Geeking out at a professional level.

As the sun set on my short trip home to Australia, I geeked out like I have only geeked out once or twice before in my life. I went to the biggest Doctor Who convention in Australian history – ‘Lords of Time’ at Rydge’s Hotel on Exhibition street. What a day and an evening it was!

I feel bad because it all seemed a bit too geeky for me, despite the fact that I happily put my hand up and say ‘I’m a geek!’ Hell, I write and produce my own Doctor Who fan fiction! However, sometimes it is a bit confronting. When there was a costume contest at the event I went to in England back mid-2011, the contestants were children. This time they were, in the majority, adults. As someone said to me ‘nothing wrong with a bit of cosplay’. Hmmmm, living in Japan I’m not sure that I would class a forty-year old woman as participating in cosplay because she dressed up as the TARDIS.

A bevy of Doctors.

A fan made (?) TARDIS console

Anyhoo. There was a stage shared by the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth Doctors – Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann. Other guests included John Leeson, voice of K-9, Nicolas Briggs who does the Dalek voices but more importantly is the man behind the Big Finish productions – a series of audio stories that began back in 1999 when Doctor Who was not on the tele, and my personal favourite the feisty and very funny Janet Fielding who’s time on stage with Peter Davison was incredibly entertaining. Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy also make for a very fun time when they are on stage.

Janet Fielding and Peter Davison

There were autographs, photo-opportunities and much more. Some people were prepared to fork out $650 for a VIP pass that got them a meal and cocktails with the stars and I think their own photo with them. At that price it seemed a bit over the top but if you’re a fanatic then you’d be saving your pennies from way back. Photos with the stars cost $40 each so that on its own is steep and if you want one with each person...

The stars themselves are very well behaved, and extremely friendly towards the fans despite some of the awkward questions they get. I found myself overwhelmed trying to think of something to say to Paul McGann and embarrassingly talked about the weather and daylight savings time. Better, I guess, than asking some continuity-based question about his 17^th Big Finish adventure. By the way, the Big Finish adventures are excellent for any ‘Who’ fan out there reading this and hasn’t listened to a few yet!

Rob Lloyd and Vicki Kyriakakis in the improvised show 'Time Lord'

The second day was wrapped by the incredibly talented Robert Lloyd, a Melbournian (originally from Dubbo) who has his own Doctor Who themed one man show called ‘Who, Me’. It was perhaps the highlight of the entire day and a bit, a very funny show indeed. Rob is now touring it around in different conventions and festivals. In fact, later in the year it has its premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival! Rob was also involved in an improvised Doctor Who show called ‘Time Lord’ on the opening night, where he played the Doctor! 

For more information on the shows and Robert, please visit his website :

Rob Lloyd's Website

The next day was awesome weather. We had a BBQ in the back yard enjoying a cloud-free day, friends and warmth. Before I could say ‘Jack Robinson’ my time home was over, and that evening I was on a plane on my way back to Japan. It had felt like possibly the shortest three weeks of my life...

Great Ocean Road, Great Victory

Official start to the Great Ocean Road

I am lucky enough to have some very wonderful friends i n Melbourne and it was thanks to them that I, without car, and my wife and we had a chance for a day trip down the Great Ocean Road. The Great Ocean  Road follows, logically enough, the ocean along to south coast of Victoria heading westwards towards Adelaide.
The scenery is what makes the Great Ocean Road worth the journey, and if you go far enough along it eventually you will reach the 'Twelve Apostles' and 'London Bridge'. The London Bridge was an arch formed out to a platform of earth, the twelve apostles are a collection of 'limestone stacks' not too far from the coast. There used to be twelve of them, now I think there is about eight, and the bridge collapsed. Back in my childhood we visited them as they were, so erosion has taken its toll in a short amount of time recently.

But this time we didn't make it quite so far. It is a long drive along the road to get them, more than two or three hours past Melbourne. So up and back in one day was going to be too much. But the cliffs and scenery were worth it as we journeyed as far as far as Apollo Bay, a popular spot during the summer. We stopped also at Lorne, a very popular place at different times of the year for festivals, sun, sand and a big New Year's Eve celebration too.

Beach at Lorne

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The ride was long, windy at times, and the weather was around 20 degrees so not very warm, but a great day with friends. One of the highlights were the frequent signs on the road reminding people to drive on the left hand side of the road! Obviously a lot of foreign tourists take the road - there must have been some incidents! Australian freeways often have signs on the exit ramps telling cars 'WRONG WAY! GO BACK!' But I fear if you see that sign it may already be too late!

And there was lunch at Lorne. We stopped at a hamburger place which makes delicious, gourmet, organic hamburgers. If you thought hamburgers were just crap fast food, think again! And if you didn't change your mind, this wonderful Lorne eatery 'The Bottle of Milk' WILL change your mind. A walk on the beach followed. I have always lived on the eastern side of the city, so if I have been to Lorne before, I don't remember it.

The players line up for the national anthem.

A few days earlier I had taken my wife to her first game of Australian Rules football (Aussie Rules). My team is the somewhat maligned at times Western Bulldogs, formerly known as Footscray. One thing I miss living here in Japan is going to games live, although as the Bulldogs have been struggling over the last couple of years (we won only five games last year, losing our last eleven by an average margin of around ten goals. That's bad.) it's not so bad I guess. I get a live stream on the internet of most games which is nice. Well, we had a rousing 11 goal victory in this game - the opening game of the season, so my only game for the year was a good one!

One of the bulldog players kicks a goal.

Packing in as much as I could in Australia was a must, and there is still more to come. Next blog I get all nerdy again! Stay tuned!

