The Great Railway Bazaar is turning out to be a weird book. Theroux had already been to many of the places on his journey, so there is no sense of discovery. In fact, he really has nothing good to say about the people and places he visits, and resorts to stereotyping frequently. I hope to avoid that in this travelogue, and think I will succeed, since I have few preconceived notions.

I ordered a copy of Bill Bryson’s In a Sunburned Country, about his travels in Australia. Bryson is entertaining reading. I read his Notes from a Small Island before my trip to the UK, and A Walk in the Woods when I was planning to hike the Appalachian Trail. Plus, my Lonely Planet Australia has been keeping me busy. It’s a massive tome, though, so I may have to resort to ripping out relevant pages so it fits in my pack.

After wraslin’ with Netscape and IE idiosyncrasies, I finally got the form mail working, and looking kind of OK. I also found a photo gallery which I will hopefully add in the next few days.