G’day from Broome, The Japanese pearlers discovered the big pearls here in 1861 and established a town to exploit the resource in the 1880s. Cable Beach (22 kms of pristine sand just a bit further north on the same peninsula) is so-named because the communications cable to Java went into the sea there in …Read More
G’day from Broome, I’m only quoting Midnight Oil here, not offering a weather report. As Dan remarked yesterday as we approached Derby and the radio announcer crossed to the weather forecast, it would be a fairly easy job up this way to predict the weather. As Kerry O’Keeffe said in his inimical style, just …Read More
G’day from Broome, We’ve had another lovely day here in Broome. The weather is the same every day and today we hired bicycles and cycled all around the place, including Cable Beach. We also tried Chango Beer at Matso’s Broome Brewery. That’s a combination between Chilli beer and Mango Beer. The verdict: very fussable. Fabio …Read More
G’day from Tasmania, How much do you remember from your primary schooling? I remember one day Mr Byron saying that on a map, Tasmania was depicted with many jagged edges and straight lines. This fact, he said, depicted a rugged coastline. The connection between reality and map depiction seemed logical. It took a long time …Read More
G’day from Yulara, Climbing Uluru might seem like some kind of Australian rite of travel. Some non-indigenous people even claim a ban on climbing would deny Australians the enjoyment of a national icon. Lots of people have actually died climbing the rock: something like 30 since records began. Since 1964, there has been a helpful …Read More
ສະບາຍດີ,“We go to Laos when we miss the past.” This from Pond of Bangkok.In our final night in Bangkok, we decide to attend a ‘cultural evening’ in a purpose-built facility in the middle of this massive city. I approach with a healthy scepticism borne of a remote observation of such functions. They are too often …Read More
សួស្តី from Cambodia, Tonlé Sap is the largest lake in South-East Asia and causes a large light blue patch to dominate the map of Cambodia. The torrential rain of the wet season brings so much water, the area covered by the lake ranges from 3000 square kilometres to 12 000 square kilometres. Incredibly, the depth …Read More
สวัสดี from Bangkok, The journey to Bangkok contained some fun. We got a ride to the Cambodian border with a licensed bandit who mistook the road for a racetrack and the car’s horn for a plaything. The frequent sounding of the horn – to alert oncoming traffic that he was intent on occupying their lane …Read More
សួស្តី Siem Reap is a dormitory for droves of tourists here to see Angkor Wat. We are surprised to find that, although the local currency is the riel, all the prices are advertised in American dollars. It seems it has been that way since 1993 when the United Nations presence ended here (Who said UN …Read More
Saibaidee from Laos, Overheard at a middle-of-the-range guesthouse in Luang Prabang, Northern Laos: An Australian tourist is negotiating/bargaining four nights’ accommodation for him and his two friends: “So that’s four nights for four hundred thousand kip, OK?” Response from manager: “Yes”. The traveller has just negotiated a saving for him and his mates of 80 …Read More