The latest Journal Entries from Simon Clark at Footstops.com en-us Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:17:34 -0800 Copyright 2009, Bryan Rite @ Footstops.com Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:17:34 -0800 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 240 http://www.footstops.com/custardo/ <p>Our first day on the 2,454 kilometer journey down to Perth was a bit of a blitz. Amanda and Sophie, whom Matt and I were now travelling with had to have their hire car dropped off in Perth by the following Sunday and so with the initial part... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6625/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6625/ Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:17:34 -0700 <span><span>The 1,900km trip from Darwin to Broome really woke me up to just how big this country is. Although my trips down to the red centre and back and given me a taste, I wasn't really shocked by the distance and time it had tak... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6471/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6471/ Mon, 15 Sep 2008 23:15:47 -0700 <span><span>I was told by a guy I got chatting to outside of Domino Pizza waiting for my Hawaiian Sunday Pizza to cook one Sunday evening that the inhabitants of Darwin consume more alcohol per person than any other city's population... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6432/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6432/ Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:46:44 -0700 <p><span><span>With a stinging, well deserved headache I clambered from the tent and began packing. Coco and Loz were staying on in Alice for a couple of days and then heading east to Cairns. Bizarrely I had decided to head straight... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6409/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6409/ Sun, 31 Aug 2008 22:58:14 -0700 <span><span>After the relatively relaxing trip down from Darwin and the peaceful scenic walks around Uluru National Park and Kings Canyon, madness swiftly ensued upon our return to Alice Springs.</span></span><span><s... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6398/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6398/ Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:25:14 -0700 <span><span>The other major tourist stop-off in this otherwise bare expanse of Australia is Kings Canyon in Watarrka National Park. A half days drive took us to the camp-site where Coco and I went at it 1-on-1 at their basketball court, b... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6191/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6191/ Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:09:17 -0700 <span><span>We set off after just one evening in Alice Springs in order to head further south and see the ultimate natural Australian icon, Ayres Rock or Uluru as it's referred to by Anangu Aboriginal people who are the traditional o... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6152/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6152/ Mon, 25 Aug 2008 02:04:04 -0700 <span><span>A steady, unrushed pace allowed us to travel from Mataranka down to Alice Springs in just two days. In all honesty there's not a whole lot to keep you from driving straight through on this road. One stop of note was the o... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6122/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6122/ Sun, 24 Aug 2008 02:20:50 -0700 <span><span>A short 105km drive and we stopped off for the night at Mataranka, pretty much the last real attraction worth stopping off for between here and Alice Springs. After spending a full day working the whole body rowing on the Kath... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6121/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6121/ Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:01:42 -0700 Katherine is the crossroads town of the Northern Territory where visitors pass through to head either north to Darwin, east to Cairns, west to Broome or where we were heading, south to Alice Springs. Katherine's main draw is Nitmiluk... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6091/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6091/ Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:19:41 -0700 The morning after we arrived in Edith Falls we went for an early morning swim in the rock pool that the falls flow in to. Whereas at Litchfield the falls are a relatively short, leisurely swim to sit under the one at Edith is a good 150 m... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6090/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/6090/ Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:43:46 -0700 Our first stop on my first roadtrip in Australia was back to Litchfield Park, where I'd been just two days earlier for the Isotopia Festival. Danny, me and Holgar, a German hitchhiker we'd picked up on the way there didn't ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5969/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5969/ Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:26:29 -0700 Although my mind was still firmly on missing the boat I had arrived in Darwin, Australia in the mood to let my hair down a little, meet some fellow travellers and share some stories over a few beers. I intended to enjoy the first few d... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5941/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5941/ Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:07:58 -0700 An eleven hour bus journey took Danny and I over the border from Indonesia in to my thirteenth country of this trip, but I wasn't planning on staying long enough to give it the chance to be unlucky for some.... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5929/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5929/ Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:41:46 -0700 Still undecided as to what route to take next, and with only one day left before I was officially an illegal immigrant I made my way back to Kupang. Rote had presented me with many positives. I'd met many people who had advised me ab... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5902/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5902/ Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:00:40 -0700 I wasn't sure about coming here, especially as my visa was so close to elapsing, but as it was only a two hour ferry journey from Kupang and then an hour and a half bus ride down to Nemberella where I was to stay, enabling me to esca... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5784/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5784/ Sat, 26 Jul 2008 22:56:24 -0700 I was absolutely dreading the Pelni ferry trip from Waingapu to Kupang in West Timor. My experience arriving here from Ende was so traumatic that ever since I'd been in Sumba the return trip back to Ende and then on to Kupang had bee... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5781/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5781/ Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:43:33 -0700 In Ende I should have had a short four hour wait for my ferry to arrive to take me on the eight hour journey across to Sumba. There are numerous huge ferries run by the Pelni company that take passengers all around the many Indonesian isl... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5780/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5780/ Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:30:16 -0700  I hadn't actually realised I'd arrived in Moni as it's such a small village. I was coaxed off the bus, my bags thrown to the side of the road and my new best friend arrived to waltz me in to ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5758/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5758/ Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:55:20 -0700 Unlike Ruteng, Bajawa proved a very worthwhile stop-over on my way to Kelimutu. Described as the 'spiritual heartland of Flores', Bajawa lies in the Ngada district where yet another language is spoken, other than Bahasa Indonesi... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5697/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5697/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:32:05 -0700 I left the Sea Adventurer and Labuan Bajo early the next morning, reminded by my pounding head that I'd drunk too much arak the night before, and took a five hour bus ride east to Ruteng. Looking at a map of Lombok, to travel from on... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5696/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5696/ Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:30:57 -0700 I awoke to yet another glorious day, but this time not on my own boat, but still on the one I had swum out to the previous night. After the amount of beers we sank the night before I was a bit disorientated when I came to. I knew somethin... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5633/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5633/ Sun, 13 Jul 2008 01:48:44 -0700 We awoke to calm seas, a beautiful sunny morning and pineapple pancakes. The worst of the sailing was done and with a relatively short distance to cover between Gili Banta and Labuan Bajo on Flores we could afford to relax at several plac... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5618/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5618/ Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:27:03 -0700 While eight of my fellow passengers had quickly climbed up to the second deck to lay claim on the sleeping space up there (yeah you guessed it the Germans were up there first) myself, Greke and Zander ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5617/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5617/ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:33:37 -0700 The French quartet kindly gave me a lift in their 4x4 back from Semaru to the pleasant seaside town of Senggigi, where I very comfortably took great pleasure in sleeping in a bed of all things, then the following morning I met my new grou... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5616/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5616/ Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:19:51 -0700 This was the big one, Gunung Rinjani, the second biggest in the whole of Indonesia at 3,726 metres and one that had Ben's foot not been such a mess we would have climbed when we came over to the Gilies the previous month. As it turne... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5600/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5600/ Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:58:14 -0700 I didn't get too far from the beaches of Kuta, but headed north to the centre of Bali and the picturesque and laid-back village of Ubud. Sadly like most of the villages and areas around Bali it is tainted by the thirst of profit and ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5590/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5590/ Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:42:35 -0700 ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5547/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5547/ Mon, 30 Jun 2008 06:38:37 -0700 ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5458/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5458/ Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:48:18 -0700 I finally know what it feels like to be in the Big Brother house, and although a good experience not one I would have wanted to endure for too much longer. The house I speak of is the YHA Thredbo where I stayed for six nights while taking... