — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 22:02:00 GMT

Hanoi-sy noisy place!

hutch07 — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 21:09:00 GMT

Oh Good Lord! I do believe the first genuine culture shock of the trip has taken place. If we thought all those other places were different, we were unprepared for the assault on the senses that is Hanoi, Vietnam. Dumped out of the airport taxi nowhere near where we had asked to be dropped, we fought our way past the countless (and we mean countless) mopeds, motorobikes, cars and people coarsing through every street and alley. One market was so busy, a live, possibly closterophobic fish had hopped out of its container and was slithering away from its stall. The owner was quickly after it and clocked it one on the napper, before returning it to it's plastic bucket. Someone will eat that for their dinner tonight! Needless to say we won't be ordering fish. Anyway, it's loud. LOUD. Hanoi is Hanoisy YES! Horns are used as they were meant to be used. To let people know you're there. Unfortunatley there are so many people letting us know they are here, we are somewhat overpowered by their tooting. You feel kind of powerless in reply. I think we might invest in one of those bicycle comedy horns so we can give a little honk back - feel more part of things. It's all you can do to stop yourself turning round and shouting "OK, OK we know you're there, we're trying to stay out of your way, but we can't walk on the pavement cos that woman's washing her hair and he's sleeping and they're having dinner and he's playing chess and she's selling pineapples while picking her nose!" It's brilliant though. Somehow this organised chaos works and noone ever seems to get upset by it. To add a bit of spice to the whole scenario, it's approaching the Chinese New Year/ Tet festival so everyone's getting ready for that. (Think Oxford Street last Saturday before Christmas and add pure hunners of motorbikes and some livestock!) Motorbikes have cherry blossom and orange trees tied on the back, gift baskets, lanterns, banners and cards are everywhere as people get their homes and shops ready for New Year. Apparently it could be even noisier come Friday night when the Tet festival/ New Year party begins so listen out for it over there. Normally we would stay in and watch Only an Excuse and Chewin the Fat, so not sure what we'll do. Seek out the Vietnamese equivalent of Jackie Bird (who always hosts a good New Year's bash to be fair) and party all night I guess. We'll fill you in once we've sobered up. Anyway, tatty bye for now dear friends and thanks again for all your great comments and emails. We love reading them. Cheers the noo. xxxxxxxx P.S. A few cool photos to follow!

Gallery: Laos

hutch07 — Fri, 9 Feb 2007 21:01:00 GMT

Laos

Leaving Laos Vegas

hutch07 — Fri, 9 Feb 2007 21:00:00 GMT

Sabaidee from Laos. We're typing this latest blog from the capital city, Vientiane. It's been a fun fortnight since we last wrote in Thailand. Laos is a beautiful country with people who joke and smile very easily. However, it has a really troubled past which still affects many who live here. (We watched a thought-provoking documentary called "Bombies" which explains the ongoing impact of the "secret" US bombing campaign. Strangely we watched it sitting with people from all over the world round an old, rusty US bomb casing, which contained the camp fire.)

A camp fire? "Surely such heat generation techniques are unnecessary in the balmy climate of South East Asia" we hear you say. Well, that's what we thought, but as we crossed the border into Laos from the Thai border town of Chiang Khong, the smirry rain and grey clouds suggested otherwise. Northern Laos was a bit "King Billy" and were it not for our matching Beer Laos fleeces purchased at the Luang Prabang night market, we may have perished! Sadly the fleeces entered our back packing wardrobe too late for the two day slow boat trip down the Mekong to Luang Prabang.(See photo of Jeannot wearing all her layers and snuggling up inside a good samaritan's sleeping bag. Thanks Nicki!). People on the boat seemed surprised about how the cold was affecting the two Scots. We've obviously been Southern Softies for too long. (See pic of local whisky tasting - purely for warmth you understand!)

Despite the biting wind in our faces, we really enjoyed the slow boat experience. It was a good chance to meet some new friends (Jeannot's a bit bored of Anthony's chat, so it was a good chance to share around that "Jerry Hall" story to a captive (READ "cold, numb with nowhere to move") audience).It was also a good chance to take in how stunning the scenery is and savour the journey down such a famous river.

