Category: Thailand

It's Saturday the 27th September 2008 and I have had ten of my eleven days R & R. I have been in the resort of Phuket staying at the Cape Panwa Hotel and it has delivered exactly what I needed, peace, quite and beautiful surroundings. This is a sprawling complex consisting of the hotel, several villas with their own pools, a private beach of almost white sand, and the Sino-Portuguese mansion called Panwa House. It has featured in many film sets. I have done a little essential shopping in Phuket town and visited Coral Island where the water sports are excellent, but now I'm starting to get itchy feet which is nothing to do with the sea urchins. I have been in touch several times with people in Perth, mainly members of the MG Car Club of Western Australia, and they have been busy organising a workshop facility, spares and all the assistance that I could wish for. I am certain that I shall...

The first leg of the challenge has taken me through 11 different countries covering 10,000 miles. There have certainly been several times when I thought I wouldn’t get to this point but there has never been an instant where I regretted trying. There have been a great number of experiences that I will never forget and some that I would rather, but my lasting memory will always be the people that I have met along the way; the warmth, friendliness and general helpfulness that they have so freely offered. It really started in Vienna and has grown with every new country I have visited, but perhaps in Iran more than anywhere. The tourist sight that made the most impression is, by far, the Golden Temple. Simply amazing. Then there were the termite houses in Kandovan, the Wagah border ceremony and the Jantar Mantar observatory in Dehli. The most memorable natural spectacles will be the picturesque mountains along the Caspian coast in Astara, the...