Elenka and I took the overnight VIP bus from Bang Niang to Bangkok. Big mistake! The seats are uncomfortable; they serve no food; and it's expensive.  We'd booked the Chatrium Riverside Hotel, the same place we stayed the last time we were here, after our Indonesian experience. This time around we booked a regular room overlooking the river. When the clerk took us to our room on the 8th floor I pulled the drapes open and jumped back.  "This will nev...

   https://vimeo.com/m/92985354

With upwards of 30,000 Russian troops amassed at their eastern border, I had the opportunity to - for lack of a better word - interview Dennis and Krystina, a young couple from eastern Ukraine. Before deciding to write what is below I asked Dennis if he was alright with it, thinking that the two of them might be among the first to be hung by their heels in the hometown square of Kharkiv, almost walking distance to the Russian border. Dennis told me that he had no...

 On the morning of December 26, 2004, Junie Kovacs took some friends 20 kilometres out to sea on a snorkelling trip. When they arrived on the reef the normally pristine waters were "murky". One of the snorkelers climbed down the boat's ladder and was about to jump in when he was almost torn from the ladder by a strong current. They aborted the plan and started heading back to shore. On the way in Junie took a cellphone call from a friend in London who was in...

  When we got off the train in Hat Yai we were immediately struck by the brightly lit neon signs, all in Thai, not a hint of English. We knew we were in a part of Thailand that wasn't frequented by gringos.Hat Yai hadn't been intentional. Our original plan was to travel much farther up the Malay Peninsula to Chumphon. From there we were going to catch a ferry to Koh Tao for the diving. Travellers had warned us though that Koh Tao had turned into a white...