14 February - 6 March 2008

6 March 2008 - Day 15, Phuket

I can't stand hangovers. Generally I am pretty tolerant with sickness - rest and wait for it to pass. Hangovers I simply cannot deal with. Frustrated, I jumped out of bed and impatiently woke Adriane to go down stairs for breakfast - the only cure. Banana, toast with marmalade (we are kicking oursleves for leaving the Vegemite!), and a cup of tea or instant coffee. The breakfast comes with the room so we don't complain. (However, I am tired of it and tomorrow we will go down the road to sacrifice a few dollars for a substantial Thai breakfast.)

Adriane spent the day alone wandering the local streets. She bought a nice little red dress with elephants on it. I visited the most interesting resort I have come across so far - Indigo Pearl (www.indigo-pearl.com - their website is not very good).

Cooling down in the shade, overheating with no airconditioning, Phuket

I returned to home to find Adriane in a nearby cafe that has become our local haunt - free wireless, good coffee, and a bohemian vibe.

Dinner at the night markets. The smell of which brought Adriane's meal to a close early. Bought a new selection of local sweets to try - one pink, one brown, and two green sticky rice that we previously tried and thoroughly enjoyed. They are little jelly like cakes and I think they mostly consist of rice, coconut, sugar, and a type of bean. The first bite of the brown sweet nearly made me spew. Its tasted like chicken and then egg, then sugar, and leaves a coconut aftertaste.

I like it here...

Today cost = guesthouse (175) + fried chicken and rice (50) + 3L water (30) + assortment of sweets from the night market to try (15)

270 baht (AUD$10) - cheap

5 March 2008 - Day 14, Phuket

Its just after 6am. A slither of moon pierces the deep blue sky, gradiating towards daylight. The sky smiles because mornings are so fresh. A soft breeze embraces my chest as I watch the morning procession of monks from room 31's balcony.

The monks walk independently but are often led by a gang of street dogs or accompanied by a young man carrying their belongings. They pause at shopfronts opening for the day, collect offerings and sing prayer in return. I really enjoy watching when a car load of people on their way to work quickly pull over having spotted a monk, hop out of the car, offer food and bend to their knees, receive prayer and get back on their way. I smile to myself imagining having to perform this daily task back home.

Above me the moon has faded and the sky is now ripe orange. I bend over the balcony to be stunned by the perfect circle of sun perched at the end of the road. My first response is to grab my camera... no, its too bright now and a cliché image anyway. My second response is to share it with Adriane so I rock her body until she is half awake and ask her if she wants to see the sun. Her curiosity lifts her otherwise sleeping body and I wrap her naked body with a blanket before leading her to the balcony. She smiles like the moon did a few minutes ago and I turn to the sun. When I turn back around Adriane's head is sleeping on the rail. I lead her back inside and she burrows into bed as a creature of the night does at these moments.

We plan to spend the day at Karon beach. One of the nicer beaches we have confronted here. We intend to find somewhere cheap to stay for a week or so. Phuket Town is great but it would be novel to stay near the water for early morning swimming and walking on sand.

Rangong Road, Phuket

The day went by...

Adriane nearly passed out in the heat looking for a cheap hotel. We walked about 3kms but the heat makes every meter twice as long. Finally made it back to the beach and spent the afernoon lazing on the sand surrounded by German tourists. The Andaman sea quenched our raw skin.

In the evening we met up with a friend for dinner and drinks. He led us to his favourite bar where the owner and anyone else could jam on guitars, sing, play bongos, etc. There just happened to be a fantastic brazilian guitarist, Eduardo, in the house so the cosy bar was alive. Between the 70s and 80s rock'n'roll tunes passionately strummed by the locals Eduardo shared some amazing bossanova rhythms. I drank too much beer. Adriane ordered a cup of tea. Our guesthouse was only around the corner.

Rice puppy, Karon Beach

Too much sun, Karon Beach

Today cost = guesthouse (175) + bus to Kata (25) + water (90) + beach chair hire (100) fried rice with chicken, fried noodles with shrimp (100) + bus to Phuket town (25) + beef in oyster sauce, tom yum soup, garlic fried fish, a few Singha beers (200) + 5 beers with nuts at bar (300)

1015 baht (AUD$37) - expensive

4 March 2008 - Day 13, Phuket

6.33am, room 31 balcony

Adriane stayed at home this morning when I left. No shower or shave and I had to piss standing from the bathroom doorway. Adriane had a more difficult task of falling back onto the toilet bowl from the doorway and then heaving herself back up. Thankfully the same woman plunging madly last night managed to fix it today. Adriane supervised the repairs. What a luxury it is to have a fully functional bathroom again.