Melbourne Visitations.

Hello folks, the absent blogger is back! Not just blogging but in Japan. Over the next couple of blogs I will try and cover some of the things I got up to whilst home in Australia for three weeks.

Journeying back to Australia for a break is quite a different experience from coming back after a holiday. With three weeks and a list of things to do and people to see as long as the arms of an octopus combined, I was never going to achieve everything I wanted to. One thing that was high on the list of priorities was visiting my grandparents. They are both into their nineties and still doing pretty well considering, so I was bundled into the car for a trip to Kyabram.

Hitting the road, country Victoria

Getting a lift in, around and out of Melbourne is a good thing when you have no car, especially considering public transport in Melbourne. It’s generally agreed, Melbourne public transport is poor and a nightmare for tourists to navigate. Hell, I’m technically a local and it was difficult for me. But enough of that – for now!

Kyabram is a little country town around three and a half hours drive from Melbourne. Once you’re out of Melbourne, the roads are pretty free unlike Japan and you can move at a decent pace, but you do have to be careful most places in Victoria – speed cameras abound and there’s plenty of police with radar around too. In Japan the police are pretty lenient if you’re not doing more than say 10km over the limit, in Victoria, Australia they nab you at over 5% over the limit I think it is now. And that’s only to allow for error.

Well. The Victorian countryside was looking in reasonable nick. There had been a bit of fire here and there, and a very hot dry summer but the trees and grass had a distinct green tinge to them. That’s always something people like to see in Australia. Not a lot to see in Kyabram I guess, but a nice couple of days away nonetheless.

Ardmona Shepparton, a worthwhile stop in rural Victoria!

Shepparton park/lake/swamp area with boardwalk.

We stopped at the Ardmona factory – or what was the Ardmona factory, on the way back. Well, this warehouse has lots and lots of food very cheap and in bulk. Shepparton itself is rather pleasant with a beautiful lake and surrounds, but I think this place is the highlight! You can buy boxes and boxes of tinned fruit, but there’s all sorts of jams, tomato sauces and most things you’d use to stock a good Italian restaurant. Great place for a bargain!

Back to Melbourne and I spent a day near the Yarra River at the wonderfully named Andrew’s reserve. The city is all around, but there in the suburb Kew if you looked the right way and ignored the cyclists you might think you were out in the Victorian bush. Wonderful relaxing place to spend the day – a place I had no idea existed beforehand.

Travelling back home from the city by train I rediscovered Melbourne’s transport woes. My train was 10 minutes late. That’s one out of one late. Then, because it was late they announced it wouldn’t be stopping at most of the stations on route – so that they could claim it was on time by the time it reached its final destination.  So three quarters of the people waiting patiently for the train sat back down and had to wait for the next one. I was lucky, mine was one of the stops it was keeping. I was ten stops at least down the line, but it only stopped once before my station!

As if that isn’t bad enough, then there is the ticketing system.

‘Myki’ has had problems from the very start, I haven’t met anyone who likes it or indeed understands the payment structure, plus billions and billions put on it to get it to work right. It seemed to work ok when I used it, but I understand there are still chinks in the armour. If you are tourist heading to Melbourne you do well to read up on the system before you arrive! – rant over, this is one topic that has got a lot of (bad) press already.

Next blog I will cover my trips with some great friends down the Great Ocean Road, one of the most stunningly beautiful drives in all of Victoria. Stay tuned!

Shameless plug!

Hi folks!
Whilst I have a second to sit down and think... (always nice) people may or may not recall that I have an ebook available through kindle.
It details my journey from Dhaka in Bangladesh to Dakar in Senegal - much of which was before I started blogging. I cut the book into three volumes as it was HUGE - Asia, Europe and Africa. However after getting the first book ready to go (Journey through Asia) I realised that it might be better to chop it up into chapters as well.
Thus I put out the second and third books out as single chapters (one per country with a couple of exceptions) and then later released them as whole volumes as well. I never had the chance until last week to do release the first book in chapters. Now, I have done so! If it interests you - I think the Iran, India and Pakistan chapters are very interesting! - maybe you'd like to take a read. Here are the links:


Chapter One: Malaysia and Singapore
Chapter One at Amazon

Chapter Two: Bangladesh
Chapter Two: Bangladesh (at Amazon)







Chapter Three: India
Chapter 3: India (at Amazon)

Chapter Four: Pakistan
Chapter 4: Pakistan (at Amazon)











Chapter Five: Iran
Chapter 5: Iran (at Amazon)







Chapter Six: Turkey
Chapter 6: Turkey (at Amazon)





And of course, the whole first volume is also available:
Dhaka to Dakar: Volume One: Journey Through Asia


OK - sorry for the shameless plugs, normal service will be resumed soon....

Air Asia to Melbourne

How time flies!
I am home for three weeks in Melbourne, with a lot planned. Hopefully can bring you some info on the city and some pics of course.
I took the Air Asia way home, by far the cheapest. I left fair Ichinoseki on Saturday morning and took a train, a bus and another train to get to Haneda airport. So I had been travelling for 11 hours before I checked into my flight!
Then seven hours to Kuala Lumpur. A little sleep, on and off. The LCCT part of Kuala Lumpur airport is a special terminal (LCCT = Low Cost Carrier Terminal) which I have now been through a number of times. It's not so clean, few shops or eateries, bad internet but it serves and I make it sound worse than it is. Basically it's only there for Air Asia, who are based in KL.
The main airport is one of the nicest in the world I think!

