Regular readers of this blog may recall that when I flew from Istanbul to Hanoi, it was my intention to meet up with my old friend, Donna, and our plan was for us to travel together for a few months around South East Asia, Myanmar up to India.
I want to take this opportunity to do two things; update you on our adventures and tell you why we’re not traveling together anymore.
Donna and I traveled north Vietnam by bike (bicycle and moto) for three weeks back in late August and early September. We had a blast; we visited hard to find tribes, enjoyed the finest scenery in the northern provinces and one of us shat on a tile.
Sadly though, this short, intense trip would be our first and last on this journey. Donna has a career to launch; a career as a travel writer / TV presenter / all round creative whirlwind, and that means deadlines, flights and working incredibly hard. I’m simply riding a bike to England. We tried it, we thought it could work somehow; traveling overland together to the UK, one by bicycle, one by any other means barring flights, but that’s not going to happen now. We’ve talked about it. It’s cool. We’re on different journeys.
Here’s the thing, Donna’s adventure promises to be both an interesting and inspiring personal journey – a very talented woman is she. If you haven’t already seen her blog about cultural costume, I urge you to check it out. Fashion, textiles, people, places, hauteculture.com is evolving daily. I expect big things to happen for my friend. Watch this space!
What of Jim, and the slow, steady sojourn home? I’m sat in Chiang Mai about to take a motorcycle to Pai for the day. My friend John has flown out to join me for the next few months and we’re having a lovely time. Next up is Myanmar in a week then India for the New Year. We’re pretty excited about this next bit. It’s going to be ace.