It amazes me that a country of 7107 islands has 90% of its population unable to swim. This includes the fisherman I got drunk with while here.. over half cant swim so if their boat overturns they’re dead.. and they accept that???

Love the Philippines but it is a mixture of hard working kind people and lazy people with their hands out for money.. the most common catch cry here.. “Give me money” “Wheres my xmas present etc”..

So check the photos to see how the other half live.. meanwhile I will enjoy my last days before winging back to Oz for a while.. see you soon peeps…

Awaiting is a good word. See in Brazil and such countries everything is laid back and exceedingly lax. This is a good thing and a bad thing. Great for beaches and parties, not so good when you arrive at Buenos Aires airport at midnight to find out you dont have a ticket, because the Travel agency in Rio made a reservation but never sent a confirmation so the airline cancelled the ticket.

Welcome to 2nd world efficiency and laissez faire.. but I digress..

So its midnight, you have no money, no credit cards, you dont speak spanish and you now dont have a flight. ITS TIME FOR THE NEW REALITY SHOW… “Deal with It!“, where u the contestant get put in a situation, have someone screw you over change everything and say.. “Deal with it”. So im seeing the whole africa and sth america experience as a reality show. Big Brother, sorry in portugese Biggy Brother.. haha

Meanwhile Buenos Aires is a beautiful city, in my Top 4 beautiful cities of the world (which yes will be featured in my debut travel book out next year).. oh the list.. Paris, Prague, Barcelone and Buenos Aires. I will let the pictures speak for themselves, and having dated a portena (girl from BsAs) for 2 years I will say no more in case the walls have ears.

Love Brazil, beaches, beauty, nature and crazy lifestyle, Love Buenos Aires, the culture, functionality, sophistication and art-music scene, very bohemian..

Til next time dudes, u know where to find me.. jbr055@hotmail.com

Ok, back to reality.. spent a week in Sao Paolo which is a really cool city, great nightlife and I was amazed how safe after everything I had always heard about Sao Paolo.

Rio is amazing, the beaches Ipanema and Copacabana, the wild nightlife of Lapa, football games, and of course, the bikini clad women on the beach (Insert Homer drool here)..

Time to chill out and relax for a while. Its my 5th time here and it feels like an old shoe, so I’d better enjoy it before I look like one..

Opinions vary, the white population are too scared to leave their houses at night. 35,000 murders last year and the hostel I am at has been robbed 38 times in the last year – this with electric fencing and constant vigilance.

The black population tell u this is all bullshit, and that crime has drastically decreased in the last few years, whites are paranoid and HIV is only 5% not 25% as reported. I went on a trip to Soweto – the slums and saw abject poverty firsthand. There are many groups, christian, muslim and chinese all pouring into this continent vying for their stake of potential riches, but the corruption and bureaucracy they face makes it hard..

Whomever you believe, this country is either booming and new so give it time, or on the brink of civil war in 10 years – time, as always, will be the judge..

However the human side of the equation is sad to say the least. Death, disease, famine, poverty, inefficiency (it takes longer here to get anything done than anywhere i have been in the world) – car crashes, people dying all around you, scary stuff.

While I have been here a ferry sank in Dar Es Salaam killing 250, a gas pipe exploded in Nairobi while I was there killing 80, a couple were abducted – the man killed and wife taken hostage in Kenya on a $900 a day beach resort, and thats for starters.

When I went to climb Mt Kilimanjaro (well for 2 days anyway) the village of Marungu had funerals everyday. The local next to me said – “dont worry about it, everyone here has AIDS, we have funerals like that all the time..”

Sad to say, this is a continent run by poorly educated, sometimes mischievous population, with no work, no money, no food and no healthcare, it is shocking and I cant say I’m sad to be leaving..

After Joburg I am off to Sao Paolo Brazil and longing for Rio and the golden sands if Ipanema.. one step at a time though.. light footsteps thru the jungle is best advised

Nai-robbery is not the nicest place.. quite a few people i know were robbed and there is very very limited places to go out after dark when the boogeymen come out. That said lets talk safari..

