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Lovely, Chiang Mai graffiti and me, getting along quite well.

Leisure & pleasure; Bangkok Fortune Tellers and Astrologers.

Get in line, Bangkok Fortune Tellers and Astrologers. Not a believer, but it is a lot better than your average newspaper horoscope. This one is in front of Wat Arun, Bangkok.

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Near Bagan, Myanmar. The beautiful Shwezigon Pagoda or Shwezigon Paya in The little town of Nyaung-U. If you are staying overnight in Nyaung-U it is definitely worth a stop. Nyaung-U is a lovely town with some good places to stay and eat.

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A school bus drives by in Phnom Penh, Cambodia 2002. With Cambodia still recovering from the Pol Pot regime, most of downtown Phnom Penh was covered in dust roads and colonial buildings. Loved the atmosphere, it's a bit more aggressive and grim , but still a lovely place.

Leisure & pleasure; 2 on a moped.

A nice trip, with two on a Savannakhet rented moped. It's a wide open (country)road, one of the many in Laos. You can easily plan a loop from Savannakhet, even if you are not a skilled driver you should be able to make it on the roads around Savannakhet.

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Flirting with the Armenian border, the ghost town of Ani, Turkey. Called the "City of 1001 Churches," it is a great place to visit, easily reached from the town of Kars. Went up there in 1993, The Kurdish PKK was very active these days. Meaning no tourist / no transport to the old Armenian town, but we were able to find a Kars based taxi to give us a ride. A lot of the big magnificent buildings are still around, and the scenery is just great. Don't know what the situation is these days, but in 1993 you could spot the guarded Armenian watchtowers on the other side of the river.

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Muang Ngoi Neua, Laos 2002. The only way to get up there is by boat, it feels like an island but it isn't. We have been back a few times over the years, making our way up the Nam Ou (river). It's still a nice place to stay and head out into rural Laos if you don't mind a stiff walk. It's mainly populated by tourist nowadays (not like Vang Vieng Though) and the best time to visit is on market day. Make your way to one of the parties when the market comes to an end, be prepared for the hangover afterwards as they love sharing their Lao Lao.

Most people go up the Nam Ou from Nong Khiaw, but you can go downstream from Muang Khua.