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5456/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5456/ Mon, 16 Jun 2008 01:15:52 -0700 ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5295/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5295/ Wed, 11 Jun 2008 02:36:54 -0700 Our return back to Bali was a lot less costly and a lot less stressful then our journey to Gili Trawangan, although we were all nursing nasty hangovers, and thanks to an all-night party the night previous where once again I doted on the s... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5272/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5272/ Thu, 05 Jun 2008 23:06:38 -0700 ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5162/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5162/ Fri, 30 May 2008 08:59:27 -0700 Long thought of as a tropical paradise perfectly accomodating for young honeymooners, but now just full of Aussie piss-heads Kuta and Bali came as a bit of a shock, especially after the last three weeks travelling the more remoter and rew... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5047/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5047/ Tue, 27 May 2008 03:09:39 -0700 Getting in from the nightclub at 5am, Ben and I grabbed a quick couple of hours sleep and jumped on a bus at 9am east to Cemoro Lawang in the Bromo region. The Bromo region brought us a chance to summit yet more volcanoes, featuring the l... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5023/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/5023/ Sun, 25 May 2008 20:16:43 -0700 Other than Lake Toba, where I stayed for probably a couple more days than I had planned, I had been doing quite well for time. Foreign visitors can get at the maximum only a 60 day visa for Indonesia so I’d set quite a pace in order... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4984/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4984/ Mon, 19 May 2008 02:21:57 -0700 Despite arriving at the weekend there wasn’t a whole lot to see in Indonesia’s capital. Maybe I should have given it a bit more time and explored it a little more, but its streets were congested with traffic, the pavements and... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4913/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4913/ Sat, 17 May 2008 22:13:36 -0700 Most of you I imagine have been on a rollercoaster at some point in your lives, queued up for more than an hour perhaps and then sat or hung thereat its disposal for the next three minutes. Those three minutes may have been so enjoyable t... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4840/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4840/ Thu, 15 May 2008 22:47:31 -0700 My journey here was a tough one, mentally and physically. I took a bus that was scheduled to leave Parapet (the town that services the ferry to Tuk-Tuk and back on Samosir, in the middle of Lake Toba) at 9pm. Instead at 11pm I was still s... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4805/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4805/ Sun, 11 May 2008 05:19:23 -0700 If we thought the Sumatran landscape was stunning already, it was nothing compared to the oasis of Lake Toba. We had climbed to over a thousand metres on the bus before catching view of the volcanic island of Samosir that has over the yea... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4826/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4826/ Wed, 07 May 2008 06:08:42 -0700 I’d finally reached the ‘Ring of Fire’, as Indonesia is sometimes known down to its plethora of volcanoes. Since climbing the Petit Piton in St Lucia and Soufriere on St Vincent I’ve taken quite a liking to volcano... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4819/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4819/ Mon, 05 May 2008 02:22:01 -0700 Not a massive amount to tell of this place, but a few funny stories that accompanied it. Medan is the capital of northern Sumatra and its third largest city but didn’t offer a great deal. Arriving in the city reminded both myself an... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4762/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4762/ Sun, 04 May 2008 07:59:20 -0700 My final stop in Malaysia and Rob’s last stretch as he had to fly back to Kuala Lumpur to catch his flight back to London, took us to Georgetown and the island of Penang. The site marks the first landing of Captain Francis Light in ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4748/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4748/ Fri, 02 May 2008 02:53:31 -0700 For me, only Taman Negara can compete with this place in terms of my favourite in Malaysia. We’d heard mixed reports before coming here, some said that it was a really relaxing place, while others told us not to bother as there was ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4745/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4745/ Wed, 30 Apr 2008 01:11:30 -0700 A longer than planned stay in the capital of Kuala Lumpur because of the need to obtain an Indonesian visa gave us plenty of time for exploration. It was now just Rob and I as Jiame, Ari and Adriana had gone to Melaka. We stayed at the ve... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4744/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4744/ Sat, 26 Apr 2008 23:18:49 -0700 Sitting on a neatly arranged and crafted veranda, surrounded by perfectly mown and cultivated lawns, carbon-copy wooden bungalows and with a basketball court in view, enjoying the escape from not having my bags hanging off me and indulgin... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4742/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4742/ Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:26:32 -0700 I think that sometimes there’s a reason you end up in certain places, maybe it’s destiny or fate or some other unexplainable phenomena, but without even slightly considering coming to Cherating, a sleepy town on the east coast of... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4632/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4632/ Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:20:53 -0700 My time spent in Taman Negara National Park and the stop-over town of Jerantut was spent mostly in the friendly company of three Mexican travelers. Ariadna and Adriana I had shared my ride down from Kota Bharu on the Jungle Railway with, and... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4533/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4533/ Wed, 16 Apr 2008 05:50:24 -0700 Not a lot to mention of Kota Bharu. I had left Ko Phi Phi with Tiah and Sophie early the day after Songkram hoping not to be soaked on my way down to the ferry port. Tiah and Sophie headed off on the extraordinary long 18 hour journey by bus... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4532/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4532/ Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:12:02 -0700 Skipping Phuket and Krabi from Khao Lak I leapt fervently across the sea to the island of Ko Phi Phi, made famous as the location of the movie The Beach. I’d decided to base myself here for biggest festival of the year in Thailand, Son... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4522/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4522/ Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:34:09 -0700 Zee Germans! People often say that they don’t like to stereotype, well I’m not one of them, as I think it’s hilarious. And if ever there was a case of stereotypes being proven it was on the speedboat I was on approaching th... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4363/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4363/ Mon, 07 Apr 2008 03:55:42 -0700 Paradise is a place in the middle of Thailand. Woo betide any of you if you come here and just visit the islands off the coasts of this country, especially if you’ve read this before you come here. Khao Sok National Park is that paradi... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4359/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4359/ Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:50:12 -0700 I got back late in the evening to Bangkok, resolute that this would be the last time I would visit this city (on this particular trip at least) and contend with the sweat-box of a room that is my accommodation at Swasedee Guesthouse. As this... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4357/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4357/ Wed, 02 Apr 2008 23:28:54 -0700 Since my time in Louang Phrabang where I spent two days working with elephants and learning how to ride and command them I've seen many others. However I'd seen them from quite a distance, they had all been trained, I wasn't on m... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4355/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4355/ Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:57:09 -0700 Bangkok’s a little bit scary after being in Yangon for three weeks. Walk down the middle of the street here and you’re a gonna in seconds. I used this short three day period in Bangkok to shed some weight from my backpack. I coun... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4340/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4340/ Fri, 28 Mar 2008 05:35:19 -0700 I had a good amount of time in Yangon this second time around to do not much at all. I returned to the Motherland with Peter and Christian, and also met up with Lilly of Sihanoukville stardom. She had emailed me a while back and told me she ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4338/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4338/ Mon, 24 Mar 2008 05:07:15 -0700 And I thought I was getting used to these bus journeys, that I could take whatever duration they threw at me, whatever state of uncomfortableness. How wrong I was proved at 5:30am. I’m sure my tolerance level is proportionate to the ho... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4334/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4334/ Thu, 20 Mar 2008 04:30:48 -0700 With my money beginning to run out I was at this stage having to decide what I could afford and what I would do with the rest of my time here in Burma. I decided to stick around for one more day and spend that day with Sebastian and Daan aga... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4333/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4333/ Tue, 18 Mar 2008 03:55:50 -0700 The most pleasant bus ride so far took me the 9 hour trip from Mandalay to the mountainous village in Southern Shan State of Kalaw. I was the only one that got off the bus. Everybody else was fast asleep, so at 2:30am I set about trying to f... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4295/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4295/ Sat, 15 Mar 2008 03:53:57 -0700 I felt bad at taking a train, but I reasoned with myself that is was only $6, it would pass over an extremely impressive viaduct on the way and also contained Hans, Dominique and Marco. It was 1000 times more comfortable also. Hans and the S... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4283/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4283/ Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:52:38 -0700 Crikey, I could write a book just on Burma there’s so much to write about, but I’ll try to keep it concise. Hsipaw – a little town with not really a lot to talk of. It has a high street, it’s on the main route in to C... