Talk about colorful characters...Sometimes you meet people who live in Technicolor, no hints of Grey or taupe, full out rainbow people. Mariel, from Norway, is one of those people. I met Mariel at my Guest house, can't remember howwe met, but we decided to go Gallery hopping the next day to look at high art and some great Thai couture. I desperately was needing some culture after the bitter taste the sex trade had left in my mouth - I was starting to dislik...

I am sitting in an air conditioned cafe on the corner in a nicer part of Chiang Mai. The cafe has full surround glass so I can see the full intersection and all the comings and goings on the street. It is about 40 degrees at high noon here with about 99 % humidity. The minute you walk outside you are dripping wet and I have rented a bicycle so I had to find a place to dry off. Sometimes I even amaze myself and have to think that I seriously have developed som...

Lombongan is another island close to Bali and I headed over there with a friend from Flashback's. It was more of what I like in a destination - slow, rural, not even an ATM on the island, yet very interesting island life, gorgeous beaches, crystal clear turquoise water and spectacular sunsets. Indonesia is really famous for diving because of the diversity under the water. The water is really clear and the coral reefs are easily visible from the surface. I...

Bali - I think I will just let the pictures do most of the talking. I really didn't get a great feeling for Indonesia because the transportation system for travelers is pretty much non-existent, the country is a series of very diverse islands and it seems much of it is very crowded. Spirituality, Black Magic, Voo Doo and a bunch of other weird stuff seems to be infused into daily life and people say it takes a lifetime to understand just a little bit of the...

Singapore.On the bus as I was writing about Melaka, a young Irish girl got on about half way. She was on her own and shortly after she got on we hit the border. Borders, on buses, are very confusing. You have to get off, walk to the border of one country, go through the disembarkation paperwork showing when you are legally leaving a country as occupancy in each country is often strictly controlled via visas. Some countries you can stay 14 days, some 30 days, ...