Chris Allan

Tomorrow we stride forth from OR Tambo with backpack, cameras, macbook, scribbled recommendations, lonely planet, bulging medical kit and adventurous spirit, full of vigor, fueled with passion, hope and a smattering of wonderfully naive fantasies about exotic eastern encounters!

Haha! Bring on the Indian Tigers! Bring on the Burmese military! Bring on the bustling Bangkok backpackers of Kho San Rd! We are not scared! We will not quiver in the face of the unknown! We will boldly go where 5 million backpackers have been before! Just like Indiana Jones, with whip, 2 day beard, cowboy hat and slightly befuddled expression!

Armed with little more than our wits, a set of innoculations, three different types of insurance, chlorine tablets, tabard, a tin of zambuk, a backup credit card, 50 different K-Way products, immodium,a secret dollar stash, 2 different types of antibiotic, copies of our passports, emergency numbers, and… of course… a leatherman.

The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward as they say!

So this is the itinerary in brief - subject to change should a particularly unmissable experience not currently on the route, present itself…er … enroute :

Jozi - Dubai - Bangkok- sleep.
Bangkok - Northern Thailand - Chiang Mai.
Over the border into Myanmar - Inle Lake and more
Back down to Bangkok via (insert place of interest here)
Whirlwind tour to Angkor Wat in Cambodia over 3 days.
Find some Islands to explore on the Western side of Thailand
Hop across to Malaysia
Find our way to Kuala Lampur
Fly to Delhi - and from here on in we are going to wing it a bit finding our way hopefully into Kashmir and out of the clutches of forces, both military and other.
Eventually end up in the south of India with a stop in Mumbai for some terrorist spotting
Head back to Mumbai for the trip home.

Trip length: 4 Months, maybe 5.

As you can see, plans get looser as the trip progresses. Any suggestions? Any long lost Indian cousins we could visit on the trip? (Please email christopherallan(at)gmail.com.)

Thanks for subscribing to Chrisallan.co.za… next stop - Bangkok!

Ps. Check out the latest Gallery “G’bye Africa” on the blog - www.chrisallan.co.za

Joburg isn’t a place you should try and visit in a day.

It doesn’t have a mountain. It doesn’t have beaches. Despite what billboards on the Bill Nicol say, the bush is more than a short drive away, and it is fairly easy to find your way into a traffic jam, behind road construction of some sort and rub shoulders with nosepicking, pavement driving taxi drivers for a half an hour or so enroute to anywhere.
 

As a visiting comedian at a recent Joburg festival said,
 “I love Johannesburg.”
 “I will love it even more when it is finished.”

But let’s talk about being a soccer fan in Jozi and the Confed Cup.
Lets talk about a crisp highveld Sunday winter afternoon. Beanie in the pocket, Vuvuzelas, long johns and ticket. Brazil vs the USA at the end of a great soccer festival that hinted at great things to come in 2010.

The Journey to Ellis park is much more fun when it is shared with mates. Too many people squashed into taxi, bakkie or 7^th hand Toyota, with madly flapping flags and vuvuzelas sticking out the windows. The cops smiled and nodded and pretended not to notice how overloaded the vehicles were as they snaked towards town.
With 3 hours before the closing ceremony we had time to kill and a plan to kill it. Flags, colours, cameras and people poured out of cars onto the pavement outside a Joburg City landmark, The Troyville Hotel.

It is a pub that has done its time. Not spectacular from the front, back or any other side, its charm is found in the people, and years of stories seeping out of the bricks, and well worn, alcohol stained wooden bar. It was the perfect place to start the evening before the confed cup final…and then end it again four hours later after spilling out of Ellis park, singing and laughing, arm in arm with brightly coloured fans of every race all happily oblivious of work the next day. That night I fell in love with Jozi all over again.
     But that was months ago…
It is spring time in Jozi at the moment. It took 3 days to arrive. Bright green leaves are as prolific as union strikes and the stream of people in and out of the Gym is increasing on a daily basis. Self tan, mini skirts and jacaranda trees in bloom all make an appearance. It is a wonderful time to be in Jozi. Slowly but surely the City will seep into your soul, the more time you spend in it.