Blocked pipes, room 31

I thought I was losing weight quicky here but now I realise I am gaining quite quickly. Too may soft drinks I think. Because the food is so salty I crave sweetness and because the food is so hot I crave cold drink. Hence I find myself consuming a couple of cans of Coke in one day. Plus we are eating a lot of rice. I didn't want to have to consciously exercise. I thought all the walking we do would be enough. Perhaps I'll cut down on soft drinks and see how that goes.

One of my friends does weights at a gym nearby. In his broken English and my mumbles of Thai we like comparing prices of things. A whole years membership at his gym costs 600 baht - a little over AUD$20. Perhaps I will join.

6:55am, room 31 balcony

Today Cost = guesthouse (175) + 2 coffees & a slice of cake to share (90) + sticky rice & other brightly coloured sweets to try (36) + crab omellete, greens with crispy pork, garlic squid, rice & pepsi (130)

431 baht (AUD$16) - moderate

3 March 2008 - Day 12, Phuket

When we returned home tonight at 8pm our shower water had not subsided. The morning showers remained on the floor in front of us and the smell had potential to develop into something really pungent. I told the lovely lady at the desk and she got into it right away - plunger and gumboots. She apologised profusely and unfortunately could not completely solve the problem tonight. She is calling in the contractors tomorrow. She worked very hard at her plunging and I felt very sorry for her. We could hear her at it for about 15 minutes next door after she left our water closet. It is the 'developing world' after all. Although, I imagine a room in Australia for a little over $5 a night would have its share of difficulties.

I think I like it here.

Picking up some useful Thai phrases such as, 'I'm hungry', 'I'm tired', 'Are you good?', 'Hi', 'Thank you', 'Excuse me', and 'Very good'. It is amazing how few words we need to get by. Not in the sense that everyone speaks English, I mean we don't really need words in general to get by.

Cindy and Adriane, Phuket

Exotic home, Phuket

Today cost = guesthouse (175) + 3L water (30) + 1kg laundry (50) + crispy pork, lemongrass fish, beef soup, rice, 2 Heinekens (150)

405 baht (AUD$15) - moderate

2 March 2008 - Day 11, Phuket

Our room was cleaned today for the first time in a week. Its nice to have fresh sheets in this humidity. My clothes don't seem to last more than one wear before either stinking or endowing a general stickiness. The other problem is the water in our shower retreats very slowly down the drain pipe. They had obviously tried to fix it today because an empty box of drain degreacer and a plunger remain, except the water seems to be travelling even slower now. Adriane doesn't seem to mind the local plumbing, but when the shower shares the space with toilet and sink and I have to wade through my watered down sweat to take a piss or wash my hands, I get a tad aggrovated. I will attempt to take it up with the staff tomorrow. Nothing works today.

We had a meeting at Friendship Beach which possessed an ironically unfriendly vibe. Waiting for the bus a handful of taxi drivers told us there would be no more buses today - Sunday. They lied and I had to hold on for my life to the back of the loaded 25 baht livestock transport. Nothing works today.

We debated about returning an obviously pirated DVD that didn't work to the shopfront that charged us an outrageous $4 for it. The shopkeeper said sure here is another one and if it doesn't work come back again. It didn't work. Nothing works today.

We could't decide what to eat for dinner. I tried to order some chicken from a street vendor. She ignored me and served everyone else, probably couldn't be bothered with jerked translation. Found another street vendor with great looking fried chicken and rice. Walking home I realised we had no cuttlery or bowls to dispense our plastic bags of soup in. Nothing works today.

The laptop battery is about to die. Nothing works today...

Friendship Beach, Phuket

Hanging from back of bus to Phuket Town

Bus to Phuket Town

Other modes of transport, Phuket

Except, most of the video files should be working on this website. The only ones that have not yet been uploaded are Princess of Paradise, Gameface, Solidarity Act I, and 125th of Hanoi. Please download the others to your computers and share them around. I hope they are enjoyable, informative, and revealling.

Today cost = guesthouse (175) + bus to Friendship Beach (25) + lunch with drinks (200) + bus to Phuket town (25) + fried chicken and rice dinner (30) + 1.5L water and can of coke (50)

505 baht (AUD$18) - moderate

1 March 2008 - Day 10, Phuket

Wat Phra Thong

Adriane & Ton at Wat Phra Thong, Phuket

The story goes something like this...

