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Mark Moxon's Travel Writing

Indonesia: Thoughts on Leaving

A gamelan archestra in Yogyakarta
This is the gamelan orchestra in the Sultan's Palace in Yogyakarta; I never worked out whether I loved gamelan music or whether it was just too much for me to grasp, and I found the same difficulty with Indonesia as a whole

So, that was Indonesia; I'm now in Singapore, getting over my last dose of Indonesian food poisoning, which has proved more obstinate to move than anticipated. And what do I think of my first real Asian experience? I wish I knew.

Planning for Southeast Asia

Just as I have very little physical baggage left over from the good old days of London smog, I have precious little emotional baggage too. If you'd asked me two years ago whether I'd like to visit Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, India and Nepal, I'd have jumped up, kissed you and screamed, 'What do you think?' Now, faced with the glorious choice of where to spend the next eight months – which can be anywhere, as long as I end up in Delhi for my flight home – I'm a bit stumped.


1 Impressions that were not that accurate; Singapore does have a soul and Malaysia is a delight, but Thailand was indeed too touristy for me. I didn't make it to the rest of Southeast Asia, so I can't comment on Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia or Myanmar, but the other travellers were right about one thing: India and Nepal are definitely in a different league.

2 You can find out which route I eventually took in the My Travels section.