Terror is the best political weapon, for nothing drives people harder than a fear of sudden death.
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my first roll of film from the new hasselblad … the camera looks good, really good. i shot a test roll at home and used christina as my model. the purpose was to see if the camera is leaking light or has any other problems. the photos have come out crystal clear and the only errors are due to operator incompetence! lol
there will definitely be more to come …
just going through photos from my travels and found this photo of me in myanmar. while i was at shwedagon pagoda, i gave my camera to a monk whom i’d been talking to. while i helped a local girl with her english homework, the monk snapped this photo.
i don’t have a lot of free time, but i am slowly getting photos edited for a potential future gallery/exhibition. when i have more time i will finish my travel diary and continue the regular upload of photos from the trip … i’ve got a lot to do!
go back to 1994 and remember a weird little movie that came out of australia about three drag queens driving across australia. this road movie snagged an oscar (best costume design) and a slew of other awards. but most notably, the movie starred three men who – between them – have played huge parts in some of the greatest movies of our generation.
‘the adventures of priscilla, queen of the desert’ starred terence stamp, guy pearce and hugo weaving. at the time, all three were famous australian actors and had cut their teeth on australian tv and movies. terence stamp was the most famous, having already starred in numerous hollywood films including wall street, young guns, alien nation and superman 1 & 2. stamp has since gone on to appear in star wars: episode 1, yes man and is still making hollywood movies.
guy pearce was one of the ‘neighbours’ stars before priscilla. since then, however, pearce has starred in a a lot of hollywood films. he was in la confidential, memento (a huge cult success), the count of monte cristo, the time machine, death defying acts (as harry houdini, opposite catherine zeta jones), and the hurt locker.
but it is hugo weaving that has become the biggest success. at the time of priscilla, he was the least known. now, weaving has built a career that has ensured geek stardom forever. he starred in the interview before getting his biggest break as agent smith in the matrix. he starred in all three matrix films. weaving then went on to star in all three lord of the rings films and, one of my favourite films, v for vendetta. weaving voiced megatron in the transformers movies, will appear in captain america, and is reprising his role of ‘elrond’ in the two upcoming ‘hobbit’ movies.
not bad for three blokes who once starred in a movie about australian drag queens …
i was arrested last night … sometimes life is just too weird, right?
i’ve only been back in korea for a week and i went out to meet an old friend for some beer. we met up in town and sat at a convenience store to have a few beers. we were hungry so we left the convenience store and went to a restaurant to eat, after which we returned to the same convenience store for a few more beers.
the night was going well. we’d been talking about korea and photography and life … i went into the store to buy another beer and the owner refused to sell me one. i was surprised (why the hell is she refusing to sell beer to a customer) and asked her again to sell me the beer.
before i knew it, she had called the police and i was detained. they took me to the police station where the police were very rude, yelled at me and used bad language. they seemed to think it was a great game to pick on the foreigner. i was then moved to another police station where i made a statement and was eventually released … at 5am.
i was tired and annoyed … i caught the morning train home and slept (skipping work for the day).
later that day my embassy contacted me regarding the issue. i had instructed the police to forward my case to the australian embassy, which they did, and the embassy told me that even they thought this case was ridiculous.
i was charged with attempted theft (i touched her cash box – apparently!!) and the policeman threw in obscene language as well (which didn’t appear on the charge sheet). i have to return to the police station in two days with my passport so that they can verify my identity.
this is the biggest pile of bullshit i have ever come across … i’m charged with some crap i didn’t do. they have no proof or evidence that i’ve done anything wrong. the charge is that i touched her cash box … which i didn’t … and tried to steal her money … which i didn’t do either.
and here i was, thinking that i’d come back to korea and make a nice quiet life for myself!
update: i returned to the police station and gave them my passport. they copied it and left. it doesn’t seem like they are too interested in me any more … which i’m happy about. i hope this means the end of it all.
things are moving well now that i have finished my travels … i have bought a macbook pro and i have photoshop cs5 installed. i am searching for a job (temporary work in korea for a few months and a full time job starting next year) and will soon return to korea.