Air Asia though get my thumbs up! Okay you have to pay extra for food, choosing a seat, bags over 15kg but they do have great service and generally run on time. I can't recall an Air Asia flight that left more than 15 minutes late that I've taken, and I've taken a few now.
But this isn't a plug. I slept on and off the whole journey from Ichinoseki to Melbourne. An hour.45 minutes here or there, but never a nice long sleep. Such is the way with travel.
The second flight, to Melbourne, was again around seven hours. It seemed longer, but finally touched down. Through via the new 'e-passport' system and in my old home town.
Whew.
so
soon something else i am sure
stay tuned!

Two years ago....

Hello folks,
as many may be aware, yesterday marked the 2 year anniversary of the Great Tohoku Earthquake, the tsunami that followed and then the Fukushima Nuclear Plant Crisis.

Here is a little information via BBC, because I was not here when it happened.

BBC - Japan Marks Quake and Tsunami Anniversary

BUT I am here now, in a region devastated March 11th, 2011. I read a friends recollections/diary yesterday and I wondered how I would have coped if I had been here that day. The only conclusion I could reach was that I would be a gibbering mess.
In December last year there was a pretty decent quake, 7.3. I turned off the iron, the gas stove and ran to the bathroom. A few things fell to the ground. We have a shake now and then, in the last month it's been rather quiet - which make me rather nervous. Last year for the most part we have a tremour every one to two days. In some way that was reassuring because it felt like the Earth was letting out its anger little by little. If it holds it inside for longer though...

Here in Ichinoseki, away from the coast, the damage was done by the quake. There was no power for two weeks, and I am told manhole covers popped out of the ground, the building opposite my apartment block was severely damaged, and still stands unoccupied today as a reminded. A marriage hall in town was also severely damaged and is no longer in use.

Water was a huge issue after March 11th 2011. People couldn't flush their toilets. Many stuck it out in shelters. I know someone who lost their home and didn't know for a while if their family was alive. Everyone here who survived had a similar worry over friends or loved ones. And here I sit, I came over to live here just under a year ago. For me, it's hard and terrifying to imagine.
Those who survived went through so much, and rebuilding their lives must at times be very difficult, and very brave indeed.

Then we have the Fukushima situation, still a situation today. I hear varying reports about the dangers. Last year one of my schools had a think layer of top soil removed because of radiation. And Ichinoseki is a fair way from Fukushima. From near as I can understand, there is a lot of danger still at the plant, and another massive earthquake could have dire consequences. Few people realise, it seems, that there was a full-on nuclear meltdown there.
A couple of articles:

Ravages of Fukshima Nuclear Disaster will never end (The Age)

Pictures from the affected area (from The Guardian)

But still life goes on. People rebuild buildings and lives with incredible courage and determination. That's the human race for you.

Brilliant Budapest!! (no I don't work for their tourism department either!

One of my friends here in Japan is heading to Hungary later this year, so I was prompted to think about my very very short stay in Budapest, the amazing capital of that country.

Bridge over the Danube in beautiful Budapest

Hungary is one European country that I have visited that I would really like to return to and explore one day. Budapest is one of Europe's secret gems, up with the best capitals across Europe, but with only a fraction of the tourists visiting.
Okay, so I visited in 2004, but even today when compared to the likes of Prague, it doesn't receive the amount of tourists it deserves. Now that's good for the tourists who do go there of course!
My memories are of arriving at a fairly chaotic train station early in the morning, but it was already quite warm - about twenty-five degrees. I navigated my way via public transport to find my hostel.

Square in central Budapest

This was not easy, it was in some big apartment style building, I went into a couple of wrong buildings, and finally found the right one. Took a rickety lift up to the right floor, to find a sign on the door saying there was an electricity problem and they were closed until it was fixed. Very frustrating, as I had booked online and received a series of confirmation emails and then they didn't bother to contact me.
So I had to pull out the book, buy a phone card and ring around until I found a hostel with a bed. Budapest does not have a wealth of budget digs, although if you want to pay a bit more you can find a place to stay. I found a hostel that had backpackers packed in in every corner. It was a house with mattresses on the floor, a backyard and a decent kitchen for cooking.

Memento Park - one of the monuments.

There is plenty to see and do in Budapest, a city on the Danube river and a city with a lot of history. It's dalliance with communism for many years of the previous century can not be forgotten, as the images of Soviet tanks rolling through the streets will certainly never be. If you want a reminder then there are two places I recommend visiting.
The first is the strangely named 'Memento Park'. A park featuring a wide array of Soviet era statues. The communist times were punctuated by  giant statues of communist figures - you know the dudes. Lenin, Stalin, Marx and the like. Instead of destroying them when communism fell, statues were taken down and put into this park. It's an unusual tourist attraction, but I have to say that it's not the only one of it's kind. In Semey, Kazakhstan I visited a smaller park with lots of Lenins. However, this one is probably the biggest and most interesting. These remnants are important in some ways, because the era these days is well hidden. Budapest has many Gothic buildings obviously pre-dating communist times, and walking around the city it's very impressive how they outlasted what many regard as a dark period of Hungary's history.



The 'House of Terror' Museum also gives a window into the Communist times. Not just that, but it looks at World War II and oppression and violence in Hungary and Budapest. A very eye-opening museum indeed. I found it confronting and worth visiting.
There are a number of museums in Budapest, as one might imagine. There's a beer museum, history museum, Holocaust museum and a Bath museum. One thing Hungary is famous for is it baths, its banyas. I visited one in the city centre, there are many. I just went for a swim, but if you enjoy steam baths and the like, then Budapest surely has the sauna fix for you!