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4205/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4205/ Tue, 11 Mar 2008 04:50:20 -0700 Maybe I should finance the government after all. What a bus ride! I left Yangon at 5:30pm and got off the bus in Mandalay at 6:30am. Thirteen hours isn’t so bad, and being a night bus it should have been possible to sleep. Not so. Alth... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4204/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4204/ Sun, 09 Mar 2008 04:05:40 -0700 Despite the amount of times I’ve flown in the past it felt a little weird getting on a plane again, especially on this particular trip. I had a 7:15am flight so left my hotel at 5am to get a taxi to the airport. I’m simply not a ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4203/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4203/ Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:55:37 -0800 Arriving back in Thailand with just one day before I flew out to Burma I suddenly began to worry about my right leg and foot. I now had a series of cuts, bites and incisions that had swelled, were pussing and were very sore. The original cut... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4167/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4167/ Thu, 06 Mar 2008 04:10:47 -0800 Not wanting to fester any longer in Bangkok I made good use of my time before flying out to Burma, and took a mid-morning bus west to Kanchanaburi, famous for its ‘Bridge Over the River Kwai’. Quite a relaxing, laid back, sleepy town it ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4166/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4166/ Tue, 04 Mar 2008 03:26:51 -0800 On my second visit to Bangkok I had some time to get some things sorted out. I’d arrived at 4am, the perfect time to experience the Dawn of the Dead zombies of the Khao San Road area. You have to move pretty quickly down this stretch other... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4164/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4164/ Sun, 02 Mar 2008 03:06:43 -0800 The boat was only an hour and a half to Ko Tao, a smaller island north of Ko Phangan renowned for its scuba diving. Kara had already managed to reserve a spot at the New Heaven Resort at the south of the island in Hat Sai Daeng, so the resor... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4163/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4163/ Tue, 26 Feb 2008 02:50:22 -0800 Another train took us from Bangkok, south once more overnight to a wake-up call in Surat Thani, where we departed the train, panicked over where Cary had put the bus and boat tickets, before eventually finding them tucked in her bag and boar... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4162/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4162/ Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:07:24 -0800 The sleeper train that took Carry and I to Bangkok was a pleasure to ride. Way more spacious than the Chinese trains, and with tables and comfy chairs that sit opposite one another, that at night convert in to a bed with a second bunk above,... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4161/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4161/ Sun, 17 Feb 2008 23:29:19 -0800 It was fitting that I rocked up back to Chiang Mai with Kara on Valentine’s Day. Not that it was Kara I was engaged to, but Carolyn. On my last trip to Chiang Mai I’d noticed a sign outside a bar offering a marriage ceremony on the 14th ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4159/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4159/ Thu, 14 Feb 2008 22:50:38 -0800 Pai is the sort of place I feel deserves many stories and adventures to write about. Unfortunately there aren’t that many at all. What Pai did do for me was to solidify a great many friendships, and to keep me in a bed with an American... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4134/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4134/ Sat, 09 Feb 2008 21:53:18 -0800 Arriving back in Houay Xai earlier than I expected I immediately but extremely sadly, set about exiting Laos to make it to Pai In Thailand, where that very weekend the annual Reggae Festival was taking place. With the sun streaming on my bac... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4133/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/4133/ Fri, 08 Feb 2008 22:20:31 -0800 Bidding farewell to Adrian, Lucy and Darren and enjoying the usual 50 minute wait for even the simplest of breakfasts that has come to be expected of the laidbackness of Laos, I then threw my bag on board a truck and joined 6 new companions who wo... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3824/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3824/ Wed, 06 Feb 2008 23:03:52 -0800 The boat the next morning to continue our trip at the Mekong to our detination of Houay Xai, the border town with Thailand was thankfully a lot less crowded than it was the day before. By around 11am we were once again bored and so the Adrian, L... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3671/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3671/ Mon, 04 Feb 2008 01:33:41 -0800 Up bright and early to be down at the port for 7am as a random Lao fella told us to do the day before, we arrived to find we were the only people there and contrary to his advise no boats would be leaving until 8:30am. Breakfast was leisurely enj... