Naming our overnight paddle boat The Rocket was more a case of wishful thinking than anything else. Built almost 90 years ago, it had carried passengers through the waterways of Bangladesh during the aristocratic days of British colonial rule, through the country’s fragile existence as East Pakistan and then during its tumultuous war for independence. The Rocket, with its huge slow turning paddle wheels, rusty body and tired interior, had … Continue reading →
16 December…..We sat in the local version of a Thai tuk tuk travelling slowly through the crowd and chaos of the narrow streets but with a strange twist. The cab for the driver and the passengers were all claustrophobically caged by a strong steel wire screen with a barrier between us and the driver and a lock from the inside. Our driver battled his way through the worst traffic we’ve … Continue reading →
22 November….The monsoon season, or rainy season as the Thais call it, can be pretty exciting. The thunder and lightning storms that come very predictably in the late afternoon almost every day can be spectacularly bright and deafeningly loud, especially when the storm is right on top of you. The rain can come down like there’s no tomorrow and sometimes it feels that way. From my office window on the … Continue reading →
Julie and I rarely need an excuse to go somewhere new and we also don’t have to be asked twice to celebrate someone’s personal milestone. So when both of these opportunities came up – a trip to Kuala Lumpur to see an old friend and celebrate a milestone birthday – we jumped on the plane and headed to KL.
Continue reading →20 October….A small group of people had the unique life experience of leading young people around Europe in 1970’s and 1980’s on camping bus tours for 18-35 year olds. Through the main attractions of Europe, Scandinavia, North Africa, Eastern Europe and the Greek Islands, these tours provided a great introduction to Europe for people travelling for the first time. I had the good fortune of working for one such company … Continue reading →
“Oh Bill” Julie cried out, “look out!” But I didn’t need this loud advice to realise our awkward situation. I quickly hit the pedal and swerved over onto the dirt shoulder of the road to just barely maneuver the car around the fully outstretched trunk of a huge bull elephant. I nervously glanced back at him in the mirror as we drove off, a look of curiosity and maybe … Continue reading →
The more birthdays you have, the less you count them and the less you celebrate them, right? And if you’re in the 50-somethings, like I am, there’s no need to get carried away with wild attention-getting activities. But a recent business trip to Sydney meant I was with our three kids for my birthday and we all got together for a memorable day together.
Continue reading →15 August….There might be this lingering notion based on the entries of this blog that all Julie and I do from our base in Bangkok is travel around. And it’s true, we cram in a lot of interesting excursions or trips whenever we get half a chance. But one of us also commutes to the office, deals with customers, worries about budgets and goes on business trips. And business trips … Continue reading →
4 August 2012…Our rattling old local train slowed down as it rounded a bend entering the local town of Mae Klong. The view from the train driver’s cabin was a surprise – a busy weekend market sprawled out across the train tracks as if a train hadn’t been through there in years. But as we approached the stall keepers quickly pulled back their awnings and moved their boxes of vegetables as … Continue reading →
8 July 2012….It doesn’t matter where you are or what your circumstances are, everyone enjoys having good friends come over for a catch up and a laugh. The difference for us is that when our friends in Sydney want to ‘come over’ to visit us it means taking a nine hour flight and a week’s holiday. So we’re always touched when it happens and usually end up turning what might … Continue reading →
The wine was good, the atmosphere was great, the setting was perfect, it was shaping up to be a beautiful evening. Suddenly everyone around us jumped up, abandoned their dinners, and ran for cover. It took us just a second to realise what was happening before we also cleared the decks and ran for shelter. The incredible speed of how it happened left us wet and laughing. How did such … Continue reading →
As it turns out, Julie and I have recently developed quite a taste for islands, or so it seems. There is no master plan at play here but the last couple of trips have been to islands. So maybe there’s no surprise that on a recent long weekend we decided to visit one of the lesser known islands of Thailand, Koh Lanta. It didn’t work out exactly as we expected … Continue reading →
Bali used to be every Australian’s dream of an exotic foreign holiday and it was the place many people, including Julie, made as their first overseas trip. I had done many conferences in Bali over the years but we had never gone together so when the holiday gods of Thailand gave us another four day weekend we jumped at the chance to explore this legendary fly and flop destination.
