China Scam Count: Grifters 3, Us 4
Please don’t get me wrong. I love China. But, over the last couple of weeks, it’s really felt as though China’s not loving me back....
Category: Mishaps
Comedy Highlights Of Motorbiking Asia With A Child
I have a bunch of funny motorbike stories from our trip across Indonesia and Timor Leste that I never got time to write up. Here’s...
More Adventures in the Ijen: Escape from the Toxic Lake
Before we can escape the lake of farts for the coffee plantation, there is, as ever, the little matter of our motorbike. After our ordeal...
Z Versus the Lake of Farts
After our trials and tribulations getting to Ijen, the mountain refuge feels, well, gooooood… Basic, sure. But basic in a good, sweet, simple way. We’re...
The Road to the Lake of Farts
Frankly, on arrival in Bali I feel like kissing the ground, Pope-style. Or, as Z puts it, “Civilisation! We’re back in civilization.” We have a...
Time For A Travel "Plan" Rethink…
We’ve crossed five Indonesian islands to get to Kupang, and had to abandon our mission to Papua. Clearly, it’s time for a travel “plan” rethink....
And, Once Again, All Roads Lead To Bali…
“Could you find out what day the next boat to Papua leaves?” I ask Aka. We’ve ploughed our way east from Bali on our undersized...
Yes, You Can Lock Your Keys In A Motorbike
When I was in my (very) early teens, my mother ran out of petrol while taking me home from school. She set off, on foot,...
A Tight Corner
Eating cold fried eggs and soggy white bread in the convent, under the scrutiny of a spreadeagled plastic Christ and an increasingly baleful Pope, Z...
The Great Hot Springs Disaster
The rhythms of life at the convent in Ruteng do not encourage sloth. The sisters start their day early, in their cells up the hill,...