i have also begun redesigning davidsmeaton.com … as well as the new info bar at the bottom, and a few small cosmetic differences, i have made the site wider (1000 pixels) to show bigger photos. old travel photos will still be smaller because i have already edited them, but new photos will be much bigger – in an attempt to show off my photography to maximum effect.
the only things left to do are make a brief stop in thailand on my way home (possibly, not confirmed), and buy a hasselblad medium format camera when i return to korea.
in news that (i have to admit) is somewhat stunning, joe cole joins liverpool on a four year deal.
the former chelsea player has moved to anfield in the wake of yossi benayoun, one of the reds’ most valuable players, being sold to chelsea. however, despite my sadness at benayoun leaving, i’m ecstatic that cole is now a red.
liverpool have been thrown into turmoil during the world cup, with news that manager rafael benitez leaving the club to join inter milan. he was replaced by fulham boss roy hodgson whose first duty was to plug the dyke and prevent players leaving en masse. hodgson has been successful, apparently keeping gerrard, torres and most of liverpool’s best players at the club.
while there is still talk of mascherano leaving the club, and the departure of highly underrated yossi benayoun, liverpool have still managed to bring in two good signings – cole and serbian striker jovanovic.
hodgson’s job now is to remould liverpool into a team that can continue the good form (albeit inconsistent) that they found over the past few seasons and mount a serious challenge for premier league honours. the club’s ability to retain its star players rests on the results of the new manager in what will definitely be a baptism of fire. hodgson won this year’s premier league ‘manager of the year’ after his efforts to guide fulham to the uefa (er, sorry) europa cup final. even alex ferguson praised hodgson for his efforts.
hodgson expressed his desire to lead a top four club and was soon handed his chance at the helm of liverpool … here’s hoping that he is up to the task!
forgive me for missing this by a couple of days, but that’s the burden of traveling …
two days ago the labour party leaders announced that there would be a challenge to kevin rudd’s leadership. the challenge came from deputy prime minister julia gillard.
the labour party, which has seen its popularity plummet under rudd’s leadership, decided to act before the election. rudd initially declared that he would fight the challenge, but decided (in what i think was a very intelligent decision) to step aside.
as a result, julia gillard was immediately sworn in as australia’s 27th prime minister. not only is she australia’s first female prime minister, but gillard was also australia’s first female deputy prime minister … stepping into a role that labour had hoped democrats turncoat sheryl kernot would eventually fill.
gillard is not an australian born citizen. along with her family, gillard migrated to australia from wales when she was 5 years old. gilliard is also unmarried, which makes her position even more unique.
gillard will now lead the labour party into an early election. it’s hoped that her popularity, on the back of rudd’s failures, will be enough to turn around labour’s political position and win another term.
her wikipedia page is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Gillard
that’s pretty big news … dunno how i missed it!
top – a monk overlooks the street below his monastery
middle – portrait of a monk
bottom – tibetans celebrating an important buddhist festival
day 426 – we slept in and then walked to town for breakfast. we found a nice little outdoor cafe and bought some food. the guy at the next table, who already seemed drunk, bought us some raki (local ouzo) and beer … at 10.30am. after a few of those, we were tired and a little ‘pissy’ so we walked back to the hotel and had a lunchtime sleep.
afterwards, christina and i walked through the park, then spent the evening working out which route we were going to take north.
day 427 – pristina and kosovo, while nice, are a little dull. there wasn’t a lot to do. we went to the bus station to buy tickets to podgorica, had breakfast and returned to the hotel to pack and check out.
we walked into town to see ‘the sights’, which consisted of a small museum (which was shut), an abandoned church, an ugly university building and a few parks (which were nice). we had some ice cream and sat in the big park near our hotel. the park was full of people and kids playing. it seemed to be amongst the most popular places in pristina.
we went to the bus station early, bought some food and read our books while waiting for the bus to montenegro. when we got on the bus, a guy who spoke english (and seemed a little weird) sat near us and talked to us the entire time. i was getting really annoyed but held my calm (surprisingly). then, an hour into the trip, a guy checked our tickets and realised the crazy guy didn’t have a ticket. they booted him off the bus and we finally had some peace and quiet.
