And to be frank, although it has been interesting it is now nice to have finally got to the end of the Asian leg of the journey. Since my last communique I have travelled the 1000 miles (1600 km, Christophe!) from
Thailand through Malaysia to Singapore where we are just 100 miles from the equator. It has been very interesting to see how the countries have become steadily more "westernised" as we have travelled down. The differencebetween here and India could not be more marked. Here, just dropping litter on the ground or jaywalking results in a few public whippings. Mmm, nice.
Anyway, after the poverty and lack of social thought of India it is a nice change. I can't help wondering however that this is perhaps too far the other extreme. Whatever, in each country we have visited in Asia it is clear that the people are much gentler, more patient and generally more individualistic than at home, with all the advantages and disadvantages that come with these characteristics. The people certainly aren't free in this country and perhaps too free in India; getting the right balance, especially given the precarious mixture of races and religions in every country we have visited, is perhaps impossible.
The beaches and islands down the coast as we travelled south were superb. The water was so hot! Malaysia is still noticably British in places, which is nice. We leave for Sydney tomorrow, I can't wait. Unfortunately we are arriving right in the middle of gay Mardi Gras. Not too sure about that.
Managed to pick up a few bargains in Malaysia. Got a lovely watch for aboutfive pounds. Completely fake, the real one costs nearer two hundred so will probably stop tomorrow.
Well, must be off before the humidity gets too much and the heavens open. I will be glad to leave Chinese food well behind. They can stick their damn noodles.
Hope all is well. How was Wembley Jon?
Sorry this was a very boring email but I'm in a bad mood because my camera broke.
Speak to you soon,
Ian
South-East Asia
Sydney
Brisbane
Childers
Darwin
Melbourne
New Zealand
Hawaii
Vancouver