Continue reading →What better way to start your day than with a quick swim down the back steps of your bungalow in the crystal clear water of the Maldives? With a clear head and plenty of sunscreen we walked out on the pier over 500 metres long to reach the jetty and our boat for an island hopping half day excursion. As our old wooden vessel puttered across the turquoise waters between … Continue reading →
In Thailand the biggest holiday of the year is called Songkran and this year it created a four day weekend that was too good to let pass without a big plan. But what to do? An unexplored island, a new country and culture, perhaps something a little unusual? Yes, exactly, a perfect time to visit one of the most alluring and unknown destinations in this part of the world. The … Continue reading →
Mt. Everest may have been behind us but we still had a couple of days trekking to get back to Kathmandu and then some exploring of the ancient capitals of the old Himalaya kingdoms. And we knew in the middle of all this was that exciting flight from Lukla back to Kathmandu and a return to hot showers, cold beer and civilisation.
Continue reading →The idea of turning around and going home when you’ve invested so much time and effort in getting there doesn’t sound that attractive at first glance. But when you are in the middle of the Himalaya and you have four more days of trekking along a new track through beautiful mountain ranges before you hit civilisation you know it’s going to be spectacular. And we’d conquered Everest Base Camp so … Continue reading →
When it comes to life above 5,000 metres clouds can be bad, if for no other reason they block the view of everything above you. But when the wind picks up to knock-me-over levels and the clouds take on a sinister gray look and cover you like a blanket you know you’ve got a new situation. And after eight beautiful days of blue skies and only three hours trek … Continue reading →
The word most commonly heard and repeated in Nepal is the friendly greeting “Namaste”. There can be no better way to start the day or say g’day to fellow trekkers and locals than a cheery Namaste. And so it was, over and over, every day. But the words we really came to respect with a little bit of dread and a lot of excited anticipation were “zham zham”.
Continue reading →The town of Namche Bazaar was our home for two nights as we paused to have an important acclimitisation day, which is basically a day by which we punish our bodies to the max and build up as many red blood cells in as short a period of time as possible. Or as Arjan our guide said, “Go high, sleep low”. We didn’t know what that meant until we started … Continue reading →
Trekking to the Everest Base Camp is all about going up. From the roadless mountain town of Lukla and its amazing airport at 2,830 metres we were to spend nine days climbing to the base camp which is at about 5,400 metres (almost 17,000 feet). In those nine days we expected to have to deal with the relentless uphill hiking, we expected to deal with the debilitating altitude sickness and … Continue reading →
The 2007 movie The Bucket List immortalised a new term which is now synonymous with people wanting to do a select list of special things before they die. I imagine most people have come up with some sort of their own bucket list since the movie or has said, “That’s definitely on my bucket list”. Well, full disclosure here, one of the top items on my bucket list has always … Continue reading →
26 February 2012….India is a great place to visit and a great place to do business. For me the two are closely linked, especially with our biggest customers in the market, the fastest growth of any market in the region and some of the most challenging business conditions. And when your biggest customer invites you and your spouse to a ‘Leadership Retreat’ to thank its partners and suppliers for a … Continue reading →
In February 2009 I moved to Bangkok after living in Sydney for 26 years. That was an amazing three years ago this month but it seems like only yesterday. The plan was for Julie to visit Thailand as many times as possible during the year but by her own choice she had one more year of motherhood duties at home with Zach as he settled into Uni. So we would … Continue reading →
15 February 2012….Thailand is impressively committed to preserving some of its natural settings despite the insatiable demand for more places for people to live, more farm land and more commercial development. There are almost 150 national parks in this country covering over 60,000 sq. kms of space – about 10% of Thailand’s total land. That’s outstanding evidence of the value the country accords its wild places.
Continue reading →We are probably destined never to spend a Christmas in Thailand which is a real shame because it is such a festive season and the Thais know how to do festive better than anyone, even if it isn’t officially part of their religion. But our destination for the festive season was Sydney, a much anticipated break to reunite with our family and friends, put on a few kilos and enjoy … Continue reading →
The brave white water adventurers 26 December….A common question is ‘What do you give someone for birthday if they say they don’t need anything?’. Well, Julie is the master at these situations so when my birthday recently came up she had the perfect answer – a two day adventure white water rafting and camping trip on the Pai River in Northern Thailand. Perfect.