A young buffalo farmer tied the rope of his buffalo to a hard post like object protruding in one of his fields. The boy returned home and suddenly died. The father cremated his son and on fetching the buffalo found it had also died. He was surprised to find the potruding object and on clearing some more he realised it was the tip of a Buddha image.

When local villagers dug at the image plagues of wasps descended, no more than head of the solid gold image was to be revealed. The Prince ordered a shelter to protect it.

Sometime in the 18th century Thailand was inaved by ruthless Burmese armies. Phuket was occupied. It was now the Burmese turn to dig at the image. It is said armies of ants amassed and killed hundreds of Burmese soldiers. They were driven away with the image remaining at the neck.

In later years Burma threaten Phuket again and the original head was disguised by a larger Buddha head directly over it. I encountered this disguise today.

Back of disguised Buddha image, Wat Phra Tong, Phuket

One of our friends was disgusted when some foreigners he was working with jokingly touched him on the head. This is not something you do in Thailand. Interestingly, Thais consider the head to be the most sacred part of the body. The boy and his buffalo were trully out of line for roping their lowliness to the head of the holiness, hence their sudden death.

Today cost = guesthouse (175) + 3L water (30) + donation to temple (20) + espresso & mocha with two slices of mudcake (180) + five beers hamburger and chicken wings at Irish Pub (650) + 3L water and milo popper (50)

1105 baht (AUD$40) - expensive

29 February 2008 - Day 9, Phuket

Taksun is back and facing corruption charges. Apparently politics shares similar stage to the English premier football league. Pick a side and they're yours. Wait for locals to speak to you before voicing an opinion. Taxi drivers have been known to kick people out for disagreeing with their political team.

We had a screeching hot lunch. Burning for hours. We were in tears with fiery lips and choked laughter.

Kissing swans, Phuket

Attended the start of a beach Reggae party on Kata Beach. The music was crap but it was cool to see Thai Rastafarians.

Surprisingly one of our friends is into dog fighting. He has trained five pitbulls. I asked if we could arrange for me to photograph an event. He said there are too many Thai mafia involved and it is not possible. I told him in Australia pit-bulls are banned because they eat children (he has a three year old toddler). He said they only eat children when they are not fighting enough and if one of his dogs attacked his family he would have it for dinner.

Today cost = guesthouse (175) + pastries (40) + fried rice and prawn noodles with coke (100) + 3 beers (240)

555 baht (AUD$20) - moderate

28 February 2008 - Day 8, Phuket

Having overcome my runny season and taken a few breaths about what our purpose was we decided to spend a day at Kata beach. It was cloudy and wet but we enjoyed the salty water and empty beach.

Dissapointed by the weather but not the crowds, Kata Beach, Phuket

Today cost = guesthouse (175) + 3L water (30) + bus to beach (25) + toilet (5) + internet (20) + 3 soft drinks (80) + garlic chicken and vegetable noodles (100) + taxi to Phuket town beause we missed the last bus (200) + bikini (300) + satay chicken and noodles (100)

1035 baht (AUD$38) - expensive

27 February 2008 - Day 7, Phuket

Adriane and I are starting to interrogate what we are doing here and if we should just keep moving. Niether of us think we could stay here for very long. I don't think we are really passionate about much here and are finding ourselves drifting into a frustrated restlessness. That said we are in no hurry and it has only been one week. Time to be patient.

Nevertheless we had a very funny excursion to the Butterfly Garden. Adriane was at one with her coloured companions. The garden had an incredible collection of (live) butterflies, spiders and insects. It was expensive but we felt we needed a tourism hit - plus it was trully interesting.

Our tuk-tuk driver convinced us to go to a jewellery market nearby for five minutes so he could get a 'stamp'. It was a huge store filled with tasteless metals and stones. Flocks of store attendants pestered potential buyers, however they were accute enough realise we weren't spending anything and rapidly shooed us out.

We got lost walking the streets in the evening and eventually retired to an enjoyable movie on the laptop.

I am starting to question if we could like it here. We would need to learn the language, develop a greater interest in the region, and find a rewarding purpose.

Adriane meeting some new friends at the Butterfly Gardens, Phuket Town

Posing to the sunset on our guesthouse balcony, Phuket Town

Today cost = tuk-tuk (100) + butterfly gardens (300) + Thai omellete with prawn and noodle filling (150) + Bourne Ultimatum DVD (120) + blank DVDs (280) + Mister Donut (20) + Ice Mango Juice (65) + Water (30) + guesthouse (175)

1240 baht (AUD$45) - expensive

26 February 2008 - Day 6, Phuket

It is pathetic that the third largest killer in the world is diarrhoea, especially when 50% of travellers that visit developing countries are affected by it. Today was my turn.