day 428 – we crossed the border early and arrived in podgorica at about 3am. tired, i went to sleep on the bus station floor for 4 hours. christina slept a little and then got up to buy tickets to sarajevo. i woke up and we had some breakfast which we had to carry on the bus because they’d been so slow to make the food.
we entered bosnia and the bus traveled through a stretch of the most beautiful mountain road i’ve ever seen. the whole trip i just gazed out the window and dreamed of riding through those roads on a motorbike.
the bus arrived in sarajevo and the terminal was out of town, so we caught the tram into the city to our hotel. i was tired as hell, so after lunch (burek) i had a shower and went to sleep at 4pm … i didn’t wake up until the next morning.
day 429 – after breakfast and coffee i felt much better … the 19 hours sleep also helped! we went to the train station and bought tickets to zagreb. we got the tram back to the centre of town and walked up to the martyr’s cemetary.
the siege of sarajevo is the longest city siege in history. the cemetary is devoted to those who gave their lives fighting for sarajevo. all around the city there are still bullet holes and shell marks from the bombing over 15 years ago. the martyr’s cemetary still has a full-time guard of honour and it was nice to walk around.
up the hill from the cemetary is a great viewing point of the city. christina and i sat up there for a while and talked while we looked across sarajevo. we could see all the way to the airport. it was a great view. after that we walked through the old city, to the mosques, bascarsija, pigeon square and up to the catholic cathedral. near the cathedral some old men were playing chess on an enormous chess set. i stood and watched them for a while. they were enthralled by the game and it would have been fun to play. i got some photos, though, and we kept going.
after lunch we took a long walk along the river. on the way back we stopped for a beer and then dinner. after dark, we went for another walk down to the latin bridge to take photos.
day 430 – we had breakfast and checked out. we left our luggage at the hotel (which we had to pay for). we got the tram out to the famous sarajevo tunnel, which ran underneath the airport during the siege and was a literal lifeline for bosnians living in the city.
on the way back to town we stopped at the museum, which was quite expensive, so we gave it a miss. instead we walked around the old city some more and looked at the jewelry stores. we had lunch, walked along the river and looked in the apple store.
in the afternoon we collected our bags and went to the train station to wait. i complained to the ticket office woman about the ticket and exchange rate we’d paid and she gave us a discount on the fare, which was nice. we had some coffee, changed the last of our bosnian money, and got the train to zagreb. on the train another tourist told us that we could sit in the 1st class section, so we moved up and found a compartment all to ourselves and slept on the seats. nifty!
top – drukpal monastery, lhasa, tibet
middle – a buddhist hanging during a festival
bottom – smoke from incense fills the air during a buddhist festival
day 421 – anzac day – the ferry departed early so we had to leave before daybreak. however, four girls from our hotel had come home drunk and didn’t wake up on time. the hotel owner banged on their door to wake them up and we got going late. we reached the ferry only minutes before it departed, which was lucky. this time the ferry wasn’t crowded so we got a good seat and during the trip we slept and talked.
upon returning to athens we had a late lunch. we repacked our bags, had a shower and got ready. we walked through town but everything was shut so we gave up, grabbed our bags and headed to the train station to wait for our train to sofia. the train departed on time and we slept on the train.
day 422 – we crossed the border in the morning and arrived in sofia. we found a hotel, had coffee, and walked into town. we discovered a farmer’s market which is open every day. the market was really cheap and lots of fun to wander around. the funniest part was the vendors selling fruit wouldn’t let you touch it. you told them what you wanted and they’d pick it for you. we didn’t know and a few vendors got shitty with us for groping their wares! lol
we had a late beer in the city, but it was getting quite cold and we quickly went back to the hotel where we watched a movie on the computer and slept.
day 423 – breakfast was small, so when we went into town i was still hungry. i had a huge slice of pizza and looked at the city map we’d got from the sheraton hotel. we decided what we’d see and went first to the archaeological museum which wasn’t very good. after that we went to the aleksander nevski church and st sofia. we also watched the changing of the guard outside the presidential offices.
