Articles from this Category
30 June 2010
This morning I took the bus down to Galle (pronounced “Gawl” in English but “Gaal-le” locally) which is less than half hour away. Things are very cheap here … the bus ride is about USD0.20 and meals are less than USD1 each. Galle has an old Fort dating back to the Portuguese, then Dutch then […]
29 June 2010
Sri Lanka Again Today I’m off on my second visit to Sri Lanka. There are a few reasons for my visit: Even though I’ve travelled extensively around Sri Lanka, I don’t have the true feel of the country and its people. We were in a rush as it was a 6-day stopover on the way […]
28 June 2010
My AUD32 flight (plus AUD67 of airport taxes and a little airline fees, making a grand total of AUD99) departed Melbourne on time at 0045. AirAsia and AirAsia X, being really cheap airlines attract first time flyers and people who are travelling internationally for the first time. I overheard the man in front of me […]
25 October 2009
We had a late night departure tonight from Kuala Lumpur to Perth at 2350. It was going to be another day of lazy gluttony when Kim found out that the Motorcycle Grand Prix was on at nearby Sepang racetrack. Wow! Just the sheer chance of that! And the fact that we got our hotel room […]
24 October 2009
Day of Indulgence We have a full day or indulgence in KL. This is great city of eating. The relative affluence means that you can enjoy all the traditional flavours without sacrificing quality … unlike rural Indonesia, chickens aren’t the size of a quail! After the disappointment of exploring new malls early this year in […]
23 October 2009
The sun rises very early in Makassar, not quite as bad as in Manado but it is still very bright at five something. We had decided on an early start to beat the heat. Out the door at 0800, it wasn’t too hot yet. But within minutes we were drenched from the humidity. We went […]
22 October 2009
We took the bus back down to Makassar today. It was meant to be 8 hours but it took 9h40 … allowing for one flat tyre, comfort stops and picking up passengers. This is the end of my Tana Toraja adventure. It is one of the most interesting trips I’ve ever done. Normally everything of […]
21 October 2009
Pasar Bolu The market in Bolu (near Rantepao) isn’t a weekly affair … but occurs every six days. We were lucky to catch it despite our short stay of only three full days. In summary, people bring their buffaloes and pigs here so other people can come make their purchases: The buffalo section is essentially […]
20 October 2009
Above: The newly prepared grave took over 2 years to carve out manually. Cliff graves at Suaya We started the day visiting Suaya which had a cliff-face filled with effigies similar to yesterday’s at Lemo. We learnt that the ones here are original whereas those at Lemo had been replaced after being pillaged. Text continues […]
20 October 2009
Above: Cryptic signs showing the availability of dog meat. Driving through the towns and countryside our guide and pointed out shops which sold dog meat. These are indicated rather discreetly by way of cryptic signs and codes, eg. “Ada” (meaning “Have” or “Available”) or red plastic bag hanging on a stick. I found the level […]