I did not get a bad fever. I did not make a mess of my underwear. It did not affect our itinerary. But it was uncomfortable.

We had a really good night with Ton and Chai - fried chicken (a local muslim speciality far better than KFC), deep fried fish balls, noodles and fish, and a few too many Heinekens. Celebrating the end of our weekend.

When we got home I foolishly took a diarrhoea 'bomb' - diarrhoea antibiotic and diarrhoea stopper. A few hours of sleep past before I awoke to a spinning room, blurry eyes, stomach churning. The remnants of solidity in my stomach exploded out my mouth into the toilet boil.

In the morning I felt fine. I took another 'bomb' - seen as the last one was gone - and everything was back to normal.

Phuket Town

Today Cost = guest house (175) + water (30)

205 Baht (AUD$7.50) - cheap

25 February 2008 - Day 5, Phuket

The video files of my projects are not uploaded to the website yet, sorry for any inconvenience.

Adriane was left alone to wander the streets today. Thankfully she didn't take the chance to run off with Indian Navy Sailors hassling her in the shopping mall.

I visited a villa worth AUD$10 million on a southern cape of Phuket. Because it was on a cape you can watch the sunrise over the water on one side and see it set over water on the other side, stunning.

Here is a photo from our balcony at the guesthouse we just moved in to...

View from room 31 around 7:30am, Phuket Town

Ton & Chai in Tuk-tuk

The Tuk-Tuks in Phuket don't have three wheels, in fact they have four and look like ugly little trucks rather than the cute three-wheelers I associated the name to.

Adriane taught me some new card games over large cans of Heineken before finding some food.

I think I like it here

Today Cost = Croissant & Coffee (150) + motorbike (80) + laundry (25) + beer & prawn crackers (80) + claypot dinner (150) + guesthouse (175)

660 baht (AUD$24) - moderate

24 February 2008 - Phuket Day 4

Check out of cushy hotel and into a cheap guesthouse - which unfortunately does not provide much bed linen or bath towels. Spend the afternoon at the beach.

Patong is dreadful. I am glad to be staying in Phuket town. Expensive, shit food, crappy markets, overcrowded beach with jet ski's resembling those mosquitoes that keep you awake buzzing through the night. Not my idea of a "getaway" or of Thai culture. There is more Starbucks coffee and hamburgers in Patong than there is Tom Yum soup. I hope I do not find a reason to return to that dump.

Adriane is sleeping soundly at the moment. We both had extremely painful massages leaving us very relaxed and floppy. The guest house is great. In the old part of town. A jazz concert down the road accompanies the red lanterns lining the street, the ambience of both are floating over our balcony and through the window shutters. A beautiful evening.

Today cost = water (15) + bus (20) + horrible lunch in Phatong (120) + bus (20) + Local mobile sim-card with credit (250) + 1h Thai massage (250) + Noodles and satay (75) + towel (100) + water and snack (20) + guest house (175)

1045 baht (AUD$38) - expensive

23 February 2008 - Phuket Day 3

Over lunch today Adriane commented that I looked like the monk on the calender. You must never compare the king to anyone like that, replied our friend. We did not know it was the King but we are quickly realising how the nation embraces their monarchy. How could you not look upto such a good artist and musician - the same friend later played us a few of the King's original blues scores. Apparently the King is a formidable saxophinist and claronet player, trained in Switzerland and has shared the stage with many great Jazz musicians.

The King also loves photography. Canon make sure they pop him their latest model in the post to make sure everyone knows how to take a royal photograph (I use Nikon myself). Nevertheless his presence on billboards, in restaurants, and calenders in this instance give me the sense he is much admired.

The King of Thailand as seen in a restaurant near Surin Beach, Phuket

The same friend that played us a tune written by the king also introduced me to another interesting aspect of Thai music culture. As a fourty-something year old he grew up during the Vietnam war - and Thailand ofcourse was a popular place for R&R, as it continues to be I guess. Anyway, the Thai population was inundated with American rock'n'roll. This friend of ours speaks English pretty good, but when I closed my eyes while he sang I would have swore this was an American before me. Since noticing this generation of Thai inluenced rock'n'roll I often catch them humming a line or responding to a question with a famous lyric, such as "... the answer my friend is blowing in the wind."

22 February 2008 - Phuket Day 2

I forgot how debilitating the heat is in South-East Asia. We took what looked like a short walk to the closest bay this morning and were exhausted for the rest of the day.