Parliament building from Castle Hill.

I ventured to a place called 'Castle Hill' - no prizes for guessing why it got that name. It's a wonderful area of Budapest. It sits above the Danube, and across the river you can see the Parliament building - one of the most remarkable Gothic buildings in Europe. Very grand and very large, the view of it from Castle Hill side is superb.

Matthias Cathedral - exterior.

On the Castle Hill side you find the 'Matthias Cathedral', an interesting church (if you haven't been in Europe too long and seen a hundred thousand churches already) with museum attached and the Hungarian Crown jewels. NOT what I expected to see there.
The streets are cobblestone, it's delightful. The walk along the Danube is predictably nice too, with little enclaves along the stone footpath called 'Fisherman's Bastions'.

Inside the Budavari Labirintus

Inside the hill itself is a wonderfully interesting and exciting set of catacombs, a must see for visitors and catacomb-enthusiasts alike. The Budavari Labirintus is a system of tunnels up to sixteen metres below Castle Hill that stretch for 1200 metres.
 

Budapest also has more churches, bridges, baths and parks than you could count, not to mention a wonderful history seeped in music. I took in a wonderful orchestral performance at the Opera House. Still using their own currency and not the Euro, Hungary is a good place to see classical performances and opera for a much cheaper price than say Vienna. It has festivals too, I had just missed a wine festival by a day when I arrived. One day, I shall return!

A night out at the Opera House never goes astray!

It's a true gem. I had three days there, one of them lost completely to walking about and finding accommodation, but that was enough to recommend it to anyone I hear is going to Europe, I always spruik for them to make a visit to this glorious city on the Danube. What I saw was only the tip of the iceberg!


For more information on Budapest, here are my writings containing further details available on Kindle.

Chapter on Budapest, Zakopane, Olomouc and Vienna from "Dhaka to Dakar Book 2"

Dhaka to Dakar Book 2: Europe

Winter driving me crazy. Or Miss Daisy.

Well folks, another blog back in the cold reality of Iwate, Japan. Winter here is long. I was informed that they call winter over on the 4^th of February. This seems a tad hopeful. That was three weeks ago, and it has snowed the last three days! Things are certainly warmer in Tokyo and the south, but still colder than a Melbourne winter!

Here in Iwate the hardest thing of late has been adjusting to the winter. I’ve had to organise a few things like a new visa recently, and in particular a Japanese driver’s licence. My international driver’s licence is good until the 2^nd of March. That’s this coming weekend! So anyways after one year you need to organise a Japanese licence.

Well, it’s not so straight forward, however comparatively for myself it’s not too bad. If I was American or Canadian, I would need to sit a proper driver’s test. Thankfully that wasn’t necessary – I understand it’s almost impossible to pass on the first attempt. To be thorough the driver testers almost feel obligated to fail people on their first attempt!

Then there is a huge pile of paperwork. Basically I had to prove I had been in my home country for three months in a row since I got my licence. One thing they look for is the issue date of the licence. Well, the state of Victoria doesn’t put that on the licence! So, I had to get a ‘driving record’ sent here. The fact that in the past five years I have had two speeding tickets (both for less than 10 km over the limit!) worked in my favour. It proved I had been driving in Australia. I also submitted over 30 payslips to prove my continuously being in the country. However, it still wasn’t enough to grant me a full licence.

I am on a beginners licence for a year now. I have the special mark/sticker/magnet on my car to say I am in my first year of driving. I think I have less demerit points to lose, but I am not sure. I’ve only been driving since 1995!

Anyways, such is life and if I don’t speed I should be ok. The roads are something else I’ve had to get used to. I woke up one day in January and the usual 35-40 minute drive to work suddenly took 75 minutes! I had allowed for delays thankfully and made it on time by five minutes. When there’s snow, the roads are slow. When there’s ice, they are dangerous.

What tends to happen is driving on snow churns it up, turns it to water etc. Then at night the temperature drops, maybe to minus five, sometimes colder. Last night was more like minus ten. The water, even though there’s not a lot, freezes. The winter tyres don’t grip very well the next morning. Breaking is something to be done very carefully. I’ve experienced a little bit of skidding on the ice. The key is not to break hard, but gently, and leave plenty of space between you and the car in front.

I was driving home one very cold day when it didn’t reach 0 and this post van zoomed over the hill the other direction to me. The downhill slope (for him) was iced, and suddenly he lost control. He went from side to side, desperately swinging the steering wheel (which I’m sure was a bad move) and I thought – I was a goner! Somehow he missed me and regained control.

Downhill is the worst, the scariest part of driving when the road is icy. Usually people are painfully slow on those parts. Hence a 35 minute trip turns into over an hour. Patience and being careful is the only remedy here.

The forecast is for more snow this week.

My Mali Part Three

Bus travel in West Africa is an early morning affair usually. It’s nice to just find a bus service really as it’s much cheaper than bush taxis and other forms of transport in the region, and I think the bus out of Mopti to Segou, about halfway to the capital Bamako, left before 6am.

Getting ready for departing Mopti, Bani Transport

My friend and I decided on that bus because we wanted to get to Segou  early enough in the day to walk about and see things. We had run out of days to get to all the places we wanted to so this way we had a full afternoon in Segou to see the river and life in the town.

It was always good to be out of the bus before it got really hot in the early afternoon, and by lunch time we were in Segou. The guesthouse was simple enough but again there was a dorm room, this time with three beds and the third remained empty. We had a TV in the room but showers and toilets were downstairs via a rickety old metal spiral staircase.