while wandering, we stumbled upon a junk market which we looked at briefly and then returned to the farmer’s market where we ate fish and chicken for lunch with some local beer. we also bought a bottle of cheap wine (which turned out to be shit).
we went to the bus station and bought tickets to skopje, then returned to the hotel. i was doing some research about visas and thought that we would have problems entering macedonia. but it turns out that there’s no problem (that we could find) and figured we’d take the risk.
day 424 – after breakfast we packed and checked out. the bus station is close to the hotel so we walked and got our bus to skopje. during the obligatory “border control” rubbish, we got talking to a spanish guy called ‘ham’ with whom we hung out in skopje. after arriving, the three of us walked to the hotel and checked in.
christina and i were incredibly hungry, so we walked into the old city to find some food and an atm. we wandered around for a bit, stumbled upon the old city main streets and found a restaurant with souvlaki. we ate and then walked back through the old city again. after returning to the hotel i bought some beer and in the evening we watched the champions league final on tv. the portugese travelers were cheering for inter because their manager is from portugal, so i was cheering for barcelona and we all had fun.
after the game we sat and talked with the portugese guys. we drank more beer and i headed to bed at around 2am.
day 425 – after breakfast we said goodbye to ham and walked to the bus station. we got straight on a bus which took us to pristina. kosovo is small and easy to get around. we got a hotel for two nights and walked down town for a look around.
we found a bookstore where i bought ‘crime and punishment’ by fedor dostoyevski (for me) and ‘peter pan’ by jm barrie (for christina). we returned to the hotel and relaxed. the liverpool game was on tv and i watched that before going to bed.
top – a guard and chairman mau – close up
middle – the terracotta warriors
bottom – a guard at the forbidden city
day 416 – to make sure we had plenty of time at the acropolis, we went early in the morning just after it opened. we walked around and enjoyed one of europe’s top sights. i was disappointed that the pathenon was under construction, so i couldn’t get a decent photo of it … and it’s not permitted to photograph toys (i got yelled at a few times), so it was difficult to get a shot of matilda … lousy greeks and their ‘respect our monument’ attitude!
we walked to the theatre of dionysus and then through town to the roman agora. it was great to walk around and we had a lot of fun. on the way back to the hotel we saw a lingerie store and i bought a sexy g-string for christina.
after lunch we headed off on ‘administrative’ duties. christina and i still had the idea of buying a cheap car and driving across europe. however it appeared to be difficult due to the fact that our licences weren’t eu. each country seems to have different standards and we couldn’t risk it. more importantly, if we had an accident, we might not be covered by insurance, which seems to be more strict than police rules.
however, we tried going to the ministry of transport (shut) and the australian embassy (also shut). we gave up and headed back to the hotel. i bought beer and chips, and we sat on the balcony reading books all afternoon.
day 417 – we had huge, yummy souvlaki for breakfast. then we walked across to the train ticket office and bought tickets to sofia. we also tried to book ferry tickets to visit santorini, but the ferries were all on strike for two days (nice going greece!) so it was impossible to get guaranteed bookings.
instead we went to the temple of olympian zeus and walked through town. when we reached the ancient agora it was already shut for the afternoon (before 3pm). it was starting to get annoying that everything shut so damn early. christina found some nice olive oil soap, which she bought and i bought a panathanaikos cap (they’d just won the greek league).
we spent the afternoon at the hotel having lunch, sending email and relaxing.
day 418 – we couldn’t go to santorini (again) and that was starting to really make me angry. we were hanging around athens just to go to the islands. christina really wanted to go (i didn’t) but i couldn’t say no to her. so we waited.
so we made the most of it, had a late breakfast, and walked through the city again. this time we got to the ancient agora and had a good look around. for me it was pretty awesome walking down paths that sophocles himself had walked.
we bought more sangria and food, cooked grilled sandwiches, checked email and drank sangria on the balcony.