Continue reading →Koh Kood is not your normal first pick island holiday destination in Thailand. In fact for most people it wouldn’t rank in the top four or five islands, mainly because it is further away from Bangkok, not really developed to western standards and overshadowed by its larger and more popular neighbour Koh Chang. All these reasons made it an ideal place for us to spend a recent long weekend.
Continue reading →What does a children’s orphanage, a dam, a tent, 3,000 year old rock paintings and a couple of ferry crossings have in common? Normally I would say very little. But on a recent weekend we combined all these features plus a whole lot more into a busy couple of days up in the Kanchanaburi region northwest of Bangkok.
Continue reading →13 November….I’ve heard it described as surreal, the slowest train wreck of all time, living in a parallel universe or perhaps most succinctly – unbelievable. Yes, unbelievable probably says it best. Bangkok, a city of over 10 million people, is slowly being flooded, so slowly in fact that while some parts of the city can be under 2 metres of water the downtown area is completely dry. It is … Continue reading →
30 October….Family, sport and travel seem like three good ways to fill one’s leisure time and that’s pretty much what we’ve been doing lately. Unfortunately we’ve also had to deal with the massive flooding in and around Bangkok as the late season heavy rains have swamped all rivers and canals and the people of Northern Thailand have suffered enormously as a result.
Continue reading →6 October 2011….It’s a big world, right? I mean, as an example we’ve got family in California, Arizona and Washington. We’ve got most of our family in Sydney of course, when they’re home that is. We used to have family in Ireland and we still have family in Holland and Singapore. Plus there’s us in Bangkok. So we’re scattered and by definition our paths sometimes don’t cross often enough. That … Continue reading →
We’ve had a buffet of unique life experiences lately and been reminded that it’s the diversity of life in Thailand which is so fascinating and gives us all so much to learn from and enjoy. This place has such enormous scale from the super elite of society, including the royal family, to the humblest and simplest of life in the local villages. Any chance we get to experience that … Continue reading →
Every great city has much to offer its visitors but Bangkok seems to have an endless supply of memorable places, moments and experiences that makes living here such a joy for Julie and I. And through the benefit of having lived here a couple of years now we can scratch the surface beyond the typical tourist activities and begin to see how unique and special the Thai culture and society … Continue reading →
And they said it would never happen – Julie dragging me to the driving range 16 August 2011….Julie and I are living the old line ‘there’s just not enough time in the day’ or week or month or year. With our various travel and work commitments filling most of our calendar we always look forward to a free day or weekend to explore more of Bangkok or interesting … Continue reading →
The happy tourists in front of the Arc de Triomphe 25 July 2011…..Ah yes, Paris. The Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, Napoleon, high prices, poor service, The City of Love, the capital of le Republique and all other features and descriptions. A customer conference, I suppose I have to go and Julie, do you want to go as well? Maybe spend a couple extra days exploring one of … Continue reading →
Team lunch when California and Australia meets in Vietnam 5 July 2011….When you have family scattered across three continents sometimes it’s a bit hard to stay in touch, or even harder to see each other. But when you’re blessed to have a niece born in Vietnam and her family is coming back to Vietnam for a special visit then you have all the perfect ingredients – family reunion, weekend … Continue reading →
Puka Beach, Boracay – it doesn’t get any better than this 7 June 2011….The Philippines doesn’t get as much attention as other countries in Asia, partly because it’s not on the way to anywhere like Singapore or have the reputation for beach, culture and fun like Thailand. But I recently had a week there for meetings and to attend a customer conference so Julie joined me to explore this … Continue reading →
On the banks of the Mekong 22 May 2011….You have to like the number of public holidays in Thailand this time of year. It creates opportunities to have three and even four day weekends – perfect if you want to explore northern Thailand and see the sights on the banks of the Mekong River as it separates Thailand from neighbouring Laos. On such a recent weekend we jumped in … Continue reading →
The Omar Aly Saiffudin mosque and royal boat – if you’ve got it, flaunt it The twin prop plane with a dozen passengers took us from Mulu National Park, over the rainforest, then the oil palms, finally to the coast where we landed in the coastal city of Miri. Our Borneo adventure was coming to an end but not without treating us to some new experiences beforehand.