Meeting a Maasai Mara warrior (Sitotti) in his tribal setting and meeting the village community was mind blowing. Their life is a whole world apart from ours, sleeping out in the wilds with lions, elephants, zebras, cheetahs etc. They are still very traditional and not westernised at all.. I invited him for lunch and to come back to Nairobi – the photo of him eating in a restaurant is priceless – it was a real Greystoke moment..

The safari was aweomse, being in the wild seeing these animals is completely different to a safe zoo experience. Here the animals are hunting and killing each other in the wild, watching a cheetah or a lion stalking its kill and then chase it down and eat it – right in front of you is unforgettable.. herds of wild elephants walking straight past you, schools of giraffes it was truly incredible..

Off to Tanzania next to camp out under Mt Kilimnajaro

Of course the immigration/customs are the opposite making your life a misery, I was police interviewed on leaving, good cop bad cop, looked through all my photos, wanted names of Iranian students I teach in Australia.. and the south of Iran from Bandar Abbas to Bandar e Lengeh is the most dire place I have visited in over 70 countries.

Ramadhan from 6am to 8:05pm – no water (in 40 degree temperatures everyday) no food, no cigarettes, NOTHING, no shops anything during 6am-8pm was tough..

I met pro and anti iranian government views, both with good arguments either way..

But the sites were truly incredible, the mosques of isfahan, the markets/bazaars, and walking around you feel pretty safe (a common trait i find in most islamic countries)..

My farsi was pretty good – ‘esmayman Jason’; ‘Khosh Vagtam’ (pleased to meet you).. Sob Bakay (good morning), Shoma zebaa (you are beautiful) .. all handy expressions

So its onto Dubai, then Africa and safari time…

I am currently in Malaysia on my way to Iran – without a Visa!!. Why the fudge would you do that? Cos as Charlie Sheen says “Thats how I roll”. I have had to face many fears and anxieties in this life and the choice is always cut and run or do the difficult thing and face the bitter wind.

Having been held up at gunpoint in Ho Chi Minh, put in the back of a car and taken to an unknown destination — to flying all the way to the remote Island of Cebu to meet a girlfriend who no shows and doesnt tell you, then turns her phone to give you no reason why. And there you are stranded at midnight in a foreign country on a tiny Island with no money, no visa card (stolen prior at gunpoint) and its time to face that bitter wind all over again.

So much irony, I was actually held up at gunpoint by Filipinos in Ho Chi Minh, then screwed over again by another Filipina, and there I am standing in their country – time to make a choice about how you react. I have always said that when you can’t control what happens to you, you can choose to control how you respond.

So this holiday has had its adventures – spend 7 weeks in Asia going along the beaches during RAINY season (google the weather next time Jason), and now I am in Malaysia and soon Iran during the holy month of Ramadhan – way to go Jason..

So I’m on a roll, and I figure keep digging to China (or Iran). So I fly tomorrow to Iran with no Visa (Visa on Arrival, I hope) then overland through Iran – Shiraz, Isfahan and then a ferry to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (yes no Visa for there either) – then onto Bahrain, before hitting Africa.

Oh and did I mention that I only had 24 hours to buy my ticket and get $1000 in Euro cos Iran doesnt have ATMs or Visa card acceptance.. Again thats how I roll.. maybe its these Australian “She’ll be right mate”. And while I love flying, the thought of crashing scares they HELL out of me – I am truly a white knuckle flyer. So AirAsia from Kulala Lumpur to Tehran and arrive with no Visa.. thus i hear in my head?

“And do you feel scared I do? But I won’t stop and falter..”  God bless you all and see your when I come around the dark side of the moon…

The Golden Palace was incredible a series of amazing temples, the Emerald Buddha and assorted other amazing relics and antiquities. Been travelling up and down the river on riverboat ‘buses’ kinda B Grade Venice style. Food as always has been awesome, but I would like SOMETHING WITHOUT CHILLI PLEASE.

Unfortunately poverty has driven the nearby city of Siem Reap into an abomination of capitalism, gringo foreign bars and aggressive begging children who will smile at you one minute then throw something at you and hiss when you dont give them MORE money!! But thats Cambodia – Naked dancing baby shows and you can fire a rocket launcher at a cow for $500!! Welcome to Cambodia

No sign of Angelina Jolie, so this Brad Pitt is moving on to Bangkok and the dreaded border crossing between Cambodia and Thailand..