Yearly Archives: 2010 I love trains and train journeys. There is something hypnotic about the rhythmic clack of the wheels on the tracks. And who can resist waving at the people on trains as they pass? Kanchanaburi, about 3 hours west of Bangkok (on a good day), is home to what must be one of the most poignant […]  During my early years in Thailand, I was invited to conduct some teacher-training in the southern province of Ranong. This was pretty exciting for me as it was my first foray off the main tourist tracks and into the real Thailand. My hosts kindly took me on a tour of the area: beautiful coastline with mangrove reserves and […]  Being a visitor in a place is very different from living there. It’s not so much that we forget where we are, or that we necessarily even take it for granted, but that the business of day-to-day living takes so much of our attention. I was reflecting on this as I ambled out from our hotel, early on […]  The last time I was in London, back in the late 70’s, you couldn’t put a bag down anywhere without being suspected of being an Irish terrorist. It was nervous times in England. As a young female travelling alone, I was also a soft target for would-be grifters and pan-handlers: whenever I stood still with […]  Pattaya, 145km south of Bangkok, on the Eastern Gulf Coast of Thailand, was called by the Lonely Planet’s Thailand’s Island and Beaches (mine’s the 2006 version, but things haven’t changed): “A living testament to unchecked tourist development run rampant…” In it’s current incarnation, this city of bars and beaches was born of the American GI R&R action […] |
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