An ominous notice at a second-hand bookstore in Chiang Mai warned the unwary to purchase a booklet entitled “Slow Boat to Luang Prabang” because it “might save your life.” But there were none of these booklets in evidence so we decided to take the trip anyway. We may never know how close we came to …
For a country with an average monthly income of around $100, there are an astonishing number of late-model sport utility vehicles – and more pickup trucks than you’d see on an Alberta highway. There is a tax of 100% on these so the price must be around $50,000 for the ubiquitous Toyota Hilux pickups. (Note: …
All photos in this post are courtesy of Anton Ponomarenko. Thanks, Anton Climbed in the afternoon on New Year’s Eve, more or less resigned (comfortable even) that I wasn’t going to maintain my string of climbing 5.11 or equivalent every year since 1975. Too bad, but it had to end some time and the year …
Judging by the bus ride, the roads in Thailand are pretty good. And the driving is more restrained than that provided by Indian bus drivers. Gentle lane changes, rare horn usage. Thai buses, or at least the VIP class I was travelling in, are quite luxurious but the seats are upstairs and the bus seems …