Continue reading →Flying in and out of remote Mulu was half the fun Our plan was to spend another day and a half at Mulu National Park – and wishing we had more time – before finishing our journey in the sultanate of Brunei. So yes, it was from the jungle back to the sea but the route had some unique twists to it and we learned a lot along the … Continue reading →
Exploring the huge caves of Mulu in Sarawak It sounds like we can’t make up our mind. Is this a jungle holiday to Borneo or is it a water holiday to Borneo? Back and forth we go, trying to take in all the good stuff this huge island has to offer. Our next stop is Semporna where we snorkel amongst the world famous diving reefs in the Semporna Islands … Continue reading →
A monster leaf, a hot chick and a flash car At the risk of stating the obvious, you can’t be on an island covered in mountains, jungle and oil palm plantations without also being surrounded by the sea. So after a couple of days inland we now turned our sights towards life on the Kinabatangan River and the world famous diving and snorkeling islands near the coastal town … Continue reading →
When you’re lost in the jungles of Borneo you need to have a beer and read the guidebook 5 May 2011….When most people hear the word Borneo they think of some unknown place with jungles and headhunters. Some people might also think of orangutans and if they’re real good they might know it’s a big island in the South East Asian seas. I can say this with confidence because … Continue reading →
When you visit Khao Yai you gets lotsa waterfalls 1 May 2011….Khao Yai National Park is the jewel in the crown for Thailand’s outdoor natural playground. It doesn’t get the beaches, resorts, tourist brochures or airports of more well-known attractions but if you want mountains, jungles, wildlife and the natural beauty of inland Thailand, this is the place. It’s also Thailand’s first national park, and a World Heritage … Continue reading →
And you call this work! 15 March 2011….The first obvious question is where is Kerala? And to be honest, I had to look it up. As it turns out, Kerala is the southern most state of India, virtually on the tip of the sub-continent, famous for its beaches, inland waterways and delicious local foods. So when your biggest and fastest growing customer in India, invites you to a ‘Leadership Retreat’ … Continue reading →
Hanging out with a couple of the locals 7 February 2011…No trip to Dubai can be complete without a trip out to the desert. And of course in our case, that means two trips to the desert and also a trip to the nation’s capital, Abu Dhabi. Oh yes, also a visit to Oman, a country almost lost and forgotten in the big world. Because when visiting Dubai there … Continue reading →
One of us had to wear traditional clothes to visit the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi 4 February 2011…One of the fascinating aspects of life in the Middle East – and one of the most obvious clashes between east and west that is evident in Dubai – is the wide range of clothing people wear. We’ve all seen the movies and watched the highlights on CNN but what do … Continue reading →
01 February 2011…By now almost everyone has heard something about Dubai, that amazing modern-day metropolis which epitomises all the good and bad about the new wealth of the Middle East. Julie and I spent almost a week there recently and saw all that good and bad plus a mountain more, including rare once-a-year rain, old souks, camels in the desert, four wheel driving in the sand dunes and even a … Continue reading →
Happy little campers, Thai style 31 January 2011…What do you buy a girl who has everything? That’s exactly the dilemma I face every Christmas, which awkwardly arrives each year in the same week as Julie’s birthday. Well, this Christmas the answer was easy! I bought her a tent and a sleeping bag and a sleeping mat. Not because she only had 12 tents to choose from back in … Continue reading →
12 January, 2011….In Thailand less than 1% of the population is Christian so you would logically think that Christmas would be a total non-event in this country. Well, think again. At least here in Bangkok where consumerism, capitalism and entrepreneurialism are driving so much growth Christmas is seen more as an excuse to gather with friends and family, go shopping and spend money. Does it have any religious significance – … Continue reading →
Resting after a long day of temple gazing Thailand is divided into 75 provinces, many of which have their own unique culture and history. Two neighbouring provinces north of Bangkok that have buckets of ancient history, unique cultural traits and a big dose of current controversial political affairs is Sukhothai and Tak. On a recent long weekend we hit the road to see what they had to offer.
