Lomography

In such a short time Laos has carved its way into my heart with smiling people, beautiful nature and cheap beer. I arrived in Vientiane after a 12 hour bus ride from Bangkok which dropped me off at 4.30 am at Nong Khai bus station, I sat, waited...finally a tuk tuk driver came and told me the border opens at 6, we went, I sat and waited while the most breathtaking sunset lifted the veil of darkness from the sky...pink and yellow shards fighting for space on a bleak, blue canvas.

Bangkok days have slipped into unconsciousness... can't remember which day it is anymore... stay in malls for the AC and spend hours walking in the old neighbourhoods to take photos... eating at street vendours tasting the spicy, amazing food.... hanging out with David at his apartment trying to watch Wong Kar Wai dvds on his dodgy computer...watching old Rolling Stones videos at Wong's Place with rampant laughter spilling out into the corners...Taking a nice swim at Knut's house with our cousin Lina... drinking hot coffee in the mornings...eating breakfast at au bon pain... buying t-shirts and other oddities at Chatuchak and Pratunam Market... spending hours in taxis wishing the traffic would move faster... wondering about when to do a day trip to Kanchenaburi... perhaps tomorrow... what day is that?... Monday me thinks... ah... forget it...taking the wonderful river taxi's up to Banglamphu and watching all the backpackers on Khao San Rd.. Going to the cinema and standing to attention for the King...holidays are wonderful... especially ones that drag on into months instead of simply days... when tomorrow may as well be today because it makes no difference, food is cheap, rooms are cheap, the weather is fantastic and the people are friendly.

When: June 2007

In this vast ether, devoid of all but allure, I am lost. The roads have all merged into one long timeline to which photographs or short poems are added to keep memories fresh. Faces appear in my memory from time to time and I have to go back to that timeline to figure out where I met them, and what we shared. The days shrivel. They pass in blurs, sometimes a few slip by while I wrestle with sleep. The clouds lay heavy. My mind is weighed down in thought. The times are strange. My ability to move forward is hindered by options. I lay swaying in the comatose condition of the condemned.

My friend David, Maya and I arrived in Cairo early in the morning, hailed a taxi and set off to the Talat Harb area to look for hotels. Our taxi driver (working on commission basis) drove us to his hotel where we were dragged in, tiredness and the thought of a bed overweighed our energy to look for another one. The hotel was cheap but awful. The rooms were dirty and the English man who run it was frankly the biggest asshole I have met in my travels. Anyways, we checked in, caught a few hours of sleep and got up for a late breakfast. David stayed in bed all day while Maya and I went to explore Cairo.

Memories from my 3 months in Taipei, Taiwan.

After spending a few days in the wonderful city of Pakse, Laos, we decided it was time to head down to the fabled "4000 Islands", namely

After all this divine inactivity we felt that at least one day should be spent on something strenuous, to appease the conscience more than anything. So, we booked a day trip to St. Katherine's monastery and Mt. Sinai.

The day before yesterday I had lunch in Tsim Sha Tsui, wonderful lamb curry, chicken karahi and chappatis, then (energy boosted) walked to the star ferry, sat on the waves, took a rusty old tram to western market, stood and walked admiring Sheung Wan and all the small alleys with dried fish stalls, barbers, fruit and vegetables, meat laid out in fresh reds, spices and nuts in huge baskets... and I emptied my roll of film, loaded another, walked high up to the mid levels, then down through Soho...sat for an hour at pacific coffee drinking a reasonable latte and reading my Elliott Smith book.

After meeting last outside the foundry pub on an old street - under a sunny summer day - Rupert made a visit to Hong Kong. Friday night was spent heading down to the harbor, walking around central, Soho then heading home for an early night to stock up on some serious energy.

I landed in Karachi and was picked up at the airport by my host for the three days. His friend had leant him a car and we drove to his house which was not far from the airport and down the most confusing set of alleyways I have ever seen, there was no way I could ever have retraced the steps had I got lost. Anyway, there in the house I laid down my backpack, heavy after a few months of travel and book-buying. It was already late, and the sun had set outside. John asked me if I was tired, I told him not yet, and so he took me by the arm and said:"We are going to a birthday party tonight, the host will not mind if I bring you".