around the world in 80 ways...

Tut tuks waiting for the tourists to come out of the Royal Palace, Bangkok, June 2006.


I read recently that some guys travelled round the world and managed to use 80 different types of transport. I think that would be difficult. The only plausible items I can think of on my trip are
Foot
Car
Taxi
Plane
Bus
Tram
Trolleybus
Funicular
Cable car
Metro
Rickshaw
Bike
Motorbike
Swimming
Ferry
Canoe
Speedboat
Long tail boat
Jet ski
Lorry
Elephant
Horse
Camel
Electric car
Golf cart
Tuk tuk
Saung Taew
Travelator
Hong Kong escalator

...well, if I manage 29 that's about the best I could hope for (would Space Mountain at Hong Kong Disneyland count?). 180? Forget it!

the side trips 3: more south east asia

The Mekong delta, taken last year when I went with Ian and Yasser to the area from Saigon





After Saigon the plans become a little vaguer. I have allowed plenty of time for travel in SE Asia but will probably not pre-book much and just go as the fancy takes me. I will probably travel up the Mekong to Phnomh Penh, then across country to Thailand. Having spent a little bit of time on the river when there in November 2005, I think this could be a rewarding experience. From then on it's anyon'e guess for a while. I certainly intend to spend some time learning scuba diving then putting it into practice, and this might be somewhere like Phuket. I would also like to visit northern Thailand and the cross into Laos.
It's possible to rejoin the Mekong near the Thai border and travel up to Luang Prabang , the world heritage site in northern Laos, in about 2 days; then perhaps a few days trekking would be a good plan.
Mel urged me to go to KL for Chinese New Year, because he and others will be there then, so that's another possibility...

just so I can get a pic in my profile!

Probably one of the best pictures of me taken recently - by Yasser when we were in Paris for a weekend. Thanks Yasser!