nthposition online magazine

Dave Tomory

Dave first visited India in 1971. He played in a rock 'n' roll band in the Himalayas and wrote features for the Indian press. His writing on India includes A season in heaven: True tales from the road to Kathmandu (1995) and Hello goodnight (2000). He has just finished a book on the Andaman Islands.

Cave of Leader

[ places - march 06 ]

The communist Pathet Lao leadership spent nine fugitive years under relentless American bombing. One vast cavern, once the haunt of wild elephants, was converted into a lecture hall; in 1971 a deputation from Cuba, bearing a large framed portrait of Che Guevara, was received there by an audience of five thousand.

The War of Drugs

[ places - november 05 ]

If the Hall of Opium and the House of Opium in Sop Ruak are Khun Sa's memorial, then in time a third will join them: the Hall, or House, of Speed.

Luang Prabang diary

[ places - october 04 ]

"The Australian has lashed himself into his seatbelt like a sailor to a mast. There are no airline magazines, no safety information sheets, just sickbags."

Selling hell as a long-haul destination

[ places - april 02 ]

The velodrome has no bicycles; the open Olympic pool is a cauldron; the imported hobby yachts rot on the beach for lack of sailors. It's holiday time...