Backpacking With A Bunion
A Journey of Discovery and Adventure in South East Asia
by
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I lay hot and sweaty in the bare whitewashed room, bathed in the glare of blue neon. Above me the incessant whirring of the ceiling fan did little to pierce the hot sultry air. As I wiped my brow, a cockroach scuttled in a dark corner and a friendly gecko awaited its next mosquito meal. Outside in the street I could hear the roar of túk túks and next door the squeaking of bed springs and laughter. Memories of Alex Garland’s “The Beach” immediately sprang to mind. I had well and truly arrived in Banglumpoo and the Khao San Road.
People often used to denigrate Banglumpoo as a backpacker’s ghetto, but I think it's a great location. Just five minutes to the river for the ferry to other sights and access to the Skytrain. A great innovation in such a crowded city, where you can see most of the sights in air conditioned elevated comfort. Much better than bus, taxi or túk túk (a three-wheeled and very noisy motorised vehicle). The Grand Palace and Museum are only a stone’s throw away and Chinatown not much further. Loads of guest houses, restaurants and cheap eats.
Cambodia is famous for two things. Angkor Wat and the Killing Fields. The first is arguably the most monumental architectural achievement of man, the second is man at his most destructive and depraved. Seven hundred years separate them; it was the Ancient Khmers who built the Angkor temples between the 9th and 13th centuries and it was the Khmer Rouge who decimated more than two million of their fellow citizens in the 1970’s. Creative genius and the flowering of a civilisation versus the genocidal madness of Pol Pot and his fellow psychopaths. Strange bedfellows indeed. And proof again of the impermanence of all things.
A huge array of floats with Jesus and Mary statues bedecked with flowers and festooned with flashing fairy lights, was heading to the Quirino Grandstand. Great throngs of people came dressed in their finery, many looking like American evangelists. Dancers in beaded and feathered headdresses with blacked out faces and garish costumes and young boys banging away on drums, in a Rio-style carnival atmosphere. The Philippines version of Mardis Gras. The participants went on stage and the floats lined up in front of the stadium. Then began the singing and the dancing and the drumming in this other worldly celebration of life. Statues of the Virgin Mary were held high (strangely they were all white skinned with curly blonde hair) as speeches were made and incantations recited.
On day two the real hiking begins - a 2.4 km trail up through the forest rising 1200 metres to the viewpoint on Gunung Api. The humidity was stifling and I was just covered in sweat, so I stripped down to my swimming trunks. Nothing is dry in the rainforest. Finally nearing the summit it really is an adventure playground - but for adults only. An assault course that could be used in army training. Fifteen aluminium ladders, assorted ropes and iron rings all contained within sharp limestone pinnacles, caves, crevices and dense moss covered forest. One slip and you would fall onto the rocks and receive some serious damage.
As soon as we arrived at the jetty we saw them and even more lying in shade under the trees. Quite cute with their grinning faces, long forked tongues, rippling muscles and sharp claws. I managed to get really close to one - maybe 3 metres away for some good pictures. It certainly wasn’t as dangerous as all the literature makes out. I was used to seeing the smaller monitor lizards and most of the time these dudes are pretty sluggish. However if provoked they can sprint for short distances up to 20 mph, so be prepared to make a quick dash. For the record, the Komodo Dragon is the largest lizard on the planet and can grow up to three metres long.
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About the Book
‘Backpacking With A Bunion’
is a travelogue of discovery and adventure across the countries of S E Asia. The journey begins in Bangkok - where else; and ends up on the island of Flores in Indonesia. My story as a mature ‘gapper’ is outlined in the Introduction, as well as some of the highlights from my trip. The reader if so inclined could follow my journey on a map - it works quite well as a jigsaw, though I have certainly left plenty of room for flexibility and spontaneity. Travel, like life is not always straightforward, but that’s the joy in it.
Each chapter is given a descriptive heading to provide a unique flavour to the areas visited. They are roughly in chronological order to give a sense of continuity to my travelling over a period of eighteen months, but could stand alone as set pieces. I have tried to make the book as varied as possible with various quotations, travellers' tales and humour and more serious religious, cultural, political and environmental observations.
I have included some facts and figures (where appropriate) on history, geography, transport arrangements, places of interest and personal experiences, thus painting a picture in words of sights, sounds and happenings.
The book concludes with S E Asia in a nutshell, a summary of what the traveller might expect and emphasising that travelling changes the traveller. And hopefully reading this book will change the reader’s perspective too.
About the Author
I live to travel. It is in my blood. It is when I am at my happiest and most exuberant, confident and full of the joys of life. In my twenties it was Europe by InterRail, in my thirties it was the odd package tour, but in my forties I finally broke free from my humdrum bourgeois existence and headed to Africa. Five months in trucks, buses, coaches, pick-ups and God knows what else, overlanding across ten countries from Nairobi to Cape Town.
But I also have a passion for the natural world. My idea of heaven would be somewhere in the rainforest, home to over half the earth’s plant and animal species. I’ve worked in an animal sanctuary, a garden centre and plant nursery, and been involved in Green politics and campaigning. And I’m vegetarian. So I suppose you could say travel, trees and the environment are my bag.
South-East Asia was next on the list and this is what the book’s all about. With a slight diversion to Australia and New Zealand. Nine countries this time over two years, unfortunately interrupted by falling off a mountain in Australia and breaking my ankle. Backpacking With A Broken Ankle. As soon as I was fit and well, off I went again. Never once was I homesick; if I grew tired of one place, one city or one country I could always move on - and move on I did, following the sun.
But all good things come to an end, and back home I came to write up the book - and this is where I am now. And eager to get that backpack on and go travelling.