Source: Partridge Publishing

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (PRWEB) March 21, 2016 – “The Travel Bug Goes Viral” (published by Partridge Singapore) follows the excursions of author Michael SN Godfrey and his wife, Lian.

“Many people have no opportunity to travel to destinations considered to be off the well-beaten track, so (my) goal is to let a reader share the experience, but all from the safety of their armchair,” Godfrey says. “The trips have taught us of the inherent friendliness of the local people we have met all over the world, and all that is required is a smile and a greeting to turn suspicion and a frown into a hug or a handshake.”

Included are stories of trips to Ladakh in northern India; the delta region of Vietnam; a trek in Upper Mustang, Nepal, for the three-day Tiji Festival; travels around Costa Rica and Panama in Central America; Hokkaido in Japan; snorkeling with whale sharks off Cebu Island in the Philippines; going by road from Yangon to Inle Lake in Myanmar (Burma); Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan and the ancient cities of Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand; China, taking the southern Silk Route from Kashgar to Xian; to West Timor in Indonesia for audience with the Raja of Boti; Kerala and the backwaters of south western India; finding a “living bridge” in Sumatra, Indonesia; Palawan Island in the Philippines and its underground river; Cuba and old Habana; a climb into an active volcano with the sulphur miners on the Indonesian island of Java.

The book is available on Amazon. Here is an excerpt as it relates to bus travel in Costa Rica:

San Jose, Costa Rica to Panama City, Panama

Took a taxi to the Tica Bus Terminal. We each had to pay a local exit tax equivalent to about US$7.50.

The Tica bus seems quite comfortable, with a WC, and a couple of TV screens.

Left just after noon, and instead of taking what may seem to be the more direct route via the “hill of death,” we followed the same route as yesterday down to the coast, before taking the southeastern coastal road. We note that in places they have planted teak trees by the side of the road.

It’s very cold on board, and I need to put on my raincoat and a cap.

After two and a half hours we had a pee stop, and after four hours, had a half hour stop for food at “Rancho Mi Tata.” I had fried rice, boiled potatoes, pasta and baked banana. The queue was long and the fish and chicken were finished by the time we got to the front, but Lian did manage to get some pork that was left.

At 5:15pm some police came on board during a check, and two local women were taken off the bus. We could see them being questioned on the open police verandah. Then, after a two hour delay, as it started raining, the bus left without them. Seems the police had a tip off that they were carrying heroin.