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3670/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3670/ Sun, 03 Feb 2008 01:04:14 -0800 Faced with over a weeks stay in Louang Phrabang after arriving back from Phonsavan, while waiting to go on the Gibbon Experience in Bokeo National Park, I decided I would have to do something constructive with my time. I began by getting banned from ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3586/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3586/ Tue, 29 Jan 2008 02:06:03 -0800 Faced with an almost 2 week wait before I go off on the Gibbon Experience, I decided to head back down the country to a small town named Phonsavan and the mysterious Plain of Jars. Paying a little more than most tours in Laos got me a fairly VIP t... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3503/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3503/ Sun, 27 Jan 2008 04:46:48 -0800 A new camera and pair of sunglasses purchased, my travelling compadre departed. That's right ladies and gentleman, after 107 days of travelling Dave and I have decided to seperate. We sat down one night here in Louang Prabang to talk it over, and ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3456/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3456/ Tue, 22 Jan 2008 03:44:51 -0800 Imagine if you can, a small town with towering hills or karsts as they're know in this part of the world on one side, a huge gravel track that doubles up as a landing strip on the other, with inbetween numerous guesthouses, internet cafes and min... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3443/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3443/ Wed, 16 Jan 2008 01:58:13 -0800 In just the short amunt of time we've been in Laos we've really come to love it. Dave has annonced that Don Det is probably his favourite place of the travels so far, I've got to play a bunch of sport here, including a much needed game of Basketba... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3374/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3374/ Sun, 13 Jan 2008 02:22:05 -0800 There wasn't anything to keep us in Champasak more than one day, so up at the respectable time of 8am, we hitched our bags up on to our backs and stood out in the middle of the road awaiting one of the buses we were told would be going past very ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3373/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3373/ Sat, 12 Jan 2008 23:23:47 -0800 Leaving Don Det by boat at 6am in the morning, especially after a reasonably late night the night before wasn't particularly pleasant, but the journey up to the small town of Champasak was a relatively short one, so musn't grumble too much. ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3372/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3372/ Fri, 11 Jan 2008 03:59:19 -0800 They say first impressions are the most important and based upon our first impressions of Laos we’re going to find this country one of our favourites yet. The drive up here from Cambodia, although reasonably long and not particularly comfo... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3360/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3360/ Tue, 08 Jan 2008 02:13:41 -0800 A much longer stay here in the northern, quiet town of Kratie then we expected, down to the fact both of us neglected to take any money out in Phnom Penh and there not being any way to get any money between here and Vientiane, the capital of... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3264/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3264/ Sun, 06 Jan 2008 02:14:49 -0800 Once again back in the Cambodian capital, this time for a couple of days in order for us to get our Lao visas to permit us to enter through the unofficial border in the north of Cambodia. But we made exceptional use of our time here as is to... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3263/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3263/ Fri, 04 Jan 2008 08:15:08 -0800 Sihanoukville wasn't much of a relax and recovery period at all really, so it seemed fitting that we finish it off the way we started, with a little added fizz of course. By 7:30pm we were fighting an out of control fire that was threatening not o... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3251/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3251/ Thu, 03 Jan 2008 02:20:51 -0800 Our hearts set on staying on the beach over Christmas and New Years, we bit the bullet and decided to fork out the astronomical price of $15 dollars a night to stay in a peaceful little guesthouse on Serendipity Beach, with a family from Nottingha... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3126/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3126/ Sat, 22 Dec 2007 02:19:37 -0800 What a welcome we received here. I'd been chatting to the owner of the guesthouse we were staying in in Phnom Penh and he'd told me of a place his sister owns in Siem Reap and he'd make sure somebody would meet us to take us there when we arrived ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3078/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3078/ Mon, 17 Dec 2007 02:18:53 -0800 Upon our entry by bus from Saigon, across in to Cambodia and west to the capital Phnom Penh, there was a noticeable difference in the wealth of the people. Vietnam of course has it's very poor areas outside of the cities, but even the minority vil... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3060/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/3060/ Fri, 14 Dec 2007 02:17:53 -0800 Ho Chi Minh as it's offically had it's name changed to, or Saigon if you're too lazy to prounce 3 syllables is a lot more in your face than the other Vietnamese cities we have travelled through. Walking down the street you are constantly barracked... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2925/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2925/ Tue, 11 Dec 2007 21:54:19 -0800 There's an Aussie guy named Peter Moore who wrote a book about his trip doing a similar excursion to Dave and I. He had a different song for each of his chapters. Using that influence my Nha Trang song is without a doubt Losing My Religion by REM... