The JaYmes Escape

“Picture, Picture”, cry the kids excitedly as I approach; they immediately arrange themselves into a perfect pose. Playing at the entrance to Cambodia’s most famous temple, Angkor Wat, is clearly feigned recreation. “Dollar, Dollar”, they shout as, although this is clearly a well-practised game, they stare in wonder at their image on my camera’s tiny screen. This is, of course, expected, and my hand is already in my pocket reaching for some of Uncle Sam’s world-famous vouchers.

Yesterday I learnt my first word of Khmer, the local language: plee-uhng, which means rain. Kai plee-uhng is the rainy season, which is now. Hot and humid mornings are followed by an hour or two of torrential plee-uhng after lunch which slows to a dribble later on. Thankfully I was aware of this in advance and picked up a massive umbrella in Singapore for S$3 (about £1). Expect to see it in some of the temple photos.

The air is thick with ‘emissions’ and a day on the streets is guaranteed to cover you in grime. It’d be just like London if it weren’t for the literal swarms of motor scooters and the street vendors’ stalls piled high with fruits I don’t even know the name of. With a bang and a whir the monorail clatters by overhead; it’s a bit like the one in Sydney only more useful, and much uglier.

Kuala Lumpur, or ‘KL’ to the locals, hit the global stage in the 1990s by becoming the home of the world’s tallest buildings, the twin Petronas towers. Petronas is the national oil company in Malaysia and the towers are the source of much national pride, “Petronas towers still tallest in world”, one completely impartial passer by explained to me, “Taipei 101 not finish”. He was referring to the taller skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan - perhaps not yet opened but the official story is that it exceeded the height of the Petronas towers back in 2004 during construction.

Less well known, but also in KL, is one of the world’s tallest communications towers, complete with observation deck and revolving restaurant, plus in the suburbs the Batu Caves; an ancient Hindu temple complex built inside natural cave formations and the site of an annual mass pilgrimage.

Photos of all that are on the way but meanwhile please feel free to enjoy the now completed Singapore and Darwin albums.

The smell of incense mingles with a waft of curry, fresh vegetables and cigarette smoke. The air is thick and heavy with humidity as sweat-drenched tourists mingle with locals of every shape and colour. Here in Singapore’s Little India, shops own the pavements with everything from saucepans to tins of paint, foodstuffs and crafted buddhas lining the streets.

“You have a nice camera lah”, says a hawker, “let me show you my shop… you want wide angle lens, I give you best price lah…. no? I also do tailor, you want a new clothe?”. Sure enough, his shop sells cameras on the right and tailoring on the left.
Suddenly I remember that Australia isn’t like the rest of the world, the laid back lazy attitude and vast unpopulated expanse have given way to crowded Asia and the hard sell.

The sun is burning; the flies are buzzing ; the water is warm and the world cup is everywhere. The tropical top end of the Northern Territory is in the middle of it’s peak tourist season; the dry, where temperatures are slightly cooler and um, it doesn’t rain.

This is it for me, Australia and the Southern hemisphere; time to leave. This time tomorrow I’ll be just north of the equator in Singapore.

‘Heaps’ of pictures from the last week are now freshly bubbling in the gallery.

The red sandy earth and smoke from the campfire are drifting overhead in a cool breeze. Beyond, the vastest array of stars fills a sky dominated by a huge bright moon. There is nothing quite like bushcamping in the outback, hundreds of miles from the nearest town.

Australia has two world famous views; one is of the harbour bridge and opera house in Sydney, which I first saw almost a year ago. The other is the red outback and Ayers Rock, now more commonly known by it’s ancient Aborginal name: Uluru. This place is not just the second most photographed in Australia; it has tens of thousands of years of rich cultural heritage as the backbone of religous beliefs for local tribes.