day 419 – we started early, racing across to the ferry terminal to try and get a ferry to santorini. when we arrived at the ticket office i was told they were sold out. angry and desperate, i hassled the guy until he told me that we can sometimes buy tickets on the ferry.
we ran across to the ferry and i asked the ferry staff if we could get on the ship. one of the pursers let us on and we had to stay below deck until the ferry had sailed. after that, we went on deck, bought one ticket (they didn’t ask for two tickets, so we said nothing) and sat on deck for the trip. the boat was full of people and it was really hard to find anywhere to sit.
finally we reached santorini and were picked up by our hotel minibus. we checked in and walked along the beach for a while. we tried to rent a quad-bike for the two days, but it was problematic due to our licenses. so we gave up. we had dinner at a small restaurant which was staffed, funnily enough, by an australian girl. we chatted with her and she gave us an extra carafe of wine for free. we got a little sloshy and headed back to the hotel to sleep.
day 420 – we had a late start. we caught the bus to fira and walked around the most popular (and touristy) part of santorini. we had breakfast overlooking the entire town (which was nice) but the weather was starting to get cloudy and threatened rain. we walked all around town and along the caldera almost to the top of the island. we walked and talked about ‘us’ for most of the way.
on the way back it started to rain, so we headed to the bus station and got a bus back to perissa (where our hotel was). the weather had lightened again so we went to the beach and splashed in the water for a bit.we bought dinner and some wine, drinking it on the balcony of our hotel room.
top – incense sticks, burning in a buddhist temple
middle – lighting incense sticks
bottom – wooden panels of chinese writing
day 411 – we finished packing in the morning, checked email and headed to the airport. we flew to istanbul and headed to the backpacker district.
it turns out that, with anzac day just around the corner, hotels were booked solid and prices had risen considerably. annoyed, we checked into a dormitory and went for a walk to get some food. we had some beer, returned to the hotel and slept.
day 412 – things weren’t working out in turkey. we couldn’t stay in the hotel and everything was becoming expensive. we decided to make a run for it and head to greece. we walked to the train station and booked two tickets to thesaloniki.
when christina and i returned to the hotel, we checked out and stored our luggage for the day. we walked into the city and looked in suhanahmed mosque and the markets. i bought a lonely planet europe.
then we visited the million stone, constantine’s column and sat on the grass near the fountain. christina bought some corn, so we ate it and talked for a while. we returned to the hotel to collect our bags and walked to the train station.
the overnight train to thesaloniki was comfortable and we officially entered europe. we had our own little private two bed compartment, so we sat and talked and slept for the whole trip.
day 413 – after passing through the border stops we got some more sleep and in the morning arrived in thesaloniki. we found a hotel in the city and walked along the foreshore.
we went to a supermarket and bought some food, made sandwiches at the hotel and then went out for another walk. we ended up at a small cafe where we had beer and wine. christina got a little drunk so we went back to the hotel. she slept and i watched a movie on the computer.
day 414 – we checked out and walked down to the train station to get a train to athens. however, all the trains were full. damn! we had to walk over to the bus station and were able to get bus tickets instead. we had to wait two hours and then it was a long bus ride to athens.
when we arrived it was getting late. we found a hotel and the owner only had one room left, a single room, which he let us have. the owner was very nice and we were happy to have somewhere to crash (cheaply).
we walked around a little and found a small supermarket. we bought some sangria and salad which we took to the hotel and ate on the balcony outside our room.
day 415 – souvlaki for breakfast (yum!) was followed by a long walk around town. christina bought some sandals and we got some food to take back to the hotel.
we ate lunch and headed to the acropolis for the afternoon. however, we discovered that the acropolis shuts at 3pm (every day) and we couldn’t get in. then we noticed that almost everything shuts down at around 3pm. everyone quits work and goes drinking … the cafes and bars are full but everything useful is closed.
we bought some more food, to cook for a late lunch, as well as sangria and cheese for the evening. we went for another long walk before retiring for the night, enjoying sangria and cheese on the balcony with a view of athens and the acropolis. nice!
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