There was a decent restaurant at the hotel too which helped a lot. After we finished lunch it was siesta time. Throughout West Africa I found that places all shut down after lunch for a couple of hours before reopening. Towns become a bit quiet. Who can blame them in that heat?

Ferry and life, washing, Segou

We were following the Bani river southwards in Mali, and Segou was another town built on it. Although I didn’t go to any museums or see anything amazing, I quite liked Segou as a sleepy town with bustling river life. The river was where people bathed and washed their clothes. Boats lined up – big boats compared to the small ones in Mopti. On the rocks by the river people spread their wet washing to catch a few rays of sunlight. I don’t expect it took a lot of time to dry in high-30s heat.

Segou also featured many mules, I saw plenty by the river. But time was short in Segou, one afternoon and then off to the capital Bamako. What a journey it turned out to be!

I had been warned to take a reputable bus company as some of the cheaper, less official companies had a lot of issues and often stranded passengers if something went wrong with the bus. I was soon to find out that those issues also can be encountered on the better bus services.

Bani was supposed to be one of the best, but not long out of Segou and the bus was having problems. I shuddered at the thought of having to wait for a new bus once we were already on the road, but the driver opened up an engine panel at the back of the bus and seemed to think everything would be okay.

And for the most part it was, however, as we approached Bamako, maybe 30 kilometres from the centre, the troubles resurfaced. It had been a fun bus trip with a happy atmosphere on board. The buses aren’t always that comfortable in West Africa, sometimes they really pack ‘em in, but generally people have a smile on their face.

But just before Bamako the bus was stopped again and the panel was opened again. This time it seemed there was no remedy. Bags were removed from the top of the bus – they love to stack buses, taxis and mini-buses as high as they can with luggage on the top.  All of a sudden no one was around. Everyone, including the driver, had disappeared. Well. What was there left to do? Had to hitch a ride into town somehow, and I found myself on a coal truck headed into central Bamako. Then in a share taxi.

Bamako Street

Eventually I found my way to the guesthouse where I took a mattress on the floor for not much money at all. Bamako was another fleeting visit. There’s not a lot to see in Bamako, but the markets are rather interesting and there are some decent bakeries and restaurants, good if you’ve been stuck on simple food for a while.

There was a great arts and crafts market I visited, called the artisans' market. This is where people worked at woodcraft and other such things, a great place for souvenirs and the like. When I went to the fetish market – where you can get all types of things, many voodoo related, was interesting too. I took a photo and the owner was very upset and angry, I showed the photo to him and suddenly he was very pleased. I offered to delete it but he didn't want me to. In fact he asked me to take another, this time with him in the photo.

Wood carving at the Artisans' Market.

In Africa generally you have to be very careful about taking photos when people are involved. Often they will ask for a gift – money (cadeau) if you ask, which you should do if you are photographing people up close, or often even midrange. As travellers we love to take photos as our memories, and now that film is a thing of the past nobody worries about how many they are taking, but as a local I can only imagine how sick they must get of tourists and cameras.

And the fetish market. A little creepy. The kid just wandered into view half a second before I went 'click'.

Bamako has statues (some of crocodiles, big ones) churches and mosques. It’d be easy enough to pass a few days there before getting bored, but it is no high on tourist attractions. Mali though, especially for the region is.

According to news reports, things appear to be going the way of the French Army in Mali, and if they are to be believed the local Malian people are happy about that. It’s very sad to read or hear about a place I visited having troubles, especially with terrorism and the like. I’m hoping for a speedy return to normality, and that once again Mali will be attracting the tourists like it did before. It’s a very rewarding place to visit.

If you'd like to know more on Mali, or other places I have written about, I have some interesting stuff on Kindle:

Andrew Boland Author Page

My Mali Part Two

Continuing on from the previous post, I have bee reminiscing about one of my favourite African countries to visit, Mali.

Mopti was the first proper town we arrived at. I was lucky to still be in the group of four that had done the Dogon trek together, so we found our way to a cheap guest house. I can't remember the details or name of the place, but it was probably around ten dollars a night. I shared a dorm room with my friend, and we were fortunate to have it to ourselves.

Changing money was a bit of a hassle I remember. I didn't need to but friend did and it took quite a while at the bank. I had used traveler's cheques at times. Cash was much easier to change in West Africa, however you usually needed a passport to change any money at all and often receipts for traveler's cheques. 

Mopti is situated on the confluence of two rivers, the Bani and the Niger. It's a great base for branching out to the famous and recently infamous Timbuctu, sometimes by boat, sometimes by car. It's not particularly close and depending on the river levels can take 3 days to a week I think. I wasn't headed that way, but many in Mopti were. They were organising all the details for their trips there, quite a few foreigners were staying in Mopti.

The best thing to do as a tourist there, as Mopti itself doesn't contain a plethora of tourist attractions, was to take a boat on the rivers. I spent a few hours floating around, visiting some islands, watching river life in Mali. It was great. The people living on the islands see quite a few tourists naturally, and are always asking for cadeaux (gifts = money) but that doesn't spoil it if you have a cheerful attitude to it.

Watching boats move people and cargo around is great, and I saw some interesting things being ferried - including a small boat full of coffins.

Coffins on the river.

Aside from Dogon Country, Mali's greatest attraction is the Mosque at Djenne, which we did in a longish day trip from Mopti. We had to hire a taxi, but with four people that was very affordable. We took it south, and at one point had to get out as the car made it across a river and up the embankment on the other side. The recent rains had taken out several bridges in the area.

Over the rooftops of Djenne the Mosque stands tall.

