The Journey(s) of Ian

Light speed, as we all know thanks to Albert Einstein is something approached asymptotically. The closer we get, the harder the next increment—or to put it another way—perfection is something we can aspire to, but never hope to reach. This is true for space ships, and it is equally true for hotel rooms. In south east Asia I have stayed in everything from one to five stars in a half dozen countries in, but have never found a perfect room.  However, for your edification, here, I shall outline what I see as a perfect room. First the basics, for me a room must be clean, and well laid out. In short, what I refer to as a ‘western room’. Something where I feel at home and in which I can relax. Admittedly, much of what makes me feel comfortable is what we I am used to, what I grew up with, but there it is. I am content, in fact, happier with a single room, a ‘standard’ room in hotel parlance, big enough for what I need, small enough to be unburden-some. And in this room ...

It is widely regarded as a truism that people in the 3rd world lead a healthy life—that they rarely if ever suffer 'western' lifestyle diseases. This perception is based upon the belief that 3rd worlders eat simple, natural foods, and lead an inherently healthy lifestyle. This belief is a myth—the reality is the opposite—people in the third world, or at least the population of south east Asia (SEA), have a poor and unhealthy diet and lifestyle, and, as a consequence, suffer form a wide variety of diseases. This poor lifestyle manifests in many different forms, but the most obvious: the large majority of people in these countries smoke excessively, drink too much alcohol, eat too much fatty food, conversely, they do not eat enough of the more healthier foods, and avoid exercise as they would the plague. All of which results in, or or at least exacerbates, a wide variety of illnesses. For example, the number of Thai women who suffer from osteoporosis is astound...

Just to bring you all, and myself, up to date. Journeyed from Pakse in southern Laos to Phnom Penh. The bus trip began early in the morning, and we arrived in PP around about 21.00. We were delayed over an hour with a blown tyre. The stop was interesting, just south of the Cambo border, maybe 100kms in. We had a chance to chit chat and visit locals living in wooden houses along the highway. The bus was only half full, even with a dozen or so backpackers we picked up, who were waiting at the Laos/Cambo border for a ride. Road was a bit bumpy, and the trip a bit noisy, but no hassles (foam ear inserts). Phnom Penh is as I remembered it (here one year ago). Stayed at the same hotel, BJs, one street back from the Mekong River. Pleasant, small room, breeky, wifi, good service, $21 a night—what more can one ask for? The city itself, PP is a small city, based upon my baseline of Australian cities. The population is anywhere between two and three million, depending on who you ask, howeve...

Having been told by everyone in Pattani that Nara was the really dangerous province of the ‘deep south’ it was with some trepidation that I bordered the bus for the 90km journey from Pattani to Nara. While on the bus I will confess that my imagination went into overdrive on a few occasions. I saw myself dragged from the rickety "local" bus and incarcerated as a hostage, suffering all privations of the same—while of course writing an account of my adventure, in movie script format. The fate of Julius Caesar in such a situation flashed through my mind, though I would never consider myself to be so persuasive. However none of that occurred. I bordered my bus @ 08.00 in central Pattani city for the two or so hour trip to Muaeng Narathiwat, and the entire trip was uneventful.  a journey. election time. your first stop, province bus station. The bus, the usual: old, slow, noisy, but entirely serviceable. The country side green and lush, with lots of small towns and ...

The province of Yala is one more of the three ‘deep’ south provinces of Thailand, also suffering from terrorism as is Pattani. I decided to visit the capital city of this province, also named Yala (every Thai province shares its name with its capital city—it is one of the few exceptions to the rule that every rule of Thai administration has an exception), to see what I could see.  On the buses. A mix of culture ? Heading to the city. One of many checkpoints. These are difficult to photograph from the bus. A poor area, many folk live in simple wooden shacks. Rather than move myself and my gear to the landlocked Yala province, I decided to keep my base in Pattani, at the comfortable CS Pattani Hotel, and take a local bus to Yala city for the day. This consumes an hour plus in time, 25 baht in coin, and 40kms of space travelled southwards from Pattani town.  Always soldiers. In my previous blog post about Pattani I made the point that there was little...