Tag Archives for taxis
How to Ride a Bus in China
Even after boarding Indonesian ferries, riding rural Cambodian buses and squeezing onto the London Tube during the Christmas Eve shopping frenzy, taking the bus in China has redefined my notion of personal space. Here’s how to get on, get where you’re going and keep your sanity. 1: Know Which Compass Point You Are Headed To [...]
F*ck It. I’m A Tourist.
Tourist or traveller? It’s a question as old as the first ever travel books. But I don’t like the word “traveller”. It smells of one-upmanship, of smugness. There’s that sense that, just by hitting the banana pancake trail instead of the all-inclusive resorts, the camp site instead of the villa, the traveller is somehow better [...]
1: Avoid Spaghetti Straps Shoulders are an erogenous zone in many cultures. Particularly shy ones. In South-East Asia, nothing, and I do mean nothing, says “hooker” more than spaghetti straps. OK. Maybe fishnets, Perspex platforms and a basque. And if you packed those, lady, make like the real fetishists and change before you leave the [...]
Travel Tips: Avoiding Transport “Scams”
It’s probably the commonest travel complaint on the planet from folk travelling the developing world. Transport “scams”. Overcharging… And it does relations between locals and visitors no good at all. Here’s how to make your life easier when travelling. 1: Agree a Price Before You Start the Journey. Would you take a minicab or unmetered [...]
If Bangkok was a Colour…
If Bangkok had a colour, it would most definitely be pink. Hot pink. Like a bar girl’s brassiere, or those gorgeous metallic fuchsia and violet taxis which ply the streets below the Skyrail and the concrete walkways. A slightly shopsoiled pink. Sort of Bladerunner pink. But definitely bright. The swooshy, showy muted colourwash that floods [...]
The Red Queen
It’s the weekend on Cat Ba island, not to mention the Vietnamese summer, which means there’s a vibe on the beach I can best characterize as Spring Break meets Butlins meets the coach tour from hell. I am watching a stream of cheerleaders doing their schtick to Avril Lavigne on our tranquil beach as hogs [...]
Cab Journey from Hell #1
I really thought, by now, after over four months in Asia and experience with virtually every taxi scam permutation known to man, my naïve London belief that anyone in a metered taxi with a light-up sign will know where they are going, own a map, and not take the piss too badly would have disappeared. [...]
The Inflatable Waterpark
This technicolour dream palace is indisputably special. Possibly a little “special needs” too. What is it? You may well ask. For this, my friend, is an inflatable waterpark. Occupying 5000 square metres of apple-green Astroturf in the middle of nowheresville, Luzon, EK Biki comes complete with dangling sharks, inflatable dragon slides, slightly forlorn clownfish and, [...]
