The Journey(s) of Ian

Due to the clumsy way blogger.com handles images these pics of Songkran are poorly organised, however, they do tell the story of Songkran in Pattaya.  As you can see, I had a good time, meeting locals, dancing, taking pre-emptive counterstrike action against hostiles (shooting girls with my water gun), and resting from my labours. There were girls dancing in the streets, an unwary cat sleeping through all of this, children playing around, farangs (just like me) getting into the spirit of things. All much fun. ================================================ Songkran in Thailand ! What is a ‘Songkran’ you may well ask? Indeed—it is a term not often heard in Australia, however, in Thailand it is a special and joyous occasion, one bound into the cultural and religious history of the country and region, and also an occasion which provides lots of fun and amuse...

Cambodia March 2008 I decided to return to Cambodia for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it is an interesting country. While very poor, and still recovering from the effects of decades of conflict, it is also a dynamic and exciting nation with a people determined to improve their lot in life. It is this dynamism, combined with the (to me) exotic flavour of this small SE Asian nation, that makes it appealing. Thus, in January I departed from the fair but dull shores of Australia, arriving in Phnom Penh a mere 12 hours later, after a brief stop over in that most miniature of cities—Changi airport. PP had not changed much since I was last there 6 months ago, it was still dusty, noisy, dirty and poor: beggars sat on street corners, samloar (rickshaw) drivers hustled for fares, broken (or non-existent) footpaths tempted fate, a continual honking of horns—Ahhhh, paradise! My self-imposed mission was to hook up with a UN sponsored ‘convoy’, which was to carry needed supplies t...

This is a very short post to inform the few, who read this blog of my status. Yes, I am back in Asia. At the moment in Surin in eastern Thailand. This follows a month in Cambodia doing good work :). I will update over the next week with at least one instalment of my adventures in Cambo, and then add additional info on my insights and such in other areas of SE Asia. All the best.

I spent a pleasant and enjoyable time in Singapore (it is hard not to do so). Singapore is a nation and city designed to keep the tourist busy and entertained (and spending). However, beneath the (thick and well maintained) facade of confucian conformity, and mandated prosperity lurks a “heart of darkness”. That is, a city of sin, which caters to the carnal desires of the native Singaporeans, and their lackeys (more on this later). This libidinous locale is the suburb of Geylang. It is this story, not that of the bright spires of the metropolis, nor the dancing dragons of the Chinese New Year, that I shall expound tonight! You will not find Geyland marked on any map of Singapore (that is not correct, it is clearly marked on all the maps, but to deny this is far better story telling). It is a low income area, where in fact few, if any, Singaporeans live. It is the abode of the “guest workers”, those who get there hands dirty in Singapore. This group is composed of Indonesians, Phillip...

Ian in Command !! "Full speed ahead" Entering Port Klang The Ship Crossing the equator! The engines and the chief engineer. Looking down at the 7 levels of the central stairwell from the Bridge. Everywhere there are signs like this. From Fremantle to Singapore via Port Klang on the MV Theodor Storm! Again I decided to turn the five hour plane journey between Perth and Singapore into a five day trip on a freighter, only this time it would take eight days as the ship detoured to Port Klang in Malaysia, and only then onto Singapore. My reasons for making this trip were similar to those of my first nautical excursion. Essentially, I thought that a few days at sea would be a few pleasant days of peace and quiet, untrammelled by the demands of a noisy and intrusive world. This, fortunately, did prove to be the case. The vessel I travelled on was the ‘Theodor Storm’, a 34,0...

I returned to Perth on the 27th of August, safe and sound. My plan was to return to Cambodia within the month, however, I few issues kept me in Perth. Thusly, the remainder of 2006 was spent in Australia. This was time pleasantly spent, however it is now time to move on. On the 11th of February 2007 I will again be leaving the fair shores of Australia to sail north to the busy port of Singapore. Why, you may ask, am I choosing to sail again, on a freighter, rather than on the speedier, aviation based transport system? The answer is that it is more fun, more relaxing, and (not withstanding the previous point), at this time of year there is a good chance of a tropical storm. On my previous freighter journey (June 06) I found that I was not adversely affected by the ship's pronounced movement. I would now like to discover if this immunity extends to a day or two or wild tropical storms! Waves a-crashing, wind a-howling, and so on, whoopie! The ship I am sailing on this time is the MV...

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...