A ferry took us across the river to Djenne, it's on a sort of island of its own. The taxi left us outside the mosque, pretty much the centre of Djenne. It was the biggest mud-brick mosque and probably building I have ever seen. A large square surround it - I think there is an amazing market there once or twice a week. You can't go inside sadly, apparently some westerners shot an advertisement there many years ago now which featured scantily-clad women and people were so shocked the mosque became closed to all foreign visitors.

However the whole town is mud-brick, an amazing maze of streets and life. Many people had official cards as guides and desperately wanted to guide us, but we found a nice bloke who showed us the way when we needed help so we employed him instead! It was a highlight of Mali, Djenne, no two ways about it. A must see and a very special place on Earth.

From there it was back to Mopti and another 5am bus the next day. My friend and I said goodbye to the two we'd been travelling with as they headed north to Timbuctu. We would head south to Segou....

The Mosque at Djenne. 

And that's where today's post ends. Last part on Mali in the next week, maybe sooner. Right now I can't recommend travel to Mali, however, if the troops in there get the job done as they seem to be doing, it could be a safe tourist destination sooner rather than later again.

Don't forget my writings:

Dhaka to Dakar: Across Africa

Dhaka to Dakar:Across Africa - Mali Chapter only

My Mali - Part One

Folks today I am writing about one of my favourite African countries, Mali, in the first of three posts.
Why? Well it's been in the news of late:

From the BBC -

Mali crisis: French-led troops 'enter Timbuktu'
French-led troops in Mali have entered the historic city of Timbuktu encountering little resistance, French and Malian military sources.
But there are reports of thousands of ancient manuscripts being destroyed, with video footage of the library showing charred books and empty boxes.

French President Francois Hollande declared that the joint forces were "winning this battle".
They have been pushing north in their offensive against Islamist rebels.
They seized Gao, north Mali's biggest city, on Saturday.
Islamists seized the north of the country last year, but have been losing ground since French forces launched an operation earlier this month.
Most militants appear to have moved out to desert hideouts, says the BBC's Thomas Fessy in the capital, Bamako.
The advance came as African Union (AU) leaders met for a summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, the key issue at which was Mali.

This week, French troops with a small contingent of troops from Mali moved into the north of the country to take towns back from terrorists. This was sparked by the siege in Algeria that claimed over thirty hostage lives, nine or ten of them were Japanese. So, that’s been big news here in Japan. What you may or not know is that the terrorists are based in northern Mali, and the gas plant where the siege took place is not that far away in Southern Algeria. It is hard to imagine a place so remote, almost completely desert, where something like this could happen.

From what I’ve read, Al-Quaeda now have a base in this part of the world, and as I wrote a few months back now, terrorists had basically taken control of much of the north of Mali, including the famed ‘Timbuctu’.

If news reports are to be believed, the French and Malian armies were greeted with cheers from the locals when they moved in. I never went as far north as Timbuctu, time didn’t allow, but two people I was travelling did, and many tourists went there. This was in 2007. It’s a little confronting to think of such a place changing so much in five years.

Mali was a wonderful place to travel, a real highlight of West Africa. I crossed the border from Burkina Faso with the first item of the ‘to do’ list being ‘Dogon Trek’. The Dogon Escarpment appears like a big cliff face near the ocean, without the ocean within 1000 kilometres. It’s flat and continuous on each part, the top and the bottom.

Scattered around the base and the top are villages every few kilometres. Life is basic there, there is no electricity save the use of car batteries to power lights, and every building is built out of mud. Despite many tourists visiting there, sleeping on rooves (as we did) and eating pasta, the atmosphere is still rather authentic. Tourism has become very important to the villages, but life goes on. Women pound millet, doing the bulk of the villages’ physical labour, and the men hold councils to decide what’s best for the village. Yes, sexism is alive and well!

For the tourist,  finding a guide is the first thing to do when you arrive there. If you head to nearby towns such as Bandiagara you will surely be approached by someone, or enquire through your guesthouse. Prices are negotiable and I can’t remember what I paid exactly, however having a group is obviously much cheaper than doing it on your own. In a group of four I’m sure we paid well under forty-fifty dollars a day for our guide, who we had met at the Burkina Faso border making things a little easier for us. The money pays for most things, including meals and sleeping.

Trekking is easy in as much as it is flat, except for the two hour climb up the escarpment in an area water has made walkable. (no climbing rock faces at all!) The heat was intense in the middle of the day, maximums around the low-40s (celcius) in November, so you walk in the morning and late afternoon, and from 11-3pm you have lunch and rest each day. Guide books and indeed guides recommend buying some kola nuts, a local nut, to give as gifts to village leaders or important people. Most guides won’t let you go without them, and they need to be of a decent quality.

We did a three day/two night trek. That seemed a decent length. The guides will cater to what you want, from one to five or maybe more days. The escarpment is long so there are many villages to walk to and visit. It’s an amazing cultural experience, a beautiful, mystical and other-worldly part of this planet. Lying on a roof top looking up at the stars as you fall asleep is possibly the major highlight. I visited a school, met a village medicine man and blacksmith too. I don’t remember a negative experience in my time there.

At the conclusion on the third afternoon, we had a jeep waiting to take us into Bandiagara and we could shower again. The red sand of this part of the world has a tendency to stick to you! This town is not particularly attractive to be fair, but the hotel was rather nice and about 15 dollars per person twin share – the name, naturally, escapes me.

Next post I will move on to the northern most port of call I had in Mali, Mopti, and talk about the one place more amazing than the Dogon Escarpment, Djenne.

