Yearly Archives: 2011 Some trips are such a jumble of colours and textures that they more closely resemble a crazy quilt than a tidy tapestry. So it was for me on the short trip to Attapeu Province in Southwestern Laos in January: a mix of Wats (temples), waterfalls and monuments; rural plantations and rough-board housing rubbing shoulders with […]  First impressions count for so much. My first flight into Hong Kong was a surreal sensory experience: I can still wrap myself in surround-sound memories of listening to Asian flutes in luxurious Cathay business-class comfort, fuelled by love and champagne, as the plane descends through the clouds, allowing the first sight of that beautiful harbour with its sparkling […]  I was in Japan several years ago with three other reasonably well-travelled adults. We had arrived into Tokyo late in the evening and were tired and hungry. We went to a shiny restaurant of chrome and formica across the road from the hotel and were met at the door with a “Hai!”, given menus, and shown to […]  I believe in grabbing opportunities that cross my path when at all possible. This is how, with virtually no turn-around-time, I went last week from the under-funded schools and bumpy back roads of the Northwest to a luxurious ’boutique’ resort at the other end of Thailand, and how, with hill-dust still ingrained in my feet, […]  “How long does it take to get to the school?” I asked Khru Apichart who had just turned off a minor road into an even more minor road. “About 45 minutes,” he replied. Then, with a twinkle in his brown eyes, he added: “Twenty minutes when I don’t have passengers!” He was very proud of […] |
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