Transportation while travelling is something of a romantic ideal to me. Wherever we trip across the globe, I’ll invariably return with a story where the means of getting from one place to the other is the central premise of the…
Guest Who
When it comes to accommodation, we as travelers, have a number of options for consideration. The obvious starting points are the traditional options; hotels, backpacking, and camping. More recently we’ve been offered accommodation share choices like Air BnB and couch…
Pies and Lodges in the Mackenzie Country
VISTA: There are miles of roads like this all across the South Island There is a lot to love about New Zealand, and anyone who has spent any amount of time in The Land of the Long White Cloud (a…
Jealousy and Longing in the Middle East
I miss Egypt. Not just Egypt actually, but the Middle East in general. Forget the modern monoliths of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, what I yearn for is the excitement of exploration and the thrill of being set adrift…
Mirissa – Southern Sri Lankan Stopover
“Can’t we just take a tuk-tuk?” I asked. “But the bus is cheaper.” It was the same discussion every time we travelled. I wanted comfort speed and a just a little legroom. Linh, on the other hand – at 5’1”…
New Zealand: Rushing through the North Island
Three weeks is nowhere near long enough to spend touring New Zealand. This was a concept that was abundantly clear to us, long before we picked up our van in Auckland for the 20-day tour of the North and South…
A short trip in a big state
Western Australia is massive. All that space houses a relatively modest population with a few far removed settlements – some of which are almost large enough to be classified as towns. In face, with the exception of Mandurah and perhaps…
Travelling the Cultural Triangle – Sri Lanka PART 2
Missed part 1? You can read it first here! There is something to be said about arriving at your destination by night. First, there is the anticipation of arriving after a busy day of exploring or driving. Then there is…
Travelling the Cultural Triangle – Sri Lanka PART 1
For such a small Island, Sri Lanka certainly overachieves when it comes to opportunities for exploration. The country’s diminutive footprint on a world map (430km from North to South) belies a wealth of historical, geographical, and biological wonders that are…
Barber Shop Photos 25 – Polonnaruwa
Polonnaruwa is a sprawling city ruin in central Sri Lanka. We visiting in late September 2016 and spent a couple of hours wandering around the crumbling temples. At one stage, I walked away from a car park with a small market…
Barber Shop Photos 22 – Don Khong
Near the southern boarder of Laos is an archipelago of islands in the Mekong River where tourists go to party during peak travel periods, If you travel there in late September like we did you should miss the worst of…
Arugam Bay: Surfing Slum
Sri Lanka is – particularly for its small size – a dazzlingly diverse island in almost every way. The people, the culture and history, and the landscapes all change from town to town to the point where it only takes…
On the train to Colombo
I have never loved crowds. I have quite the knack for avoiding situations where I have to deal with being crushed against hundreds of sweaty bodies. I shun most events that mean that I’ll have to jostle, fight, bite and…
Peaking one’s interest
The harsh buzz of the alarm pierced my fitful rest and I stared bleary-eyed in the direction of the light switch. 1am had arrived – as it so often does – both unannounced and unwelcome. I seriously considered rolling over…
Barber Shop Photos #5 – Kuang Si Waterfall
This shot was taken at Kuang Si waterfalls which is not far from Luang Prabang in northern Laos. We were there at the end of the wet season, so the gentle trickle into blue pools which typifies the vista…
Barber Shop Photos #3 – Kuang Si Falls
I took this shot at Kuang Si Falls close to Luang Prabang. The waterfall is picturesque in summer when the water is blue and calm as it falls in pools. We visited Laos at the end of the monsoon, so…
The Night Bus to Vientiane
It was after 11pm as the bus hurtled through the night. We departed almost thirty minutes behind schedule – not bad as far as Laos buses were concerned. The afternoon swelter had slowly diminished and it was only now, at…
4000 reasons to (not) party!
The thud of pumping base and the rhythmic grinding of a thousand sweaty bodies has never been particularly high on my list of vacation musts. In fact, the idea of travelling the world only to engage in exactly the…
Sounds like a plan
As much as we might wish it, no trip comes truly out of the blue – not even for those lucky few who win a competition or happen to have particularly amazing partners. There is always some…
Finding Utopia
The idea of Nirvana is a popular one for many people. Who wouldn’t want to find themselves in a utopia where the world seems to bend to your every wish? For me, it’s hard to define what that place might…
How travel is supposed to be
Nineteen years ago, secure in the knowledge that I was going to be a great traveller, I sat on a minibus on a highway between Shizuoka and Tokyo in central Japan glowing with a sense of superiority over the other…