Posts from ‘My next project’
Where the hell is Brian?
Sunday, May 10th, 2009
Okay, I have been super slack on the blogging front. I’ve been home back in Australia for two weeks and I still haven’t updated the rest of the blog from my travels. No excuse really. Just slack. I had full intentions to blog when I was travelling, but then I got so far behind (courtesy of no internet network in Burma for nine days) that I just never got around to catching up. BUT, I am back on board and I’ve got a lot of travel blogging and general blogging news to catch up on. I’ll start with some stories and pics from the rest of my trip for my new book…. (read more)
Swamp eels and other highlights of Thailand.
Monday, April 6th, 2009
I have been quite slack on the blogging front, but I do have a very good excuse. I have been in Burma (or Myanmar if you want to get technical) for 10 days and just before I arrived in the country the government decided to close down the entire country’s internet for a few weeks so they could do some ‘maintenace’ work. I couldn’t update my blog or check my emails and, worst of all, I couldn’t check the football results (which actually worked out okay because both my football teams – Collingwood and Manchester United – lost!). So, I’ve got a bit of blogging to catch up on. I thought I’d start with Highlights from Thailand and (read more)
South East Asia on a bit more than a shoestring.
Monday, March 16th, 2009
I’m almost a week into my trip around Malaysia as part of the travels for my new book and I thought I’d better catch up on my blog. I must admit, though, that I do have trouble dragging myself into an internet cafe full of smelly backpackers when I could be out and about looking at stuff. I’ve just left Melaka where I stayed in a hotel that’s certainly not… (read more)
The best porridge in South East Asia.
Sunday, March 8th, 2009
I’m off tomorrow for the second half of my trip using the original 1975 Lonely Planet ‘South East Asia on a Shoestring’ guidebook (read about it here). I’ll be getting hopelessly lost and quite often completely disoriented in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. I’m starting in Malaysia which back in 75 was the home to the ‘world’s best porridge’ (according to Tony Wheeler). I’ll be blogging along the way, so drop in and check out my photos of porridge… (read more)
On the hippie trail with a pith helmet.
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008
There was a story about my latest trip in the newspapers around the country on the weekend, which was great – it gave me an excuse to don my safari suit and pith helmet again! Here’s an edited extract…
It’s a novel way to chart the evolution of what for many young Australians has been a rite of passage for decades. Travel writer Brian Thacker is retracing the 1974 journey through South-East Asia of Lonely Planet founders Maureen and Tony Wheeler using their original guidebook — based on information they collected during their adventure a third of a century ago — as his only reference…
I made it home in one piece. Just.
Monday, October 27th, 2008
I’m back home after the first leg of my Southeast Asia on a shoestring tour. I’ll be doing Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos and Burma early next year (I’m avoiding the wet season because tramping around in the mud is not my idea of fun). So far it has been fantastic and I’ve got some great stories and met lots of folk who were around in the 70’s. I’ve only told you a few stories because if I give everything away you won’t need to buy the book when it comes out 
. I say that I only just made it back in one piece because the day after Tony Wheeler left me to continue my bike tour around Bali I had a crash. Or more like someone crashed into me… (read more)
You just never know who you might bump into.
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008
I was sitting in Canderi’s restaurant in Ubud, Bali (where 74 year old Canderi is still cooking in the kitchen as she was in 1974) when I spotted the founder of Lonely Planet and author of my ‘74 guidebook Tony Wheeler walking past. I ran up to him and, with my 1974 guidebook in hand, said, ‘Excuse me, can you help me? I’m trying to find a hotel, but my guidebook seems a little out of date.’
‘Maybe you should get a newer one,’ he replied with a laugh.
Meeting Tony would have been an amazing and incredible coincidence… if it wasn’t actually planned… (read more)
The best fruit salad in Southeast Asia.
Thursday, October 16th, 2008
I’ve just left Samosir Island on Lake Toba in Sumatra and I didn’t want to leave. What an amazing place. And, at the Hotel Carolina they have the best fruit salad in Southeast Asia. That’s what the 1975 Lonely Planet guide to Southeast Asia said and so far on my trip I still think it might be the same. The papayas, bananas and pineapples were sitting on a thin layer of condensed milk mixed with lime juice then topped off with shaved coconut and… sprinkles of Milo. The Hotel Carolina was also listed as being the ‘nicest cheap accomodation in Southeast Asia’ back in 75. I think that is still probably true as well… (read more)
I went to the Northern hemisphere for 5 minutes.
Saturday, October 11th, 2008
I hired a scooter yesterday in Bukittinggi in central Sumatra and risked life, limb and lungs to ride to Harau Valley. I didn’t need a map, though. I was joined on my expedition by A.J. an English backpacker who had what a hippy backpacker in 1974 certainly didn’t have – a GPS. It was well worth the ride. Harau Valley was stunning with steep granite walls sheltering a lush valley filled with rice paddies, palm trees and Sumatran tigers. I thought we might see some tigers when A.J. announced that we were only 5 kilometres away… (read more)
… and it’s burn, burn, burn, ring of fire.
Friday, October 10th, 2008
Johhny Cash must have been to Padang in Sumatra and eaten Padang food. Then the next day got all inspired to write a song about burning rings of fire. Yesterday I ate Padang food in Padang and boy did I burn, burn, burn. Eating Padang food certainly was interesting. About 10 seconds after I sat down at the restaurant 14 plates of food were thrown down in front of me. Most of the food was swimming in thick chilli paste or baked in a crust of chilli. I tried about nine of the dishes (I kept away from the ones that looked like something – as my dear dad would say – the dog brought up). It wasn’t until I went to pay that I discovered you only pay for the plates you eat (the ones you don’t eat… (read more)