No real plans today as I checked out at 10:00 and my bus to the airport isn’t until 23:40. I realised I’d lost my cap (it was a freebie) so decided to head into town and get a replacement. On the way, I stopped off at another hostel and sat on the pavement outside. Leeching [...]

continue reading.....

 One annoying side-effect of getting back to the hostel at 2:30am was the fact that I wasn’t going to get much sleep. I had to be ready to get on a bus at 7am that morning for the trip I’d booked. Jeanine (apologies for spelling), a German girl in our group from the night before [...]

continue reading.....

 After snoozing on the sofa for about 45 minutes, reception opened and I booked in. Provided with a sheet, a key, the keycode (finally) and a bag of plates, I dumped all my stuff and headed for breakfast. Despite having eaten the sausage and chips earlier, I’m never one to pass up free food, so [...]

continue reading.....

The budget terminal at Changi Airport was a pleasant surprise with a free laptop connection and fast internet available. The connection was good enough that I managed to Skype home and talk to my mum for the first time in… erm… ages. After converting all my remaining US and Singapore dollars to Aussie ones, I [...]

continue reading.....

 Today was almost a washout. Literally. I woke to the sound of torrential rain lashing down. Not the kind of weather wants to endure on a trip to a nature reserve. However, by 10:00 or thereabouts it had eased. The staff at the hostel warned me that it’s been “due to rain” for some time [...]

continue reading.....

Courtesy of free wireless in McDonalds (that was initially as sluggish as trying to wade through a swimming pool full of their milkshake) I have uploaded a *ton* of pictures from the Zoo and the Bird Park. All at the usual place. As ever, if you’d like any larger, better quality images then please ask [...]

continue reading.....

 Now, I’m not as huge a fan of our feathered friends as I am of the rest of the animal kingdom. However, as it was so cheap to add this one extra park to yesterday’s ticket, it seemed daft not to include it in my itinerary so I paid up and made my way there [...]

continue reading.....

 Well, this was my main reason for stopping off in Singapore – the Zoo and it’s associated Night Safari. Both are located in the same area, and as the former closes, the latter opens its doors for the night. Getting there was easy with the directions provided and the superb public transport system in Singapore. [...]

continue reading.....

 Well, my last day in HCM City was just a lot of wandering around, eating of KFC and retrieving a package from the Consulate. This contained my now-useless Nationwide card and some CDs of a tv program thoughtfully sent to me by a chap from ZZ9. It’s about Komodo Dragons and, as I’m intending to [...]

continue reading.....

As mentioned on an earlier post, I’ve now published an “Accommodation Page”. Currently covering Thailand and Vietnam, it’ll soon list every commercial place I’ve stayed (i.e. not people’s houses!) on my tour. I’ll update it as and when I use somewhere new. Feedback would be greatly appreciated via the “email” link on the right of [...]

continue reading.....