According to common folklore, baby Jesus was born some 2000 years ago. Considering how Christianity has brought two millennia of terror and suffering onto the world, why not celebrate the anniversary with a little bloodshed. Stage free for cock-fighting in the village down the road. Just as on the Philippines, the cocks have a single […]
Bangkok again
On the 4th I’m booked on a flight towards Germany, so it was time to say goodbye to Cambodia and return to Bangkok. I didn’t wanted to come here in the last minute, you never know what’ll go wrong. I really liked my time in Cambodia even though often the things I saw weren’t exactly […]
Road to Hsipaw
Aaaaaaai really don’t like bus rides. Especially not the painfully slow ones. After leaving Mandalay yesterday afternoon around 2pm, the (reasonably decent) bus crouched up the narrow and winding road towards the Shan Hills. Traffic is heavy and many times the bus has to stop to let another heavy vehicle pass a narrow turn. Two […]
Music and Dance
It’s the last day of Bisket Jatra today. Or second to last, I lost track. In comparison to huge chariots, even bigger poles and pools of chicken blood, today was almost mundane. Devotees of the various gods and goddesses walked through the streets, visiting their favourite temples. Many of them were wearing traditional Newari dresses […]
Taking the Red Pill
In the movie Matrix, the protagonist is offered a choice of two pills. Blue will make him forget all he uncovered, while red will show him the world as it really is. That analogy was given by the hostel owner when I told him how my pre-defined image of Palestine was shaken up by reality. […]
Noisy Night
Vaguely I remember Deutsche Bahn’s advertisement for overnight trains: “Arrive refreshed at your holiday location”, “Save one day of travelling”, etc. Those reasons and a good experience on a trip to Denmark years ago probably made me decide on the overnight train option. The journey started well. Turns out when you pay a little extra […]