Author Archives: haonowshaokao

Beijing: househunting, housetrapping, housebaiting

The plan, as much as it existed, had been to find a job with a flat. The two were supposed to arrive together. In all the hassle of getting here, though, both were indefinitely delayed, and after a couple of … Continue reading

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Northern Thailand

It was the opposite of a shock to return to Thailand after my time in Laos – not pleasant familiarity, but an easiness that doesn’t fit in that well with my idea of travel, whatever that is. Not that anything … Continue reading

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Up the Mekong

Like much of the other travel advice I’d been offered, the description of the Mekong boat trip as ‘not worth the bother’ turned out to be completely untrue. The three cities had been great, but much of the time something … Continue reading

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Laos Part 2 – Luang Prabang

The bus journey from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang was in some ways worse than the one from Siem Reap. In its favour it was at least half full, or half empty, so I had a double seat to myself, … Continue reading

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Last Night A DJ Killed My Dog #012 – Flying

Though I’m of the traveling persuasion, I don’t take that many flights. It seems a little wasteful if I do – there’s no hurry and I want to see as much of the journey as I can. Tonight I am … Continue reading

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Laos pt 1 – Vientiane and Vang Vieng

After a night in Bangkok (which I’ll write about a bit later) I took a “sleeper bus” to the Thai-Lao border. It didn’t have beds, but the reclining chairs went back far enough for the journey to be bearable. As … Continue reading

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Siem Reap, Angkor and a few buses

It would’ve been nice to have stayed on in Phnom Penh a couple more days at least, but time was starting to run out and I was eager to see Cambodia’s biggest draw, Angkor Wat. Tyler was off back to … Continue reading

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Phnom Penh

For every disappointment like Saigon there’s at least a few pleasant surprises, like Phnom Penh for example. What makes it so different from the former is hard to say, though. If Saigon is a red light safari then Phnom Penh … Continue reading

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Last Night A DJ Killed My Dog #011 – Robots

Bit of a long podcast this time, and many more tracks I’d have liked to put in, and a few I didn’t think of in time. 1. Fat Truckers – Anorexic Robot 2. Add (N) to X – Metal Fingers … Continue reading

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Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)

Sooner or later there was bound to be a city I just didn’t take to, and that city turned out to be Saigon – a slightly unfortunate note to leave Vietnam on. I suppose things started badly on the train … Continue reading

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