It is a public holiday so the streets are very quiet.

Strolling through the "old" part of town we came across a geat little roti shop for lunch. Two meals with drinks cost less than AUD$3. The roman script menu was a little more expensive than the thai menu but I guess a translation surchage is reasonable. We retired to our hotel room for the afternoon, both of us with heat induced headaches, remedied by B-grade american cable movies and Mister Donuts.

We peeled ourselves out of the stiff bed sheets to meet up with John and Jade with their son Zen for dinner by the water. Traditional Thai seafood. Chilli is still a novelty for both of us and a challenge to tolerate. I'm sure we will get use to it. Because the fish sauce, garlic and curry flavours are so good the heat is not completely overwhelming. Crab, little clam things, rum and soda, tom yum soup, banana leaf seafood, and a Singha.

We discussed photography - the pros and cons of digital versus film, lighting equipment... - a ritual fellow photographers must go through on introduction. What do you use?

We discussed cultural differences - overprotective Thai mothers, sex changes, infrastructure development, tourism...

It was a very enjoyable evening. Adriane and I were wrecked by the time we made it back to room 916.

The transport here is hopeless and very expensive. Taxis, tuk-tuks, and scooters all over-charge and are hard to find outside of the tourist centers. Apparently they rip off a few tourists at the start of the day and then don't bother going back to work. Fair enough.

I think we'll like it here.

Daily cost = AUD$40 per person (expensive)*

*We are staying in a hotel until Sunday that is $30 per person per night. We are moving to a guesthouse that is $5 per person.

21 February 2008 - Phuket Day 1

Today is actually the 22nd. Yesterday I wrote a few hundred words about our first day in Thailand and some reflections on the trip to our hotel. Frustratingly I accidently deleted what I wrote and did not bother re-writing it. I spoke about the quick flight followed by a hour long queue at immigration. I commented on the tourist industry stopping our taxi halfway to our hotel in order to try and sell us trips and bookings - our driver left us in the hands of a young woman who was sure she could give us the best deals. Eventually we made it the quaint air-conditioned room 916 and took a nice stroll around town. Phuket town seems to possess a relaxed and assured character - I think we will like it here.

View from room 916 at 5:34am, Phuket Town

17 February 2008

If you are having trouble accessing the video files from the website it is because they have not been uploaded yet. They should be available over the next few days. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Isn't it a great idea to get documentary photographers to shoot weddings rather than wedding photographers?

14 February 2008

In less than a week now Adriane and I will be flying to Phuket. We don't know how long we will be there or wether we will stay in Phuket or continue travelling through Cambodia and up through Vietnam. The train route looks interesting and cheap. I am very excited and hope to keep a daily weblog at this address to keep the curious consciences caring. There should be plenty of images.

You may have noticed that there have been some significant updates to the website. I am keen to hear how the MPEG-4 video files work on various computers and browsers. The video files should be able to play on recent model iPods or simply kept in your iTunes library. Please download the movie files and share them with your friends and family. The files are reasonably large but the quality is good.

Tomorrow I am picking up my Volume II DVD featuring my personal projects for 2007 - Gran&me, Protest Days, and 125th of Hanoi. It is a limited first run of only 100 DVDs. Please email me if you are interested in a copy or simply download the video files from the project gallery. Both Gran&me and Protest Days are predominately video stories so I do not intend to upload image galleries for these projects.

Lastly, I found Kevin Rudd's apology yesterday incredibly moving and I felt a wave of assurance come over me that perhaps the country is in compassionate hands. It is no small feat for a politician to appear honest let alone say sorry for a century of injustice.

Do everybody elses dogs house an army of fleas at the moment? Must be the rain.

14 February - 6 March 2008 (Phuket)

7 March - 16 March 2008 (Phuket/Phi Phi Island)

17 March - 28 March 2008 (Phuket)

29 March - 7 April 2008 (Phuket/Bangkok/Chiang Mai/Pai)

8 April - 18 April 2008 (Chiang Mai/Bangkok)

19 April - 28 April 2008 (Siem Reap/Phnom Penh)

29 April - 5 May 2008 (Phnom Penh/Saigon)

6 May - 15 May 2008 (Hanoi/Ninh Binh/Sapa)

16 May - 27 May 2008 (Sapa/Hanoi/Ha Long Bay/Hué/Hoi An/Doc Let/Mui Ne)

28 May - 7 June 2008 (Saigon/Phnom Penh/Siem Reap)

8 June - 15 June 2008 (Siem Reap)

16 June - 24 June (Siem Reap/KL/Austinmer)