Nommable nugget of updatey goodness
… no not that one. The internet is very regulated in mainland China so if you want to communicate with me while I’m here you’ll have to go old school and email me
Alternatively you could try the WeChat app but it appears to be 50/50 who is permitted to use it and who needs to be “authorised”…
In Changi’s Terminal 4, a fine, cooling mist descends from a leafy avenue. Fish swim in ponds beneath the butterfly garden, and primates rest in a plethora of bright and comfy places they’d found.
I hadn’t yet left the bright lights and clean edges of Singapore, but what I saw in this eden was as surprising to me as what I hoped waited for me in the deep jungles of Borneo.
In the air the sun sets in to a rusty brown horizon. The dark water becomes a deep space, speckled with the starlight of passing boats.
Once or twice a red dwarf flickers by, as we pass the oil rigs of the South China Sea. Then finally the coast arrived. A golden nebula of lights, the remnants of life gone supernova. Its glistening filaments emerging from the rainforest.
“What adventures await me down there?” I’d wondered. But tomorrow, gliding across 30km of that same water, still not arrived at my first tour destination, I’d realise the adventure had begun back in that airport.
Perhaps in future I’d let the journey be less about the function and more part of the experience.
I sat back in the boat, gobbled down the last segment of my orange and let the cool spray of the sea clean my hands.
I may be cursing myself, but so far, everything we’ve planned has worked out well. Even when Simon reserved our room in Galle for the night before we arrived. There were no problems. Shironey the proprietor of Beach Haven Guesthouse welcomed us and was a font of information.
“Big Mamma” as she became affectionately known, showed us that your accommodation has the connections you need first and foremost. But also most of the Tuk Tuk drivers will also be able to get you an air conditioned taxi if you’re travelling further. Fifty minutes of hair-raising Tuk Tuk at 5am between Galle and Mirissa is all we could handle!
WiFi can usually be found in the rooms, cafes and even on the beach in this case!
For our £1 train journey I’d looked on The Man In Seat 61 but a man outside the station approached us unpromted and told us everything we needed to know.
In and around Colombo, if you’re lucky enough to have a non-extortionate mobile data connection, get the PickMe app for your phone. If not, get it anyway and use it from your room to give you a price estimate then get out there and have fun trying to get a good deal.
Rome2Rio is another good site for getting an estimate to help your bartering but before you get all worked up like I did on my first try, please remember you’re probably arguing for the sake of a few quid.
Revalation! Apparently you can just tap in and out with a regular contactless debit card to travel on the Tube in London.
I should have twigged this after another trip when I’d spent 2 minutes holding up a bus vehemently denying I had a card to use with the contactless payment.
No folks, it’s not just those smug oyster lot that can get around easily now. Just make sure you tap in and out to avoid paying the highest fare.
TfL Contactless for more info.
Here lies the tales of my adventures around the world and into my soul. My imminent trip, so dubbed the #MidLifeCrisisTour by some, I hope, will involve some sort of discovery of self rather than just discovery of smelly hostels. If I find even a fraction of what I found in https://findingitaly.wordpress.com it’ll have all been worth it.
One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things – Henry Miller