Luang Prabang was a beautiful place to spend some time. Still a very Asian feel about the place but with strong French influences. (Tres bon croissants by the way!) We watched the sunset over the Mekong from Wat Doi Thusi: a temple that sits atop a hill right in the middle of town. We also took in a bit of theatre when we went to see the National Ballet doing an epsiode from the Ramayana - an Indian epic. It was great, and the performance was topped and tailed with some local dancers/ hill tribe performances. These were also good, although one of them was so downright strange that we did sort of wet oursleves laughing in the middle of it.(Horrible feeling - like laughing in church or during a school assembly with shuddery shoulders for all the world to see and tut at.) The hill tribe people had the definite air of performers whose performance had been sprung upon them. Perhaps they were drafted in at the last minute after another tribe called off. There were two men and two women who stood sheepishly in a square throwing a little beanbag to each other while one of the women half-heartedly warbled into a microphone. (Even she seemed to find it ridiculous and passed the mic to one of the other men at one point so she could concentrate on peeing herself laughing). Meanwhile in front of this queer quartet were two very earnest men with pseudo-bagpipes playing an entirely unrelated tune while spinning round in a Morris Dance stylee. Then to top it all, the bagpipe man started playing a leaf, which although impressive did nothing to detract from the general tunelessness or weirdness of the situation.

After Luang Prabang came Phonsovan, the site of the historic plain of Jars, and then onto Vang Vieng for some tubing on the river (see pics - Quality day out!). In addition to tubing, our new pal Neil (partner of sleeping bag donater, Nicki) talked us into swinging off a 25 ft platform into the Nam Song river, avoiding the tubers and kayakers as we splashed down! Sadly, Anthony's first attempt was more of a splat as the swing arced away and he slapped off the surface. Jeannot, on the other hand, sailed effortlessly through the air and just to rub salt in the bruise, swung backwards and forwards a few times before holding her nose and splish sploshing delicately down. We were going to post a picture of the bruises but they are genuinely too gruesome to share. (Ant says - I did manage to swing second time round - male pride restored!)

So tomorrow morning we fly to Hanoi to say Good Morning to Vietnam. Very excited! Hope you're all well at home. Lots of love from Laos.xxxx

Gallery: Trekking

hutch07 — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 23:18:00 GMT

Trekking

Gallery: Sukhothai

hutch07 — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 23:15:00 GMT

Sukhothai

Gallery: Auythaya

hutch07 — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 23:11:00 GMT

Auythaya

Gallery: Kanchanaburi

hutch07 — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 22:53:00 GMT

Kanchanaburi

Take the Thai Road

hutch07 — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 22:26:00 GMT

So it's coming towards the end of Month One, and we've fallen behind with our blogging somewhat due to a hectic schedule, coupled with an unfortunate bout of food poisoning. Yes, it had to happen sooner or later, we just didn't realise it would happen simultaneously. But before we get to the tales of toilet tag team (Don't worry that's as much detail as we're going into) we must quickly fill you in on "the fun before the runs"/ "the bits before the sh...ocking sickness".

Check out the photo gallery of Kanchanaburi where, as well as the legendary Tiger Temple, we squeezed in trips to the Death Railway Museum and Cemetery, the seven-tiered waterfall at Erawan National Park (So called because when explorers first went looking for waterfalls there, one of them was heard to say "Erawan there, and eranother over there...." - in Scotland they're laughing!), Hellfire Pass (an infamous gorge dug out of the mountain by thousands of allied PoWs), a train ride along the Death Railway, and finally to the Bridge over the River Kwai. The day trip ended with a few cool beers with Dave and Lucy, a lovely couple we met on the trip, but the night ended with us all in a Thai nightclub (the only Westerners there)and warm Spey Royal Scotch Whisky. (The Thais love their whisky - it was only polite to join in!) As far as the direction this night went in - the photos say it all!

We dragged ourselves onto a bus the next morning to head on to Ayuthaya, the ancient capital, where we hired some push bikes and meandered in and out of ruins. It was a good way to see the old city and cycling really helps you blend in a bit, allowing you to see some different sights from walking the usual tourist route. Will definitely look to cycle again soon (as long as it's as flat as this place).

Not content with one ancient city we also took in Sukhothai (further north), which we visited on a day trip from Phitsanulok. Sukhothai is much better preserved, and you can visit the many ruins and temples within a lush, lake-filled park area. Again, we went for the old bicylces and wheeled our way around in the scorching heat. We did so in the company of Collin the Canadian, our new friend, who stopped us wandering past the bus stop that morning. People are so friendly here. Both the Thais, and the other travellers. Collin ended up sharing the next week or so with us (in fact he even shared the food poisoning - although he used a different toilet - a three person rotation would have been a logistical nightmare, especially with it coming out both ends! Sorry, too much information.)

Actually, it is doing this place a dis-service to mention food poisoning before mentioning how spectacular the food is. We discovered this fact, on our various long train journeys north. Despite each leg taking between five and seven hours, the time flies by as you pick and choose from the food vendors who get on the train for a few stops each. (Crif, the sticky chicken was as good as you said, although it didn't quite reduce us to tears!) Egg fried rice, fresh pineapple and mango, water, juice, beer, sticky chicken, coconut rice wrapped in bamboo, fried chicken in pandanas leaves - it puts the Virgin trains buffet cart to shame!

