UK & Ireland 2011

Good morning Britain

I was just about packed, but the sole had been flapping off my trainer for a couple of days already. I still had half an hour before I had to leave for Bangkok airport, so I figured I had time to fix it.

I applied superglue to both surfaces, pressed them together, put the shoe on the floor, and realised that I’d superglued all the fingers of my right hand together.

And so it began.
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Barry’s Five Rules of International Travel

  1. I will not eat anything rated higher than 1,000 on the Scoville scale during the 24 hours preceding take-off
  2. I will do everything in my power to avoid police attention in countries where they write in their own special alphabet
  3. In countries where security guards routinely carry machine guns, I will not carry anything more valuable than a machine gun
  4. I will not attempt to upgrade the OS on my laptop, nor the firmware on my iPod, iPad, iPhone, or iAnything during the 24 hours preceding take-off
  5. I will not attempt to use superglue on the day that I am due to fly

That is all.

Penang & Langkawi

The archipelago of Langkawi had come recommended by a few people, all of whose identities are now lost in the mists of time. I do know that after I booked the trip, I asked the people who I thought had recommended it for tips. Responses included “Never been there. Looks nice though”, “Yes, I went there but never left the resort, so can’t recommend anything”, “No, I was going to go but didn’t”, and of course “I think there were monkeys, but I was drunk”.

There are too many sunset photos
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Laem Mae Phim

Tucked away over in Rayong province, a little way short of Rayong Town, lies a small town called Laem Mae Phim. A very small town, in fact. It’s more like a road.

On one side of the road – the beach with its overhanging restaurants and bars. On the other side – the hotels and a handful of shops. And for a weekend trip, I didn’t need anything more.

Wooden contraption
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