nomad4ever

In Thailand’s current political arena, things don’t look so bright after all anymore – just 6 months after the ‘bloodless coup‘ over there. Of course Tourism seems to look stable and the Sex Industry isn’t effected at all – as usual.

After the first doubts, if Thailand has a democratic future; the view of the Thai People obviously changes, they demand more clarity on how things will progress further. There are even the first demonstrations in Bangkok and the reputation of the Coupsters vanishes more and more.

Will there be truly free election again soon?

written by Chris

Ogoh Ogoh monsters are colourful monster sculptures, which are made from bamboo frames and paper mache.

They are made in the form of creatures of the underworld known in Balinese as buta-kala. The creatures are based on characters taken from traditional myths and legends, however in modern times many also take the form of modern characters, including even people in the media or in the government.

Before the Hindu new year, Nyepi, is celebrated in the spring by a day of silence – you can find Ogoh Ogoh *everywhere* in Bali.

written by Chris

This could be a quick response to the latest disasters of the last 3 months in Indonesia. As reported last evening, the airline braces itself for possible closure next week.

It wouldn’t come to no surprise, as clearly something has to be done to improve the safety of Indonesia’s Airline industry.

Nick, over from Baliblog is even advising potential customers to not book with them anymore; as you might stand a chance to lose your money or your ticket, if their license will be revoked next week. Obviously this is what happened to one of his friends, when booking 4 tickets with last year’s bust Air Paradise.

written by Chris

There is not only one chain letter going round the internet. There are thousands or even millions of them.

Most of them are plain stupid and I don’t even know, why some people still fall for the Nigerian Money Digger Mafia, the Penis ‘Extensionists’, Lottery Agencies or lost daughters of Saddam Hussein or Thaksin Shinawatra who are trying to bring their fortune millions into safety – with your help of course, haha!

Some of those schemes are quite smart and in a subliminal way manage to touch someones pride, vanity or ego.

written by Chris

After the recent air travel disasters in Indonesia, things get really tricky to evaluate the safest airlines in the country. Sooner or later you have to fly in or out of the country or will use a plane to travel between one of the 17.000 islands.

What are the latest scores?

• just today a Garuda Airlines Boeing 737-400 burst into flames when landing, killing 21 people in Yogyakarta
• a few weeks back in january an ADAM Air airplane (a 737-400 as well) simply disappeared from the radar screen on its way to Sulawesi, taking a 102 lifes with it

written by Chris

What the best mode of transportation, if you stay more than a few months in one location? Flying? The Train? By Ship? Take the bus? Taxi? Walk? Yeah right!

What then?

The best modes of transportation are still the ones you can handle yourself and use as you like and whenever you want.

That leaves basically only a car, a motor-bike, a bicycle or your feet. As long you are a marathon man or sporty decathlete there is nothing to argue about a bicycle or walking or running. If you aren’t – or just plain lazy like me, that would lead to a lot of arguing with yourself.

written by Chris

There are some rumours lately that the current Visa-On-Arrival scheme, which was put in place in 02/2004 will soon be eased in an effort to boost tourism in Indonesia.

Sounds too good to be true?

Currently citizens from most countries receive a Visa for a maximum stay of 30 days, when you arrive at any airport or port. Of course you have to pay USD 25 for it. When your 30 days are over, you have to leave the country and come back in to get a new Visa, which can be quite stressy in a country consisting of more than 17.000 islands covering an area bigger than Europe and Australia.

written by Chris

I’m sure most of you have checked out Google Earth already. Google Earth is a virtual globe program that provides satellite maps and images to interact with.

Apart from being able to zoom into famous sightseeing places like the Las Vegas Strip, Miami Beach, the Mount Everest, you can even search for addresses, enter coordinates or just browse to locations of interest like your home town, your place of work or that special place in your memory, where you got your first kiss.

written by Chris