The water transport system in Bangkok is a quick, cheap and efficient way to get around the city. Yes, the boats spray water back at the passengers, but they come equipped with tarps that function as splash guards. Unfortunately, this being Thailand, you'll only occasionally find a boat where those splash guards actually do function. Many visitors are familiar with the … [Read more...]
Fat Man on a Little Bus
I started this series on annoying tourists a while back, figuring I would pull from my virtually endless supply of material and add to it from time to time. It's been a while since the first post, so I've decided to add a second and write about a Chinese guy I got stuck next to on the 22 hour bus ride from Lanzhou to Dunhuang in China's Gansu Province. I've also decided … [Read more...]
Finishing the Loop With a Tour of Lao Bike Repair Shops
We hung out at Hin Poun Viewpoint at the top of the pass for a bit, admiring the view, taking pictures and enjoying some celebrity treatment at the hands of a group of Laotian college students on break. Basically that involved every one of us posing for various pictures with every one of them, as us westerners are often asked to do in Asia. After that, we had a thrilling … [Read more...]
Exploring Gigantic Kong Lo Cave by Boat
At its entrance, Kong Lo (Konglor) Cave is relatively narrow, but once you get in a ways, it widens considerably. In some places it apparently gets up to 90 meters wide and 100 meters high. At narrower points, the river fills the cave from wall to wall; when the cave widens, you even get a beach at one point, with what appeared to be pure white sand, although it was impossible … [Read more...]
Another Detour in Search of Another Nonexistent Attraction
After we left the little village, we had a few hours of bad roads ahead of us. We picked our way through the obstacles in the road slowly, stopping a bunch of times to take pictures of the very strange and unique, post-apocalyptic-looking landscape along this section of the motorbike 'loop'. We also stopped once for another flat tire, this time on a different bike … [Read more...]