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'Round the World Recipes (36)
About Me (2) Cairo to Capetown (51) computer setup (26) events (5) hols (16) LIGHTHOUSE BLOG (7) Longboats (4) Neither here nor there (35) publishing (11) SE Asia (62) Tadley Times (33) The Whales of Trincomalee (47) Travel tales (4) Travels on my Doorstep (19) Whale watching (12)
Recent Entries
* The Great Indonesian Flu
* The Trouble with Travelblogging... * Is it a bird? Is it a bat... * Snorkelling in the Togeans * Togean Temptations * Christmas Day in Ampana * Palu to Poso * The Pelni Experience (1) * The Pelni Experience (2) * The Night of the Southern Cross * Kota Kinabalu * Flying in Circles * Surf ‘n’ Turf, Jungle Style * Jungle or Coral Islands? * Borneo Highway Express * Magical Morning * Bubble Tea with Cayce * Interlude * U-Turn * River of Treacle
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December 31, 2005The Great Indonesian FluYahoo is notoriously difficult to get into, I may change my account to Gmail. I don't know what their excuse is for running such slow servers. So I tried the old 'mailto' protocol instead, but got Outlook Express, from which...Read this update December 30, 2005The Trouble with Travelblogging......is that travel often leads to where there is no internet, or electricity for that matter. This is why I have not been in touch for a while. I'm very sorry, John—I back-stepped on my original plan to go to...Read this update Is it a bird? Is it a bat......No—it was a bug! A beetle, to be precise, the size of my hand, which whizzed above our heads with an awesome buzz before colliding audibly with one of the roof beams at Black Marlin Divers on Kadidiri, Togean Islands....Read this update December 28, 2005Snorkelling in the TogeansMemories of happier times... I've managed to shrink a few pictures down to manageable size, for blogging purposes only. They are a little grainy, but clear enough. They were taken just after Christmas in the Togean islands—as close to Paradise...Read this update December 27, 2005Togean TemptationsAnd here is one of the highs: Imagine a land where it is always summer. Where green islands are dotted in turquoise waters, surrounded by coral gardens. Where dolphins weave through the silvery tapestry of the sea in shouting distance...Read this update December 26, 2005Christmas Day in AmpanaAt 5:30 in the morning, the sun painted the sky pastel pink. It looked to be a wonderful day with a mirror calm sea and clear sky. I mimed throwing a stone at the dog whose howling had woken...Read this update December 24, 2005Palu to PosoRant warning; the following (backdated) entries up to January 20th are a largely uncensored account of my experiences in Indonesia. Solo travel in Sulawesi drove me to the verge of a nervous breakdown (yes, really) and isn't recommended for...Read this update December 23, 2005The Pelni Experience (1)(ca. 1500 words) I had my adventure back. The smell of fried plantain mingled wit diesel fumes as I pushed my way through the throng of taxi-touts. There were buses going to Manado, but I had decided to base myself...Read this update December 22, 2005The Pelni Experience (2)The guy at the information counter, when it finally opened, confirmed that the ship was due to arrive in Pantoloan, a port 22km north of Palu which wasn't on my map, at 10 o'clock the following morning. I could not...Read this update December 21, 2005The Night of the Southern CrossI blinked at the unfamiliar constellations. It wasn't a full moon, yet the fans of the banana leaves and the feathery bushels of oil palms stood out as clearly as if they had been drawn in crayon....Read this update December 20, 2005Kota KinabaluThis may have turned into a bit of a city-trip, but when the cities are as nice as Kota Kinabalu—the state capital of Sabah—I don't mind. The lashing rains and grey skies have finally given way to sunshine, the better...Read this update December 19, 2005Flying in CirclesTime for another rant. I'm beginning to think I'm not very good at this travelling lark. Despite the late night, I snapped awake 30 seconds before the Palm started bleeping. When I got out of the bathroom, the main lights...Read this update December 18, 2005Surf ‘n’ Turf, Jungle StyleI don't dig the food here. The flavours are weak and poorly balanced. There is no heat, no tangyness and too much sweetness and I don't care to acquire the taste of the dried fish with wich nearly everything is...Read this update Jungle or Coral Islands?At first Miri looked bad. Then it looked good, with the sun setting across the spit of sand which separates the 'Highlands' backpacker lodge from the beach. I thought I'd catch the sunset. I had just finished catching up with...Read this update Posted by Denni on December 18, 2005 08:10 AM
Category: December 17, 2005Borneo Highway Express(Cheers, 'Blablablabla' for this link to travels in Indonesia—forewarned is forearmed ;) ) The nightbus to Miri would not leave until nine—I don't know why I booked such a late departure, especially as the buses to the coach terminal only...Read this update Posted by Denni on December 17, 2005 12:11 PM
