Child of the Planet

I’ve dug up a bit out of an old travel journal.   One night while tucked up in our beds, all eight guys were woken by loud female shouting, out in the stairwell. A truly sublime pair of unfettered bosoms, filled to the quivering liquid brim with booze, burst through the door. She was atmospherically rim lit by light spilling in through the open doorway as she bounced into the room, and planted rank alcoholic kisses on the guy occupying the bed nearest the door. A girlfriend appeared and dragged our invader back to her room. A heavy, round silence closed around us and when it seemed that no more action would unfold, one of the guys on a bottom bunk got up and closed the dorm door. On another occasion, I was woken by someone moving close to my bed. Something must have been up, cause the guy that sleeps below me usually doesn’t interrupt my slumber. A head was moving around in the dark, and I recognised its silhouette as the young guy who occupies the lower bunk across the ro...

I’ve dug up a bit out of an old travel journal. Scored a nice room in a cosy hostel, up the top of a sturdy old fashioned staircase, on top of a hill, in the west end of Glasgow (supposedly the west end used to be the rich part of town cause the toffs wanted to live ‘up wind,’ from the stink of industry, and the poor.) These days no one can afford the huge stone apartments, and most of the buildings have been re-purposed for tourist accommodation, or are owned by the university. My room has a radio, heater, and even a few pot plants I can water. Most of my worldly needs have been satisfied. I have found comfortable lodgings filled with inoffensive transients, a local library nearby providing free internet, and a new city to explore. During the day I seek out the excellent galleries, encouraged by the councils ‘free entry’ policy. There is also the Gothic drenched Necropolis, which like most urban cemeteries, is a quiet zone completely surrounded by city and industr...

Last week I went down to the city to check out the parade. I’ve seen it many times before. These days I tend to be more interested in what happens before, after, and on either side of the celebration.Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gra sydney 07 This event was originally a lot more political and there was a café on Oxford Street (this is our famous ‘gay street,’ bit like Canal Rd in Manchester or San Francisco ;-) that had all the previous years posters that advertised the parade up on the wall. It’s amazing to watch the progression from hard edges screen printed ‘calls for political action’ to glossy ‘let it all hang out dance party invitation.’ These days the event is all about the money. And Sydney has come to expect big influxes of ‘pink dollars’ round this time of year.

I spent my days exploring tiny cobbled streets on the outskirts of town, tramping from shrine, to temple, to drink machine. These coin operated dispensing machines are everywhere, and trying out the taste sensations they deliver with exotic names like ‘Pokari sweat,’ keeps life interesting The city is infested with amazing temples. There was one in particular that I remember, just down the road from where I was staying. The roof of the main building was supported by beams so heavy that back in ancient times, when it was being built. The builders had to use ropes made of woman's hair as the ones made of plant fibre were snapping under the stresses of the enormous weights. There was one length of this rope preserved behind glass. It was coiled up dusty, and rotting, and quite bit Gothic.

Nara is a much smaller city but seen by the locals as just as important as Kyoto. Both were capital cities for Japan in the past. Nara is famous for its park and its many temples. There are these tame deer that it is said, are the messengers of the gods and therefore sacred. These deer have free reign in the park. Visitors buy little deer biscuits from a vendor and are soon be surrounded by anxious, apparently famished deer. Bit like feeding pidgins. Big ones that are as high as your shoulder, and know how to head butt. I saw the biggest Buddha in the world. Huge, trust me. If you liked to be impressed by size and extravagance, visit the Buddha in Nara. It sits in this enormous pavilion (it's amazing how big the Japanese where able to build wooden buildings) accompanied by an entourage of four roof-scraping statues representing the four winds (or seasons, or something.) One of the pillars supporting the roof had a hole roughly sawed in its base. The legend says t...

I really wanted to see the monkeys who sit in hot spring during japans snowy winter but it was way too early in the season for snow, so I scanned the Lonely Planet book, picked an interesting town that looked a bit out of the way, and journeyed up into the mountains to Takiyama. The train trip up was utterly picturesque. The scenery had a strong European vibe as the train wound its way up the mountains shadowing a major river. The local specialty is buckwheat noodles and beef. Beef is a bit rear in Japan and it's expensive. I hadn't had a lot of meat during the trip and as I was ambling through the local street markets a rich smell suddenly assaulted my nose and saliva flooded my mouth. I followed the smell to a small cafe where little skewers of meat were sizzling on a grill. I bought three. Moved back out of the way of the next person in the queue, and immediately scoffed them. One afternoon, I walked out of town and up into the hills where an out door histo...