Author: Paul
-
Mekong Motorcycle Diaries – Day 1
I hired a motorbike from Sam, who has a makeshift booth on the footpath a street back from the Mekong River. Well, I think his name is Sam – it’s what he wrote on a piece of paper along with a phone number to call if I ever got in trouble
-
Crossing Karma Country
Laos, December 2010… The head of the Japanese girl dangles precariously at right angles in empty space above the aisle. I can’t believe she’s asleep. Beside her, another Japanese girl bounces against the window. I sit opposite them trying to close a gap letting in cold air. At the rear, three wide-eyed Europeans jump and shuffle like lottery balls We’re […]
-
Myanmar Shangri La
This plateau of hill tribes in Myanmar proves to be rustic rather than primal. There’s no jungle or bark huts or uncultivated natives. It’s pastoral, more like being in a European art-house movie set at the turn of last century with enchanting characters and muted landscapes where boy meets girl in a script written by someone from the Romantic School.
-
Bells Beach on Fire
The Rip Curl Classic at Bells Beach is the world’s longest running professional surfing event. Located in a rural setting outside Torquay in Victoria, it is held every Easter. The timing of it has often been an obstacle, but this year, 2013, the 52nd, I got to attend mid-event. It was raining when I arrived, though fortunately, for us spectators, it soon passed. […]
-
Beside the Sea in Ibusuki
Being buried up to your neck in hot sand is often associated with punishment meted out in Western movies, but on the black volcanic beaches of Ibusuki, at the south-eastern tip of Kyushu, Japan, it’s a pastime of health and recreation. This is day two of my visit to Kyushu’s southern city, Kagoshima. The May morning presents grey clouds and […]
-
George ‘Long Island’ Nagashima
I’m in Kagoshima, at the south-eastern tip of Kyushu, Japan, in the train station, trying to orient the maps given me by tourist information when a frail, elderly man with large thin-rimmed glasses, wispy black hair and an impish grin, approaches. Wearing a shirt and a tie he speaks correct English, but with slow, pronounced effort and a slight American […]
-
Ubon Holds Up A Candle
I am sipping an Americano outside Jazz, a blink-and-you’d-miss-it cafe in Khuangthani Road when I hear drums and guitars, followed by singing. Then villagers appear wearing green tops and checked sarongs. They clap and dance spontaneously to the music, oblivious to the light rain. The temple communities are arriving with their floats to set up for tomorrow’s parade, and the […]
-
White Night Melbourne
White Night is a dusk-to-dawn celebration of art and culture that began in Paris in 2002 and has since spread to twenty-three other international cities. Though, the true inspiration apparently goes back further to a festival in Saint Petersburg, Russia – ‘white night’ describes the evenings at that latitude during the summer solstice when dusk lingers from sunset till dawn. […]
-
Pirate of Padstow
Hiking the Cornish stretch of England’s 1015km South West Coast Path in 1987, I reached Padstow village where a ferry is required to cross the Camel River. It was market day and stalls crowded the quay. A local’s outstretched hand pointed me to a Ferry sign where stone steps led to a smallish wooden boat. I descended, plonked my backpack […]
To use the subscribe form, please fill in your Feedburner ID in WPZOOM Theme Options.