{"title":"John Staniland","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"midlife-meanderings-in-s-e-asia-book-john-staniland-9781805141655","title":"Midlife Meanderings in S E Asia","description":"Embarking on several months of random budget travelling in S E Asia, John Staniland takes us on a journey to several stimulating and exotic countries in this remarkable part of the world. This life-changing adventure arises as a result of semi-retirement from the business world and an amicable marriage break-up.    Lightweight backpacking in middle age with a bit more cash in his pocket than the usual young post ‘A’ Level or post-degree traveller, he was not restricted to living off pot noodles in a hostel or eking out limited funds for the odd beer or bottle of wine from a 7-11 store. Getting out and about, mainly by bus and train, following his nose and listening to locals and other travellers, he discovered a huge amount about life in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and Cambodia.    Highlights included trekking in North Thailand, a wonderful boat trip across the awe-inspiring Halong Bay to Cat Ba Island, taking the Reunification Express sleeper in Vietnam, raving all night at a Full Moon party, eating dog, walking deserted beaches in Malaysia, poignantly visiting the Killing Fields in Cambodia and enjoying a dawn visit to the fabulous Angkor Wat temple site.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49748800930065,"sku":"NGR9781805141655","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50479559934225,"sku":"GOR013796074","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1805141651.jpg?v=1750962921"},{"product_id":"searching-for-my-shangri-la-book-john-staniland-9781805142232","title":"Searching for My Shangri La","description":"Searching for My Shangri La is the author’s second of book on the region, after Midlife Meanderings in SE Asia. It is about continuing an independent and unstructured journey through this fascinating part of the world on a shoe-string budget.   Largely using public transport, the author travelled from southern Thailand to Malaysia to explore the islands of Langkawi and Penang. A boat then took him across the Straits of Malacca to Medan, the capital of Indonesia, which is to the north of the large island state of Sumatra. After an exhilarating, and often uncomfortable, journey southwards, he found himself opposite Singapore and needed to take a ferry across to this city-state to continue his journey by air to Hong Kong. After a thorough exploration of this former British Colonial outpost, a fast ferry took him on to Macau. A couple of days are then spent in this exhilarating former Portuguese colony preparing to explore southwest China and a comprehensive voyage of discovery of the Yunnan Province to the edge of the Himalayas. Returning to Thailand meant undertaking a bizarre journey down the Mekong, flanked by Burma and Laos. Once reacquainted with northern Thailand there were a few days before it was time to head to Bangkok for the flight back to the UK.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49753385042193,"sku":"NGR9781805142232","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51258970702097,"sku":"GOR014210325","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1805142232.jpg?v=1751249210"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/author-books-by-john-staniland.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}