Continue reading →14 November 2010….Life in Bangkok this year has been fantastic for many reasons but the most fun Julie and I have had is when we’ve had visitors. Which is just as well because we’ve had a lot of visitors, nicely spread out over the year, family and friends, former work colleagues, short stayers, long stayers, first timers, seasoned veterans, in singles, pairs and groups, we’ve had the lot. And as … Continue reading →
A window of opportunity to explore ancient Khmer temples 18 October 2010…At some time in everyone’s life you have to answer the question – how many 11th to 13th century Khmer temples is too many? Well, on a recent long weekend here in Bangkok Julie and I decided to find the answer to this all important question.
Continue reading →26 September 2010….On the weekends when we’re both in Bangkok and without any other plans we head out to explore this fabulous city. Our method and our plans vary from excursion to excursion and our transport is by any means, be it by foot, boat, car or train. There are so many places to explore, sometimes a couple of temples, sometimes a particular museum or park, maybe a market or little … Continue reading →
A couple of non-terracotta warriors 12 September 2010….There’s something about them that has always intrigued Julie and I. Maybe it’s their distant history or the mysticism that surrounds them or their individual looks or maybe just their sheer volume. Whatever it is, we have always wanted to see them. The problem, of course, is their remote location. These guys are not on the main tourist trail of Asia and … Continue reading →
15 August 2010….The last two days of our trip to Myanmar were all about a pilgrimage to one of the most revered sites in Myanmar. So with an open mind, strong legs and recharged camera we set off for the Golden Rock. The Golden Rock is on the top of a mountain near the town of Kyaikhtyo (pronounced just like its spelled!) but because that’s a five hour drive from … Continue reading →
14 August 2010….If you venture north of Inle Lake, around the mountains and up a windy narrow road you come to a little village called Kakku. And near the village we found one of the most amazing, totally unexpected and bit bizarre scenes of our whole time in Myanmar. Yes, more stupas. But not just more stupas, or more chedis, or more zetis. Much more. In fact, sitting … Continue reading →
Thru the teak window – a novice monk is distracted from his studies August 12….You gotta love the service at Myanmar airports. I know the airports are small, very small, but the service and efficiency is amazing. Your bags are picked up at the curb, immediately tagged for your flight (there aren’t that many flights!) and disappear, to be seen again at your destination. Check in takes less than … Continue reading →
1,000 monks are a lot to feed from local donations every day August 10……The road to Mandalay is actually a 20 minute prop jet flight on the great Air Bagan, filled only with foreign travellers as no locals could afford such extravagance. We were met by our driver Chalwin and his 20 year old Nissan with worse suspension than the last car and a top speed of 60 kph. … Continue reading →
9 August 2010….After a beautiful run at dawn amongst the sleeping stupas we loaded into Oh oh’s car, such as it was, for the three hour drive up to Mt. Popa. This was our first chance to see the countryside and it introduced us to other aspects of Myanmar. Do not adjust your set – this is 2010 The country’s economy is mainly based on its agriculture and here … Continue reading →
8 August 2010….The only real attraction I had ever heard of in Myanmar was Bagan. From what I heard over the years Bagan was a place of unbelievable stupas, thousands of them, all built hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Comparisons have been made with Angkor Wat in Cambodia which in my mind puts it in the ‘Top Ten’ category. So we expected our visit to Bagan to be … Continue reading →
7 August 2010…..After many discussions, much research and considerable soul searching Julie and I agreed one of the ‘must see’ places to visit while we lived in Asia was Myanmar. In fact, before we embarked on this journey we followed the general global protocol and called the country Burma in deference to its historic and pre-dictatorship days. But whatever you call it, the country had a strong, if not … Continue reading →
In early May I was in India for business meetings and Julie flew down to Mumbai (or Bombay, the only major city in India that hasn’t made the full transition to its modern name) to join me for a few days of R&R. On Saturday morning we flew down to the beach holiday state of Goa, about an hour south of Mumbai.
Continue reading →On 19 May after two months of increasingly hostile and violent protests here in Bangkok between the so-called Red Shirts and the government/military we saw the unimaginable happen.
Continue reading →Our website is finally up and running but still very thin on content or anything worth looking at. But hopefully that will change. In the meantime, we are not lost and hopefully not forgotten in the magnificent jungles of Bangkok.
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