Chiang Mai is our latest stopping point and we've both slotted right in to the easy going way here. (Although we have drawn the line at growing our hair long and disregarding personal hygiene, as some of the Westerners seem to. Oh yes, there's no shortage of dreadlocked guys from Surrey, sipping fruit shakes and singing Bob Dylan on their guitars. On the subject of hair growth though, Anthony did have an experimental no-shaving period to see if it might end in a cool, bohemian beardy look, but alas he still looks like Shaggy from Scooby Doo- all fluff and nae ruff!)

The highlights of Chiang Mai include our two day trek north into the hills and Monk Chat. Monk Chat, as the name suggests, is an opportunity to chat to monks. (Some of them were Novices (yet to graduate as Monks) so Anthony helpfully suggested they could have a separate slot called Novice Natter. They're thinking that one over.)Jeannot swung into full work mode and was firing questions at our little group of monks, who originated from Laos and Cambodia, as well as Thailand. (You could say they were well and truly reccied). We found out a fair bit about Buddhism and the life of Thai monks. It was one of the most interesting parts of the trip yet and the monks were incredibly open, friendly and funny guys. None more so than the Cambodian monk, who interpreted our English names, and told us their Buddhist meaning. Anthony means "Look to the sky", while Jeannot means "Smiley Lady". His accent made this sound like "Smelly Lady", but after much laughter and sniffing of Jeannot, we settled on "smiley". (He wasn't there when she stood on the tiger poo obviously!)

The trek was also incredible. More challenging than we had anticipated, as our sore legs will testify. The first day was mostly walking up hills and through jungle paths with a waterfall dip to cool us down. We passed through various hill tribe villages, and finished in the Black Lahu village, watching the sun set over the hills. The hut we slept in with ten others was basic to say the least, and the cacophony of noise generated by the village cockerels, dogs, pigs, and cats ensured that our sleep was somewhat disrupted. The next day was the Black Lahu New Year, so the grunting, squealing death throes of the village pig was our alarm call. We ate breakfast, watching on in amazement as the family in the hut below us skinned, gutted and sliced poor little piggy in preparation for the New Year's party. We both eschewed breakfast bacon rolls in favour of toast!

Day two involved another challenging trek (where Jeannot slid dramataically downhill on her bahookie on at least three occasions. Pink shorts no more.) to the elephant camp, where we trekked on an old female elephant's back for an hour, before rafting (white water and bamboo) down the river all the way back to the minibus. Words don't do this bit justice, so check out the pics. Next, we head to Laos, via Chiang Rai, so communication may be low for a few weeks. We'll write again soon. Hope you're still enjoying the stories. Keep in touch.x

Gallery: Tiger Temple

hutch07 — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 19:30:00 GMT

This was a half day trip from Kanchanaburi. Memorable for Jeannot's shoe drama. See the "Flop. flip and a dump" article

Gallery: Bangkok

hutch07 — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 23:54:00 GMT

Here are a few pics from our first port of call.

A flop, flip and a dump

hutch07 — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 22:21:00 GMT

Today we were met at Kanchanburi station by a wee man with a bike and what can only be described as a small bench attached to the back of the bike. Using only this bike and his deceptively strong legs, he carried us and our rucksacks all the way to Sam's Guesthouse. From there we took a tour to a nearby Tiger sanctuary in a monastery run by a monk called Chan. Chan is something of a local celebrity, and from a distance could be mistaken for Andy (of Lou and Andy, Little Britain fame) in a saffron robe. Anthony overcame his crippling cat allergy to make some new feline friends, while Jeannot and Chan/Andy took a tiger for a walk.... with disastrous consequences.

As Jeannot returned from walking the tiger, the earnest guide trod clumsily on her flip-flop. The crucial toe separator came unstuck and the flip-flop flipped it's last flop (or should that be flopped it's last flip....I can't remember....it all happened so quickly). It could be said that Jeannot was initially upset (see petted lip pic in the Gallery)and if looks could kill, said clumsy guide would have been dead in an instant. Then, as if to rub salt in the wound, - or to put it another way, to rub poo on the heel - Jeannot trod on a steaming pile of dung. We are not sure if it was tiger poo, as there were other wild animals roaming the temple, but it was definitely jobby of some description. At this stage, Jeannot was beginning to see the funny side of the incident and indeed the comedy of the situation was clarified by a helpful temple attendant who pointed at her foot and gave a tremendous guffaw. Once both Jeannot and Anthony were in agreement that it was in fact a funny, if slightly crushing, moment, Anthony composed some good songs on the minibus home, parpaphrasing that old classic "Blue Moon" to incorporate the phrases "one shoe" and "one poo". We managed to get some replacement footwear at the night market that evening, which handily was only a "flop, flip and a jump" away.