It’s New Year’s eve today (in the local calendar) and as part of the celebrations, a huge pole was erected on Bhaktapur’s pottery square. The small square was jam-packed with locals and a couple of visitors. More than a hundred people were working on erecting the pole with ropes and supporting tree trunk constructions. Even […]
Cockfight
According to common folklore, baby Jesus was born some 2000 years ago. Considering how Christianity has brought two millennia of terror and suffering onto the world, why not celebrate the anniversary with a little bloodshed. Stage free for cock-fighting in the village down the road. Just as on the Philippines, the cocks have a single […]
Road to Hsipaw
Aaaaaaai really don’t like bus rides. Especially not the painfully slow ones. After leaving Mandalay yesterday afternoon around 2pm, the (reasonably decent) bus crouched up the narrow and winding road towards the Shan Hills. Traffic is heavy and many times the bus has to stop to let another heavy vehicle pass a narrow turn. Two […]
Rai Leh
Between Krabi and Ao Nang is a peninsula commonly referred to as Rai Leh and commonly described as a mighty fine piece of beach. The whole peninsula is cut off the mainland by a series of rocks/mountains that make any road impossible and boats the only way of access. From Krabi the boat costs a […]
In French
At a sandwich store yesterday, I order in English. The guy behind the counter is big, with a coarse face. Somebody you’d see as a bad guy in a James Bond movie. While we wait for my order, he asks if I speak any French. “Only a little bit”, I reply in French. A smile […]
Sightseeing
Yesterday I hired a tuk-tuk to have a look at same places near Battambang. I went with an ‘independent’ driver who was recommended to me by the French expats. Independent means that he’s working in the streets like you would expect it and doesn’t hang out in front of the tourist hotels hoping for big […]