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2906/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2906/ Thu, 06 Dec 2007 04:41:10 -0800 Travelling as we are, especially through this part of the world that we currently explore, it is actually very difficult to find the raw, real parts of the country. Our experiences are all still quite cocooned, as there are literally thousands of Wes... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2860/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2860/ Sun, 02 Dec 2007 04:55:31 -0800 The worst overnight journey of our trip so far, on a sleeper bus that doesn't actually permit you to do much sleeping at all. Unless of course you happen to be Vietnamese or under 5 feet tall. Bundled off the bus we were immediately channelled by... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2859/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2859/ Fri, 30 Nov 2007 02:29:26 -0800 Back to the Little Hanoi Hotel in the Old Quarter of Hanoi, which is a great little hotel, complete with satellite TV showing movies in English (sometimes very badly dubbed in Vietnamese) and all the Premiership soccer. So setting my alarm for 2:4... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2840/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2840/ Wed, 28 Nov 2007 00:46:27 -0800 Boarding the bus after an omelette breakfast which looked awfully like two fried eggs, we made our 3 hour journey east to the UNESCO site of Ha Long Bay. Our guide, a Vietnamese man named Thoung began by introducing what we'd be doing on our cruis... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2823/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2823/ Tue, 27 Nov 2007 09:14:58 -0800 A bustling, frantic, frenzied, atmospheric city that probably has more individual character then any of the other cities that we have visited so far. The streets are loosely collated around what sort of merchandice or 'Hang' they sell. For example... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2804/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2804/ Sun, 25 Nov 2007 02:35:31 -0800 Just an over-night stop off here en-route to Hanoi. We were nabbed once again and taken to what appeared to be an electric cabeling shop in a residential area, where we were harassed up the stairs, given packaged toothbrushes and told to pay them ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2803/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2803/ Sat, 24 Nov 2007 11:51:07 -0800 After missing our bus that morning from Guilin, through no fault of our own I might add, but having a crazy mad guy pick us up to rush us to the boat anyway, we did eventually make it just before it left the dock. And it was here that we were real... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2802/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2802/ Thu, 22 Nov 2007 11:43:10 -0800 On my way to recovery, we reached Guilin via the 21 hour hard sleeper train journey from Shanghai. You really would have thought we'd have had enough of trains by now. My image of Guilin as this idillic little village, surrounded by multitudes of ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2801/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2801/ Wed, 21 Nov 2007 11:23:02 -0800 Not much to comment on here sadly, although I'm sure there might have been as it's by far the most cosmopolitan and Western of all the Chinese cities we've visited so far, had it not been for my shakes developing in to a much worse virus disposit... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2710/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2710/ Mon, 19 Nov 2007 10:16:18 -0800 Not really alot to tell you about this place other than it was bloody cold, really cold, not helped by the thick fog. We decided to forego a trip south to the Three Gorges Dam, and instead head back north to Luoyang where we were in visiting dista... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2709/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2709/ Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:10:24 -0800 Finally a place where there are no other Western tourists, we finally felt like we were really off the beaten track, as barely anybody in this town spoke English either. So armed with my important phrases and ridiculous Chinese accent we tried our... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2708/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2708/ Tue, 13 Nov 2007 09:48:21 -0800 Xi'an is one of the nicest cities that we've visited in China, comparable to Tallinn in Estonia, probably because it too is a walled city with the main hubbub happening within those walls. Once again, upon arriving we were set upon by hundre... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2644/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2644/ Sun, 11 Nov 2007 01:27:41 -0800 If we thought Beijing was polluted then we had'nt inhaled anything yet. We'd both already contracted runny noses, but the air in Datong was something else. Most of China still depends on coal as it's primary fuel and Datong certainly isn't short o... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2643/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2643/ Fri, 09 Nov 2007 09:13:32 -0800 Oh most pernicious women, get thee to a nunnery! We should have known, we just should have known. Beijing was going so so peachy. Although a handful of dodgy taxi runners were trying to sting us with a massive fee to go a couple of kilometers down... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2641/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2641/ Wed, 07 Nov 2007 05:08:01 -0800 We couldn't complain. For the previous 5 nights we had had the cabin to ourselves, able to treat it like our own rooms back at home, strewing dirty washing, empty packets of noddles (God I'm done with noodles already) and abandoned bottles of chea... