Missedabit.com Travel Blog

Travel time…Malaysia

missedabitoftravel — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:12:56 +0000

Sometimes you can spend too much time looking in the mirror and not enough time actually looking in the mirror. The natural beauty of the Andaman Islands takes your breath away. Surrounded by crystal clear waters, soaked in a tropical climate with sweeping golden beaches, it makes for the perfect escape. Over three weeks, I island hopped. Railay, Phi Phi, Lanta and Lipe.

The beautiful Andaman Islands

Well rested, I headed south from Koh Lipe, Thailand to my first island in the north of Malaysia, Langkawi. Based on the west of the island, I hired a scooter and pinballed my way up and down the coast; had an introduction to Ais Kacang; watched Hindi movies; swam in the calm waters daily. The row of eateries lining the beach front provided an early insight into the makeup of the country. Malay, Chinese, Indian.

Travel time…Vietnam

missedabitoftravel — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 08:43:35 +0000

I arrived in Bangkok a little fatigued. A week was spent resting, visiting chinatown and chatachuk market, celebrating the king’s birthday, sorting out visas, acquiring a sore throat, resting some more, losing a sore throat and having the washing done from the lady across the street. The heat saps the life from your bones and leaves you dry.

Making my way to Phonm Phenm I revisited my favourite 3A bakery and the sugar cane juice vendor. Evenings were occupied walking along the promenade that looks out onto the Mekong River, watching people commit to outdoor aerobics, badminton, football and family gatherings. I had the hairdresser clip back the curls of hair, leaving a thin, rounded finish.

Destination Saigon

Arriving in Ho Chi Minh City just after lunch time, I found a place to stay and rested up. The view from the balcony saw people milling, motorcycles beeping. Good Afternoon, Vietnam.

Travel time…Jordan

missedabitoftravel — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 07:20:45 +0000

Written as a guilty retrospective, I felt a little culpable for almost leaving out Jordan. On reflection it was entirely unjustified, despite spending only 5 days there. The people left an enduring impression. On this basis I have annotated this homage to the country to ensure I did my time some justice.

Enchanting Petra, Jordan

I just want to say at this juncture I am having the most wonderful time, totally consumed by all that has been going on around me and completely captivated by my audience. Floating like a butterfly.

Travel time…Syria

missedabitoftravel — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 09:15:35 +0000

I took a bus from Antep to the small border town of Killis. Once all the other passengers had disembarked, the driver happily took me to the border itself ‘for a few dollars more’. I approached the border control checkpoint on foot. The guard called out “no foot…car, car”. I looked at him and expressed (in my best body language) its just me, myself and I. He gestured to me to take a lift from a random driver and as luck would have it, a driver beckoned me over. I threw my bags into his car, had my passport stamped at Turkey “departures” and we made our way to “arrivals” on the Syrian side.

border taxi from Killis, Turkey to Azaz, Syria

The Syrian customs looked at my passport and quizzed “you go to Palestine?” “No, no – I go to Aleppo, Damascus, then Jordan” I replied. He stamped my passport and then left me hanging whilst he updated the details on his computer. People came and went. Passports got stamped. Money passed hands and dropped into pockets swiftly. Finally he gave up on filling my details and disappeared. Another guy appeared – he looked at me, stamped my half completed arrival card, handed me my passport and gestured me to move on. I obliged.

I jumped back into the car with my adopted taxi driver. His car got ‘strip searched’ at Syrian customs. Nobody said a word to me. He sped off to Azaz ( border town in Syria ) and dropped me off at the bus station. I paid him for services rendered and took my seat on the full bus to Halep/Aleppo.

Travel time…Turkey

missedabitoftravel — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 20:17:45 +0000

Here we go! Finally! Off to somewhere, anywhere, everywhere and nowhere all at the same time. My kind of existence. A nomadic traipse with a laptop and a copy of Dickens’ Hard Times.

It may sound like a slightly ‘misfit’ thing to say but I travel to try and understand the world a little better; to appreciate how things are, how they co-exist and how they can sometimes divide. Politically, socially, economically. For me, the world is not so much about places, its more about people. First stop, the peoples of Istanbul.

View from Sultanhamet, Istanbul

Travel time…Cambodia

missedabitoftravel — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:19:28 +0000

Cambodia, in the days of the Khmer empire, ruled over Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. In relatively recent times, Cambodia evokes a sense of stuggle and hardship that its peoples have had to endure, given the legacy of Pol Pot. In this context, I felt my time here would see many different sides to a country that has had so much to deal with in its past.

Cambodia in the distance.

After undertaking the border crossing formalities at Dom Kralor, I clambered onto a bus bound for Kratie, a small market town, in North Eastern Cambodia.

Travel time…Laos

missedabitoftravel — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:18:21 +0000

Having rested for the night in Chiang Khong, a stroll alongside the Mekong took me to the Thai border. I clambered upon a long boat to the Laos side and after getting through the usual checks, money changing etc, took my first real steps in Laos.

I walked down to the ferry port and paid the 900 baht that would take me along the southern vein of the Mekong for two days to my eventual destination, Luang Prabang.

Crossing the Mekong to Laos

Travel time…Thailand

missedabitoftravel — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:37:56 +0000

Clearly there’s something wrong with my feet. Both of them. They just won’t keep still. It must be all that nervous energy, looking for an outlet.

So South East Asia will be great. Somebody mentioned Laos, so I think that would be an apt centrepiece. Early January looks highly possible given the dreary weather at home.

Will start to “plan” something over Christmas. That means looking for socks down the back of the sofa, clipping my nails, that sort of thing.