The Journey(s) of Ian

650kms, 9 hours, one night. Another trip, another journey. This time from Bangkok to the town of Surat Thani. Surat is one of the larger towns of southern Thailand, capital of the province of the same name, and the province (of the same name) is home to the beach resort island of Koh Samui. Me, the bus guy, and the bus. people people people--the loneliness of the travelling man. It is a burden. Surrounded by people but always a part. my ticket A fine few weeks in bkk. Saw some friends, saw some new places, visited and revisited some nearby provinces, but time to move on. Get your ticket. Sai Tai, at night, main entrance. I departed bkk from the southern bus station, aka Sai Tai, which is to the west of bkk--go figure. Getting there required a taxi ride from nana—there being little public transport to a major transportation nexus—go figure. Taxi = 200 baht, 60 baht tollway, and 100baht tip because the guy did not haggle about using the meter. It's all an ad...

Another face from my youth, the bright and attractive actress Elisabeth Sladen, who played the 'Dr Who' companion Sarah Jane Smith, has passed away, and at the relatively young age of 63. I remember her as the companion of John Pertwee and Tom Baker. She played a feisty investigative reporter, turned time travelling companion—a part she played well. I recall her time on the show fondly, and was sorry when she left. She did return to the series from time to time ( :) ), but, for me, it will always be the 70s. Elisabeth Sladen 1948-2011 RIP.

As part of my ongoing quest to visit every Thai province and every Lak Mueang in Thailand I visited the two remaining 'day trip' provinces to the east of Bangkok. Originally, the plan was Mo Chit bus terminal outwards, but a friendly taxi driver offered to take me there and back for 1500 baht ~ $50. A taxi maximizes my chance of doing two provinces in one day, plus it makes a driver very happy. First Nakon. The closest, and on the way to Prac. 1 hour plus to Nakhon. pop. 20k? Burbs and rice farms most of the way. Nakon is a small quiet town of rice farmers and light industry. Very few farang. Spent three hours or so here, snaps and general looking around. Prachinburi was a 20 min drive to the south east of Nakon. pop 20k? Rice farms and light industry all the way. The road was fairly busy, the route to Cambo, and the Songkran time of the year. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone. :) Location: Central east Thailand.

This is what can be considered a micro-blog post. Something small, something interesting, just to let those folks, who do in fact read my blog, know what I believe is important. So, it seems that as of February 2011 that sales of ebooks has trumped sales of conventional, paperbound books. What I say to this is, about time! To me, progress seems to take too long, where is the future now! I recall back with my Palm 5 (the early 2000s) lamenting that ebooks were not sufficiently good enough to replace paper books. Now, at last, they are. http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/15/technology/ebooks_beat_paperbacks/index.htm?hpt=T2 Of course the numbers in this article are a little rubbery, but it is there. Ebooks have come of age. What does this mean? It means books should be cheaper. I hate the bleating of the publishing biz, who rival only the music biz for burying one's head in deep sand. Ebooks have the potential to decrease costs, increase availability, and enhance the reading experi...

One of the joys of life on the road is the occasional chance and opportunity to ‘pig out’ at a buffet. Buffets are one of life’s little surprises, a pleasant surprise (and that is often a surprise, in itself). Rather than sit stiffly gazing at a menu, one has the opportunity to sight one’s prey, to seek out and acquire one’ food. Very manly. When you are hungry, when you need the big meal, when you are ready to eat—find a buffet. Where to find your buffet. Buffets are all around us, you just have to look. Most of the ‘prestigious’ hotels have buffets, usually breakfast and lunch, but also dinner. Some of the ‘cheap charlie’ hotels around the world also have. In Pattaya for example (a great city) several hotels have $4 buffet breakfasts and $6 buffet dinners, and not bad quality. Take the time to scout out what is available in your vicinity and to find the best deal: check websites, browse through foursquare, ask your facebook buddies. On your hunt you will notice that prices ca...