Last time I came to France I ran away. Literally. At least from the luggage dropoff point to the departure gate at Charles de Gaulle Airport, not even stopping to retie the shoelaces flapping in all directions. Two days earlier I had arrived back at the hotel to find my passports and wallet hadn't. The next day was spent doing the rounds of embassy/police/lost and found (or as in my case, lost and not found). True to their word the staff at the New Zealand embassy had my emergency passport waiting for me the next morning, which I signed for before [View Full Entry]

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"Was bus that just pulled out" quick gasp for air "going to Shichirui?" and another, I asked the group of 3 that were waiting at the Sakaiminato bus station. "No (in English)" one of them says , "That one leaves from over there (in Japanese)". I had pulled up in the carpark on the wharf side, and thinking the bus was due to leave at 8am I ran, only to see a blue and white bus ("the bus you need to get will probably be a blue and white one") pull out of the depot. After taking a few minutes to [View Full Entry]

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A darkening sky and regular rain showers was not the start to the long weekend that I was hoping for. Never mind, hopefully it will keep a few people at home I thought. The plan was to meet my friend in Matsue and head up the coast to check out beaches and the Tottori Sand Dunes. When pouring rain began to give way to small patches of pale blue we knew we'd made the right decision by pushing on. After stopping to watch the sunset from a rocky bay, which I'm sure does have an actual name, we headed further up [View Full Entry]

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10 short days, lots of sun, new friends, great food, lots of traffic, only-in-Thailand experiences, some rain, did I mention the traffic? The traffic is probably the first thing to hit your senses in Thailand (if not the heat). I think 4 people + groceries was the most I saw on one bike, kids welcome. The traffic safety campaign award would definitely go to the poster in Patong asking people to "Drive Fast Be Careful" :-) Yes they did, but ummm, don't know that they always were... Usually in the battle between going somewhere new and revisiting a place which created [View Full Entry]

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"If you see one temple in Chiang Mai, make it Doi Suthep" I was told. So I took the chance to head up to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep (about 15 km outside Chiang Mai city) with some other Spicythai'ers on the morning of my last full day in Chiang Mai. In 1368 a monk brought a sacred relic he had discovered as the result of a dream to Northern Thailand. The King of the time placed it on the back of a white elephant and said that he would build a temple wherever the elephant stopped. After wandering through the jungle [View Full Entry]

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One thing I wanted to do in Thailand was ride an elephant. Most of the options for that also included hiking, orchids, butterflies and some form of rafting. The butterflies were, well, disappointing I thought. Not many around, and not a lot of colour. But out the door, turn left and things picked up. More colours and varieties of orchids than I knew existed (note - I'm no 'green thumb'). Back into the van and a drive of about I'm not sure how long because I dozed a bit, then it was out and onto Shanks's pony. The intended elephant ride [View Full Entry]

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What would a culinary-challenged person who wasn't a huge fan of spicy food do for a day in Thailand? Why not sign up for a Thai cooking course? After all, isn't travelling to new countries all about new experiences? Others staying at Spicythai were signing up for a one day course the day after I arrived in Chiang Mai so I jumped on the wagon, and the next morning via a trip to a local food market we were lined up - aproned up with sharp knives in hand - ready to slice, stir and steam our way through 6 courses. [View Full Entry]

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Less than 24 hours after touching down at Bangkok I'm lying back in an inflatable sea canoe so we can get through into a hong in Phang Nga Bay. A hong is a sea cave, and access into them is very much dependant on the tides. Stay in there too long and you'll be there until the tide changes. My guide Noi (as with the other guides in the group) does the paddling through into each hong, then takes the canoe round pointing out different things. The boat makes about three stops at different islands in Phang Nga Bay, and we [View Full Entry]

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It was raining. Not a light shower, but looks-like-the-rainy-season-has-started-early type of rain. Guess where I was off to.......yep, I had planned a day of island hopping - in the sun. All you can do is cross fingers and push on with things. Purely for the sake of ease I had decided to join the tourist horde to check out Ko Phi Phi. Given that I had only one more day in the area and wanted to see as much as I could, I figured there wasn't much point taking the longboat charter option because the masses were still going to be [View Full Entry]

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Actually, there was more than a pot - way more. Discovered in 1526, at the peak of its production around the early 17th century one third of the world's silver came from the Iwami mines. Many of the technologies and methods used here spread to other parts of Asia. One of the mine shafts is open to the public, the many others are closed off with grates at the entrance. Getting into those would be one way to not be found in a hurry... 500 sounds like a pretty good number - Gohyakurakan Created to commerate those who had died working [View Full Entry]

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