Up until last year, anyone from the UK and a ton of other countries could just fly to the US and simply put up with the intimidating, morose and short-tempered border guards who’d randomly fling you out for no reason other than their wives wouldn’t sleep with them the previous night. Or their coffee had [...]

continue reading.....

And onto the final day. Despite an early first act, I decided to scarper into Stevenage on the free bus for a McDonalds‘ breakfast. I got back in plenty of time for Henry Rollins “stand up” routine which was simply staggering. From a metal/punk singer to a one-man troublemaking human rights machine, the guy has [...]

continue reading.....

Saturday promised many goodies and was definitely the busiest day in terms of bands I wanted to see. Thankfully across the three main stages, the times had been choreographed so that there – theoretically at least – would be no clashes. Only one stage at a time was “live” and with five minutes to get [...]

continue reading.....

I couldn’t manage to get to Graspop or Download due to spending my extra couple of months holiday in Vietnam. I’m somewhat gutted as it meant I missed some class acts like Lawnmower Deth, Steel Panther, Carcass, Deicide and – of course – AC/DC. Still, I can’t deny that my 2 months abroad were, on [...]

continue reading.....

OK, this has become a bugbear over the last few weeks, especially as I spent so much of my time out there. I keep bumping into backpackers who’ve been to Halong Bay. This is no bad thing. It’s beautiful and there are plenty of tours (some basic, some dreadful and one awesome – not that [...]

continue reading.....

All good things etc. I’m sat at the HQ Hostel in Bangkok just wearing down the time before I have to head for Suvarnabhumi Airport. I get free wifi here, whereas the airport only allows 15 minutes of it. After you’ve checked in. Which I can’t do till after 5am. Given the poor weather outside, [...]

continue reading.....

Last night got messy. I made the mistake of volunteering to lead a group of people up to Finnigan’s where I then made the mistake of telling Pete the barkeep that it was my last night. I was then presented with a cocktail in a flower vase. No exaggeration. As I came close to finishing [...]

continue reading.....

I’ve only a couple of days left here and I’ve not posted in about a month which is poor form. In fairness I have been ridiculously busy and there’s been a lot of routine to the job. In addition, there’s the “what happens in the Bay, stays in the Bay” rule. So I’ll only tell [...]

continue reading.....

Quick catchup. After several tours of Halong Bay, I’ve had 2 days of to recuperate. And I needed them. Yesterday I stayed up till 4:00am to watch England be crap, then rose at 8:30am as I can’t sleep for more then 4 hours at present. I collared James, a chap from the US, and we [...]

continue reading.....

I’d expected to post more while I was out here, but I’ve been incredibly busy with work so simply haven’t had the chance. I’m working as a Tour Guide for the Hanoi Backpackers’ Hostel which is a 6-on-1-off working week. When I’m “on”, I’m away at Ha Long Bay with no internet and I don’t [...]

continue reading.....