The Journey(s) of Ian

First the pictures: a. Angkor Wat courtesy of GoogleEarth. This gives you some idea of the scale. b. Angkor Wat from the air, photo taken from an early morning balloon flight. c. An abandoned temple. d. Landmine victims making money other than by begging. These groups are all over the area. Give them a $1. e. A group of hopeful tourists looking at sunset over AW. As with many sunrise/set events this was not as great as promised (however, to be fair, on those two or three days a year when environmental factors are right it is spectacular—so I am told). Understanding the AW Temple setup: Overall, there are approximately one hundred structures scattered over the AW Temple area, which begins approximately six kilometres north of Siem Reap. I suspect that there are still many other buildings, covered by jungle, waiting to be uncovered. Many of these are small, in a poor state of repair, and rarely visited by tourists. The hoards of tourists who daily descend upon AW head in the main towards...

Cambodia—‘Heart of Darkness’ or the Land without ATMS! (I decided to post my adventures in Cambodia in several parts in order to keep my avid readership up to date.) First, the photos: a. Me waiting for a bus in PoiPet. b. The bus! c. Posted on the back of my guest house door—someone was having a fun time. d. My first view of Angkor Wat. e. Lots of tourists. f. Some details g. View from the top h. View from the top 2. i. Me and Angkor Wat. With a great deal of regret I finally made the move from the Kingdom of Thailand to the Kingdom of Cambodia. From my reading I knew that this would be more of an ‘adventure’ than any of my previous travels. The Lonely Planet guide warned of the ‘Bus Scam’, the bus which carries one from the border goes not to the designated bus station but to a local quest house. To be frank, after 10 pleasant days in the ‘Land of a 1,000 Smiles’ I was not looking forward to hassle and troubles, however, I did want to see Angkor Wat. What I have come to find distress...

Thailand Photos: Again, blogger is not overly good with photo layout. Also I am posting from Cambodia where dialup is high speed access, so bear with me: a. Me, on a Ferris Wheel! A real hoot. b. The old capital of Ayuthaya. c. From the top of a tall lookout in Bangkok. A view of the city far below. d. A genius of modern design who created this and other masterpieces of art. e. Me comfy and fed on a boat heading back to Bangkok from Ayuthaya. f. Just in case the Arts Degree does not pay, I have an alternative career waiting. g. Enjoying a ride on an elephant. h. At Ayuthaya, climbing a Temple steps. i. The resting Ian. j. One of the 'naughty' areas of Bangkok. k. One of the other 'naughty' areas of Bangkok. l. Me and an elephant getting acquainted. How can mere words describe my happy times in the ‘Land of 1,000 Smiles’? I will state here and now that Thailand has been the most fun destination in my Asian travels. The people, the places, ...

Pictures: a. The artisan who hand crafted the 'Kris' knives of Malaysia. b. Me, about to ascend Penang Hill. c. George Town from a lookout in the city d. The ferry which carried me across to Penang. e. George Town from the top of Penang Hill. Malaysia—Penang Originally, I never in fact planned to visit Penag, it was an idea put into my head by a chance acquaintance on the road (an English traveller by the name of John), and by a desire to break the long train journey to Bangkok. First, some explanations for those not in the know. Penang is a small island off the coast of northern Malaysia. Its major city is Georgetown, across the water is the neigbouring mainland city of Butterworth. Gtown is a more expensive, tourist city, there are a fair number of visitors and a fair number of expats (largely from the UK) who reside either temporarily or year round on its balmy shores. Transport across is either by ferry or the 13km long (longest in Asia) bridge. In my mind I thought of Pena...

Photos: a. KL from the KL tower, one of those big and famous communication towers. b. Condos which are everywhere in KL. c. The Batu caves and steps. d. Me with a new friend (it was strong, heavy, and did not like me) e. China Town I left Singapore and arrived in Malaysia on a train. This journey began with a comical pass through customs at the Sing train station. My passport was scanned by a Malay woman hidden behind a glass screen, who said something through a speaker grill which I could not understand, and then waved me on. Next three uniformed customs inspectors, without moving from a reclining position, declined to inspect my luggage. My personal feeling is that border control is a joke and merely gives lots of people make work. The train trip was uneventful, as was the arrival at the hi-tech KL Sentral Train Station (with a wireless, broadband Starbucks—class). All this was soon to change: In Singapore I had stayed in a 5 star, but had I decided to go down market in KL, get close...

Singapore I write this in a seedy (but not sleazy) hotel in Kuala Lumpur’s bustling China Town, however, that is another story for another day. Here is my account of my few, but interesting days, in Singapore— To describe my experiences I will first have to make what many readers will believe to be a digression, however, as you will soon see there is a point to this excursus, one, which, I am sure you will agree, is both necessary and educational. Picture, if you will, in your mind’s eye, yourself, walking the streets of Perth, going about your everyday, lawful affairs. As you progress through your activities you will from time to time glance around, and occasionally view a peculiar individual. This stranger has a hagged and worn mien, is clearly deficient in sleep, and has a look of permanent bewilderment upon his befuddled face. With closer inspection you will also see a backpack slung uncomfortably over one shoulder and a camera clipped to his belt (I am visualising a man, feel free...

To start with some images (a picture tells a thousand words—but not if you are a philologist). This blog site does not allow individual notation of images, so I am adding a few notes right at the start: a. loading of the ship in Fremantle. b. At sea looking forward c. At sea looking back. d. The Bridge e. Bridge GPS map display f. Plan of the ship g. The engine room (the chief engineer and Christine) h. Our luxurious facilities i. Pirate attack precautions j. Deck plan k. Stairwell from the top l. Me at the bow! m. Me at the controls !! .............................................. short version: Great fun, an interesting and dirty ship, which rolled a lot but no sea sickness, crew friendly, learnt much, would do again. ...................................................... long version: Arrived! Safe and sound in Singapore after 7 days at sea! The journey began in the port of Fremantle on the afternoon of Tuesday...