The accidental smuggler
Before every border crossing, every flight I check my luggage, I check my clothes, I check all places hidden in a paranoid drive that I am clean, not a bud, not a crumb, not a seed. My last departure from Australia was more hectic than usual, more on my mind and less space for the methodical. I flew out of Melbourne to Darwin, collected my bags and check in for my flight to Singapore. In Singapore I passed customs, moved my bag from the budget terminal to the terminal 2 and left it in stored luggage area and went wandering around Singapore for the day. At night I returned to terminal 2, collected my luggage and went through customs at the budget terminal and onto a flight for Chennai. In Chennai my bag went through customs and onto two domestic flights to Guwahati. Across three Indian states by bus and into Nagaland. After a particularly intense day in Phejin's village it was cold and I felt like a smoke. I pulled my jacket out of my bag, put it on, felt in the pocket, and pulled out a joint.
Nearly home
I'm in Singapore and flying to Darwin tomorrow and catching the train back to Melbourne. So for all in Melbourne I'll be home in about two weeks. Since my last email I've travelled down through the tourist-popolis of Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. Through Malaysia which was a pleasant suprise. I knew the food would be good but I didn't expect to be so impressed with the Indian, Chinese and Malay fusion. Its refreshing to go to a country which is developed, everything works and the people are not white. This email is more of a reflection on my trip. I've been gone a little over a year, have traversed the Silk Road from start to finish, Venice to Xian, followed one of the routes Marco Polo took to get to China, made the pilgrimage to Amsterdam, went to a country that no one recognises and have now visited around 60 countries. I am not too sure how many kilometres I've travelled by train, bus, truck and car, but I know I never want to do this again. So many rides of discomfort where I thought I might snap that I can't name the worst or make a top ten. Next time I travel its by bicycle or foot.