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2604/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2604/ Sun, 04 Nov 2007 09:12:09 -0800 Got up a few hours after the silliness in Irkutsk to watch the sun rise over Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world. Wasn't long though before we hit the sack again. So just as our bodies were coming to terms with leaping rapidly across the ti... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2586/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2586/ Sat, 03 Nov 2007 11:41:28 -0700 And so it continues, read a bit, read a bit more (that's me not you, but you read on too). Glanced out the window, more trees, ate another steak and egg dinner, then you guessed it we drank some more vodka. Ended in a late night sing-song to Radiohea... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2585/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2585/ Fri, 02 Nov 2007 11:02:23 -0700 I began the day waking up refreshed and awaiting the joys of the day due to the fact we moved from the bottom beds where the draught through the window had given us a real Siberian experience the night previous, up to the top bunks where it was e... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2584/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2584/ Thu, 01 Nov 2007 10:23:22 -0700 The start of more than likely the longest train journey of our lives began yesterday evening, with us first going to the wrong station but upon finding the correct station and having plenty of time to spare, we found a little street vendor and ne... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2583/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2583/ Wed, 31 Oct 2007 11:45:42 -0700 Our 4 day stint in Moscow is just about up, and we finally did cease partying long enough to go out and do some of the touristy stuff. Friday night we must have done about 4 different nightclubs with another traveller friend, Marcus from Germany. ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2498/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2498/ Fri, 26 Oct 2007 11:48:53 -0700 St Petersburg is a truly beautiful city, surpassing any expectations either I or Dave had of it. Our initial impression was actually one combined with fatigue, some intrepidation and somewhat a feeling of "Quick let's get to Thailand". We had just ar... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2482/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2482/ Thu, 25 Oct 2007 07:45:33 -0700 After having a great time in Tallin for the last 4 days, Dave and I fought through a vicious hangover and a serious lack of sleep this morning, dragging our ever cumbersome bags on to our backs and began the walk to where we thought the bus statio... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2435/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2435/ Fri, 19 Oct 2007 10:24:32 -0700 Over on the Romantica ferry last night, complete with a multitude of bars, a casino and trashy Estonian caberet. Dave and I finshed up the night with a marathon game of chess as the boat was just full of elderly folk  Tallin has a lot of ch... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2411/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2411/ Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:21:26 -0700 After getting in touch with my friend George who I know from working in Courmayeur a few years ago, we were met in a classic Citroen with raised suspension, and whisked off via another friend? flat in the centre of Stockholm to Sweden? finest part... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2410/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2410/ Sat, 13 Oct 2007 11:14:01 -0700 Up early with a not particularly nice hangover to catch a train to Malmo, where we monged out in the station for a few hours before finding up our train actually left 2 hours earlier and there were no seats available for us to Stockholm. Somehow or o... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2409/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2409/ Sat, 13 Oct 2007 11:05:55 -0700 It's been a relatively easy start, one bus from the station to a nice little hostel and a scrumptious pizza for dinner. More than likely a leisurely night spent here at the hostel building up to a big Friday night and the much publicised Halloween Fe... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2327/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2327/ Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:11:25 -0700 Well a bit more scenic than Harwich, but bloody windy! Met our first real foreign person, but alas they spoke better English than both Dave and I could muster. Sat at the train station for a while before heading north to Copenhagen.... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2326/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2326/ Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:08:24 -0700 Well I can well and truly recommend that none of you book a holiday in Harwich, because other than boats and big containers there's not much here, although Dave and I did get through multiple card games!... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2325/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2325/ Wed, 10 Oct 2007 02:29:15 -0700 Story of my life, instead of doing the things that I should be doing, here I am writing my first blog of the trip with my bed behind me a mass of T-shirts, jeans, jumpers and other such clothing that at some point today I'm going to find some moti... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2288/ http://www.footstops.com/custardo/blog/2288/ Tue, 09 Oct 2007 07:57:45 -0700