Category: Magical MorningOn my last day in Kuching I managed to catch the 7:00 am bus to the Sarawak Forestry reserve at Semenggoh, home to the state's botanical collections and to an Orang Utan rehabilitation centre in a 630 ha rainforest reserve....Read this update December 16, 2005Bubble Tea with CayceSeems that every day at five, without fail, the internet goes down. This is also the last time that I'm blogging from that horrible basement internet café, so I'll keep this brief. Better updates hopefully tomorrow from Miri. It was...Read this update Posted by Denni on December 16, 2005 09:32 AM
Category: December 14, 2005InterludeIf this entry is written badly, blame the internet café downstairs in this shopping mall. The woman running it listens to badly recorded Malaysian pop at full volume on the computer opposite. The Borneo B&B will have internet access from...Read this update December 12, 2005U-TurnIf Taman Negara is the green heart of Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur the commercial head, so—some say—Melaka is its soul. Steeped in history from centuries as a trading port, under successive occupation by the Dutch, Portuguese and British, home to...Read this update December 11, 2005River of TreacleKuala Lumpur is a strange town. It has no day or night, only periods of light and dark. When I woke up in my window-less cubicle for the third time, I finally turned on the light. It was just before...Read this update Rainforest for Beginners(long entry warning) When I woke up this morning, I got a surprise. Not that this is unusual when travelling—in fact it had happened to me most mornings on this trip—but this was not just the familiar 'where am I'-feeling....Read this update Bug SafariThe river bus had delivered us to Kuala Tahan a few hours before dark, so I booked a place on the night walk, or rather the Bug Safari. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em! We set off by boat...Read this update December 09, 2005Into the JungleHaving no alarm clock and being such a chronophobe, I woke up about every ½h, finally getting out of bed at a quarter to six—just before really drifting off to sleep. Why does daylight have such a soporific effect...Read this update December 06, 2005Up yours!The weather was OK this afternoon, so I set off across town to the Petronas Twin Towers—the tallest buildings in the world. From the sky bridge, on the 41st floor, Kuala Lumpur could really be appreciated. The towers are at...Read this update ChinatownSo, the neighbourhood is a little dodgy, but it has its compensations. Lots of backpacker hostels, for one; the proximity of the bus station for another. I won't have to go far to make my enquiries about Taman Negara; although...Read this update Nice 'Hood!Chinatown, around the corner from Puduraya Bus Station This street is blissfully quiet at night. I discovered this place by following LP directions across the road from Puduraya Bus Station and then walking up a set of stairs to...Read this update December 05, 2005Fools will travel...(...or why I am not a Lonely Planet Writer) The ferry was late, and it was packed. That should have told me something. According to LP and to local lore, buses leave directly from the tiny town of Kuala Perlis...Read this update December 03, 2005Unlucky 3rdI had a beastly few days, but it's therapeutic to write about it ;) Plenty of good times ahead! That evening at the bar, we had a discussion about auspicious and unlucky numbers. "The Chinese believe eight is a bad...Read this update Bug-attack!In the tropics, there'll be bugs. Im afraid of bugs above a certain size—very afraid—but not so much that it will keep me from travelling. Here I am surrounded by people who know no fear, including the backpackers in my...Read this update December 02, 2005Malaysia MorningMy first really amazing morning of the trip, here on Pulau Lakawi in Malaysia. The sun is out, but it did not get oppressively hot until noon. I spent the time watching the antiques of the 'Gecko' guesthouse's tame...Read this update December 01, 2005Troubles with Thai (language)One thing I do not like about Thailand is the weather. It was raining in Satun—if not as hard as in Songkhla—and the sky was covered in uniform grey clouds. The weather in Thailand is like London, only stickier....Read this update Land of CleanWhen picking up my breakfast snack in one of the ubiquitous 7-11 stores this morning, I briefly felt my sense of reality shift—the 'dim sum' in the little oven were the same as in Taiwan. And also as in Taiwan,...Read this update |
Latest Comments
Fritzi: Gut wieder von Dir zu "hoeren". Du hast sicherlich... [read]
sebastian: http://sebastian.doc.gold.ac.uk/christmas2005/imag... [read] John: Diving is relaxing! I'll bring the kit. Happy Ne... [read] Blablablabla: denni if you wish to travel to Indonesia via Tawa... [read] cayce: Hi Denni, Fellow bootsnaller from Kuching here. ... [read] Denni: Thanks Lisa, good to know I'm not alone. Dispute f... [read] Lisa: Sounds exactly like what happened to me! File a di... [read] Denni: Hi Toby, good to hear from you! My own (fiction) ... [read] Toby O'Neil: You're braver than I am --- my few attempts at wri... [read] |