For more writings on Mali and Africa, please visit my Kindle store!

Mali chapter from 'Dhaka to Dakar'

Dhaka to Dakar Volume Three - Across Africa (includes seven West African countries including Mali)

Meanwhile, in Vang Vieng

An interesting article today in the Age about Vang Vieng, a place I visited in 2011 whilst it still was a party Mecca. Apparently 20 people died tubing in 2011, only 7 last year. ONLY? sorry. Things have changed there it seems....

http://www.theage.com.au/travel/holiday-type/budget/partys-over-for-backpacker-mecca-20130115-2cr95.html

sorry folks blogger doesn't like links. You'll need to cut and paste it. At the time I felt sorry for the locals because of all the drunk tourists! (not to mention the stoned tourists) Now I feel sorry for them because of the lack of drunk tourists.
To be fair though, something had to be done with people dying so regularly. Having visited the place it is easy to see how that could happen. The thing is - you can bet your bottom dollar that a similar place with more relaxed rules than Vang Vieng has now will soon open up. If it hasn't already.

Final days of Sri Lanka

Street near where we stayed in Colombo

Good evening, morning, afternoon wherever you may be this day. I am compelled to recount the final 3 days I spent in Sri Lanka. I returned a week ago now and since then have been treated to a couple of nights at around -13 degrees and today it has been snowing solidly all day. I journeyed to Morioka to successfully replace my alien registration card, a victim of the wallet disaster, and tomorrow I am back at school. But there were 2.5 days in Sri Lanka after the wallet was stolen and I should write a little about them.

For not the first time in my travels, I was taken in by a family very sympathetic to my needs. This time, my wife was with me. In Burkina Faso, post-malaria I was very lucky to be taken in by an American family. As far back as India 1999 and Iran 2004 I have been taken in by total strangers, although in those cases I was not in peril or desperate need.

In this instance, all the cash was basically gone and credit cards maxxed out. We could have survived though, however this family was so kind and wanted us to stay with them it seemed like the perfect option, and a great chance to get to know some Sri Lankans. Don't go somewhere if you have no interest in learning about the people who live there too, I say. Except for (insert most hated country here). 

Negombo Beach at night

We were taken in by a very vibrant family who were very excited to have us in their home. We didn't get up to a lot in that time, we relaxed and talked to the family and got to know them. There was a bit of singing and dancing as you do, I was trying to contact Japan and check I would be okay to re-enter the country.

 We did go with the extended family to the Negombo beach one night. We all piled into a mini-van and off we went. It turned out to be quite a long drive. At the beach we threw the ball around a bit and had fun. Little stalls (pictured) sold food and snacks, mostly fried sweet potato which was okay. Maybe a little sandy lol...
The journey home someone owned a tuk-tuk, or a three-wheeler (pictured with yours truly below) and my wife and I traveled home in that. Well, it was quite a journey. Right next to the airport, about 50 metres below the bellies of landing aircraft, we were pulled over and the driver was in trouble as he didn't have the right papers with him, and he had been drinking! It was all sorted out but it took an hour and I believe it was solved by the promise of a bottle of brandy. We had no idea what was going on. Back into the tuk-tuk and we were off again! We were joined by the father of the house on motorbike who had come back to see what was taking us so long. He sped ahead and suddenly this dog fight was on the road and impossible to avoid, and he hit a dog! He was very lucky not to come off the bike. Then the tuk-tuk was having problems - turned out to be out of petrol! So it was well after ten when we finally arrived back at the house. But you have to take these things in your stride, especially when people have been so kind!

I never did take the Tuk Tuk out on the road :(

We had a barbeque that night, lots of meat! The only food I had in Sri Lanka that wasn't spicy and didn't make me sweat! The final day arrived, and we were sad to say goodbye to Sri Lanka despite all that had gone on with the wallet. It truly is a wonderful, beautiful country. A bit easier to survive than India in some respects, feels like a little India, SE Asia and even Ghana rolled into one! I really do recommend it as a place to visit, just careful at the Colombo Fort train station.
We took Malaysian Airlines back to Japan, via Kuala Lumpur. It was great to have some extra legroom for a change as we'd gone budget airlines all the way until then. I slept an awful lot during the flights and even at KL airport. Arriving in Tokyo we took the train to Tokyo station from Narita, and then the overnight bus to Ichinoseki. Exhausted, I slept half the day but my poor wife had to work.
It was clear but cold, but nothing compared to the night where it dropped below minus 10 degrees celcius. that was a serious freeze, and such a shock after coming from Sri Lanka!
We are home now, but I am going to try and keep the blogs coming, so stay tuned!

Colombo daze... or how I lost my wallet

Howdy folks. Back safely in freezing Japan. Seriously it was like -13 last night. YES MINUS! Crikey and all that you know!

So the story of the wallet awaits, but first on the way back from Sigiriya we stopped at Matale where we saw the very ornate Sri Muthumariamman Hindu Temple. It's not ancient like the ruins at Sigiriya, but the carvings are very impressive and detailed. Even being so tired after the day trip, we could still be impressed!

The next day we were so tired we cancelled our plans and decided to just walk around Kandy and the lake. However, most of the day it rained and rained and even rained some more!

Sri Muthumariamman Temple

So the next day it was time to move on. The plan - visit Galle on the coast. This required two trains, with a change in the capital, Colombo. We got up nice and early to get the 6.15am train, where we had a comfy seat in the observation car. Was it a beautiful journey? Possibly - I slept most of it so I can't be sure! But what I did see was very green and very wet. Well, it was the time of the year! 

