It was 1996, a golden age of travel in Asia.  The Asian tigers were reveling in their newfound, though  illusory economic mid 90s economic boom, no one had heard of SARS or Asian bird flu yet, and Al Quaeda had not become of the common vernacular.

In March of 1996, I quit my job working as a CD-ROM producer in Boston, sold my car and the great majority of my belongings and set out on a 7 month odyssey across the U.S. and Asia from Japan to India.  I set out with a friend in a car that we got from Auto Drive-away  - a service that hooks up people with cars that need to be driven to distant places in the US (http://www.autodriveaway.com/).  We got a Ford Escort from Boston to a dinky military town south of Tucson, AZ.  We took the Greyhound (a story all it's own) from a roadside bus stop to Phoenix where a friend of mine let us crash. Then we got another drive away - a nice Honda Accord coupe that got us to San Francisco.  Once in San Francisco, I was pretty much done with automobiles - from here on out is was all planes, boats and trains.  A plane to Japan to meet an old school mate in Tokyo. A boat from Shimonoseki, Japan to Pusan, Korea. A boat from Korea to China. Trains all around China. A night bus from China to Hong Kong.  A plane to Indonesia. Buses and trains around Indonesia.  A boat to Singapore.  Buses through Malaysia to Thailand. A plane to Vietnam. A spooky van ride to Cambodia.  A boat ride up the Mekong to Ankgor. A plane to Kathmandu. A long bus ride to Varanassi, India. An overnight train ride to Jaipur.  A bus to Pushkar.  A  Taxi ride, sick, to New Delhi.  A bus back to Kathmandu to recover.  Planes from Kathmandu, to Seoul, to LA to Dayton, OH and finally back to Boston at the beginning of October 1996. Countries covered in some fashion:  Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Nepal,and India.

I had been intending to go all the way around through the middle east and through Europe, but I got sick and travel weary in India and decided that was a good enough adventure for one year.

I came back with many great pictures taking with my trusty Yashica T1 point and shoot, and I will post as many as I have time.  While the information is now nearing being 10 years old, I am happy to share these experiences.  As my time will be limited I will start with the highlights as I may not end up getting to all the different experiences I would like to share from this adventure.

First stop on the highlight reel - Indonesia........ 

 

 

My wife and I have been through the Netherlands twice.  If you're in the vicinity of Amsterdam, check out the windmills at Zaanse Schanse, just northwest of the city.  Its easily accessibly by train and you can see a few working windmills.  Check out the mustard grinding windmill, we bought a bottle and wish we had purchased more!  Southeast of Amsterdam is Utrecht, a much smaller and slower town than Amsterdam, still built on canals.  Spend a day there wandering around.  If its market day, you can pick up cheaps eats such as local cheeses, bread, pastries, etc.

 

In the southern end of Holland, squished between Belgium and Germany is Maastricht, a small college town spanning the Maas river.  We spent a day there enjoying the friendly atmosphere while trying some local food and drink.  Maastricht is very laid back and a great place to stop if you're in Koln (Cologne), Germany which is just across the border.

 

Enjoy! 

The most memorable place I ever visited was the 99 islands of Langkawi, Malaysia, my brother was sailing around the world and got stuck there, so I went out for 3 weeks and we sailed around the islands,fantastic scenery, untouched beaches and very few people except in the main town of Kuah on the only inhabited island, and they were very friendly and welcoming, a good sidenote is the place is duty free, as it's where the Malaysians, including the Royals, go for their holidays.

Chang Mai is my favourite part of Thailand, it's what I imagine Bangkok was like 50 years ago.  It has a great night market, lots of day trips in the area, and great food.  A real must is to do a one day cookery course, most of the hostels will organise them for you.  The course generally involves a trip to the market to buy your food for the days cooking followed by lots of cooking and eating, a great day out and I guarantee that when you return home you will use what you have learned to impress your family and friends.

I spent three weeks in Brazil this year and the highlight of my trip has to have been Bonito.  It is an eco tourism town located in the west of Brazil near Campo Grande.  We stayed in the youth hostel www.ajbonito.com.br and organised all the trips through them.  You have to snorkle down Rio de Prata and if your feeling a bit daring then the Abismo Anhuma is a thrilling 72 meter abseil down into a cave followed snorkelling or diving in clean water inside a cave. The food in the hostel is great value and really good homecooked Brazilian fare.

 Turks are to Germany what Indians and Pakistanis are to Britan and Italians were to New York.. Also as the Indians introduced chicken tikka masala, curry and chai to Britan the Turks introduced the döner kebab.

 And at only 1.50 euro is probably the cheapest thing people with devalued currencies can afford [me]. Germans consume 200 to 300 metric tons of döner kebab per day. In 1998, they spent about €1.5 billion on döner kebabs. Also they're are supposed more popular then the home grown Currywurst or the frankfurter

 

 

You must drink big beers, and eat big pretzels and pieces of pork at Andechs (a brewery run by monks) an easy S-Bahn ride from Munich! One of my favourite places in the world!

Pune is an interesting city in the West of India about 100 miles off India's Commercial capital, Mumbai. It's well connected and it's worth a visit if you want to spend some time in cheaper, smaller Indian city with all the metropolitan feel. From Mumbai it's a short 3 hour bus journey away. Bus leave every fifteen minutes from Dadar in Mumbai, cost about 250 Rs, [4$s] Here are some pictures I took in Pune. If you want further infomation leave me a comment. VIA trivial matters. [taking at Shaniwar Wada, Pune] Photo/Pictures are regular features on this blog and have been for some time. Here my most recent addition to my Photo diaries, the Pune Dairy. All pictures were taken in and around Pune during the last month. [Shaniwar Wada front]{note - the first picture was taken from the top balcony} [Taking in some of the sights.]

Shaniwar Wada served as a palace but nothing remains of this palace as it was gutted in a fire.

Off J.M[Jungle Maharaj] road lies, Pune oldest living heritage,The Cave Temples of Pataleshwar. [Pataleshwar Temples- Carved out of one big rock] [Orange Doorways - still Pataleshwar] [siesta time !] [Roots] After walking around you sure feel hungry. Lucky's Biriyani to the rescue. Lucky's and Cafe Goodluck are among deccan food establishmnet. Long live irani restaurants eh? [Chicken Biriyani at Lucky's - Rs 55 /-]{NOTE - yum !} [Lambadi Women - taken at my house from the terrace] With the old come the new. Pune happens to be India boom towns and has amazing growth in the past decade. Here a sparkling new mall in Pune [ Mall mania] That's all folks for now. If you want look at some more pictures go over my flickr page. Here are some my old Photo Diaries.

• Bombay
• Window Images - Delhi
• Sigiriya [Sri Lanka]

Note :: This is a place not very many people know about in Bombay/Mumbai. It would require some finding. Leave me a comment if you want to ask a specific question. I've have used some local [hindi] words. If you want larger overview on the meaning of those words you can ask again. “Pachva Gulli Right koh !