Arriving at Colombo Fort station, I had a couple of things to take care of. Firstly, toilet! Done! Secondly - buy tickets to Galle. Done! Thirdly, get out enough cash for the rest of the trip - Done!

Well, that seemed very smooth. Down to platform five to wait for the 10.30am train to Galle!

Inside the observation car

The train was suitably late. Only about 10 minutes. The platform swelled with people. The train pulled up. Before all this I took a few photos by the way. Mad dash as always to get on the train, I wanted to secure a seat for my wife and myself. People on board took time getting off. Finally it was free-for all time. No matter who was first, push shove and go go go!

Put my bag down on one seat, another behind it was free - oh no, someone saving that one. Just one seat, my wife came in and sat down. I sighed - I might be standing for the four hours to Galle. Still, for some reason my pants seemed lighter. Oh EXPLETIVE! I don't have my wallet! 

Someone had nicked it as we pushed onto the train. 69 countries, and the first time I have been robbed. What happened? I usually put my wallet in the zip pocket. But this time I just plonked it back in the front pocket. To be fair - it was an easy target in that rush. 

People were very kind though. They stopped the train, and someone said later they saw someone running away from it very fast and scared. Who knows if they had my wallet. Police were on the scene, the train was stopped. One passenger was very angry - I didn't ask anyone to stop the train for me.

Soon we were shunted off to the police station to make a report, or as they called it 'a complaint'. Against whom? The thief? The station? The police for letting it happen? I found it a strange title, that's what the police used.One office to another I explained my story, wrote down the contents of my wallet, all the time feeling an utter idiot to be honest. I know what's what - I know that the moment everyone is pushing is prime time as far as pick pockets go.

such is life I guess.

HOWEVER

every cloud has a silver lining. 

To find out about this silver lining...... you'll have to wait for my next post!

Steps and Sigiriya

Water gardens below the Lions' rock.

Howdy all. I've had a bit of bad luck here. I have visited 69 countries in my life, but for the first time I have been robbed, boarding a packed train at Colombo station yesterday. I had my wallet picked from my front pocket. Usually have it in the zipped pocket, but was for whatever reason a bit lax yesterday. More on that in my next post though, trying to keep it all in order on the blog for now! 

The lions' rock.

That means today's post takes a look at a few days back when I visited the ancient city of Sigiriya.

We took a small tour on Wednesday from Kandy to the ancient city of Sigiriya and surrounds from our lovely guesthouse in Kandy. Through a friend  organised a great driver, name of Sunil, who drove my wife and I around and explained things as we went. We were both pretty tired from all the travel and the Danish family at the guesthouse who weren't the quietest of neighbours, nevertheless the day was a great one.

Ancient Sigiriya was built by a Sri Lankan monarch on the site of a monastery the good part of 2000 years ago. I believe it was in use for many centuries, and was built by a rather paranoid King who decided the safest spot to rule from was on top of the Lion's Rock (above) and built water gardens and a moat around the foot of it, and chucked in a few crocodiles for good measure.

The lions' paws and the start of the final part of the ascent.

 Today, it's a tourist attraction and visitors can climb the rock via the stairs to see the ruins of the ancient palace, not unlike the ruins of Macchu Picchu, at least the photos I have seen. On the way up we walked past the mirror wall, adorned with paintings of well-bosomed ladies in the one of the scariest (for those who are scared of heights) parts of the climb.
Many tourists were there too. We ascended the 1200 steps with them. We passed the mirror wall, and various gardens. Some parts were steps built into the rock face, at one point there was a wall between the drop and the walkers. Some impressive work to get that made!

leading up to the mirror wall.

 Finally, the last part faced us. Two giant lions' paws and steps leading to the very top. This also was very hairy, but then the view on top was spectacular. We saw the remains of the palace and grounds and even the swimming pool! Unfortunately very hazy but still a wonderful view. 1200 steps climbed and vertigo conquered - we had done well! It's really up there with some of the world's amazing places, it should be more well known. It's not quite the pyramids or Angkor Wat, nevertheless for the seeker of the world's ancient sites, it's a must-see.

Swimming pool and view at the top!

 On the way home we stopped at a temple in Matale, visited a herb garden where we were given the ins and outs of herbal medicine and had a nice buffet lunch - I should say the food is not the greatest here, at least not the restaurants. If you're like me and can't deal with spicy food, you're a bit in trouble. Everything gets a bit of chilli from a chicken sandwich to a bolognaise!

There was also a stop in Dambulla, where there are famous Buddhist temples in caves. We entered behind this huge statue of the Buddha and then... proceeded up maybe 500-600 steps. Yes, I couldn't escape steps wherever I went!

Gold Buddha, Dambulla.

 Impressed that I hadn't had a heart attack, I was sweating like crazy at this point instead! (yes, sorry, a detail you probably didn't need!) Still, the caves were nice if not mind blowing. Monkeys abounded in this area, but of more concern were the tourists, or should I say lack of locals? This place was only frequented, the afternoon we were there, by western tourists and their cameras. Yes, that includes me. But at least I didn't use the flash.

Inside one of the rock temples.

Nevertheless an interesting place to visit. We returned home via a road which was showing signs of the mud slides only a week or two before we came. Imagine sleeping in your house as the rain pours down outside and suddenly you are swept down the hill. Many people died as a result of the rain, floods and mudslides in December. And here we were touring the place. It's a strange thing to be touring an area so soon after tragedy.

So that was the day. A twelve-hour tour left us pretty tired. Next time I will tell you all about how my wallet was lifted - truly exciting stuff. lol. Until then...