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The photo above was sent to me by Greg Eccleston. He went in search of the sign from Jack’s Cafe in Dali that inspired my book No Shitting in the Toilet. And when he couldn’t find that he tracked down another one in Beijing. What I like about his no shitting sign is that it takes no shit. There’s nothing you can say to convince it otherwise. You just can’t do it.
You might remember that Greg also tracked down the unfinished freeway I mentioned in Swahili for the Broken-Hearted. He assures me that his world-wide adventure wasn’t about finding obscure landmarks mentioned in my books. (He only discovered my books while he was away.) I think it just gave him something to do when things got a bit slow.
I got another email from Cheryl Lead who used a bit of downtime in Ho Chi Minh City to see if the pirate book sellers were selling any of my books. Readers of the Same Same eBook may remember that I tried to artificially create demand for pirate copies of my books in HCMC while I was there. It seems I failed. The closest thing Cheryl could find was a copy of Tim Moore’s new book.
It got me thinking about quests and travel. They can be something to pass the time between banana pancakes – like with Cheryl and Greg. Or they can be your trips whole raison d’être. (See Simon Varwell’s quest to visit every town with a mullet in it’s name). Even when you don’t realise it, you’ll find yourself on some kind of quest. Even if it’s to find a hostel without bedbugs.
I’m off on a quest of sorts next week. I’m going to Moscow and The Guardian have asked me to see if it’s possible to find the ‘old’ Russia. I’ve been cultivating a special cossack-style moustache for the occassion. Sally hates it. She reckons it will get me arrested as a suspected Chechen rebel.
Hmmm. A Kafka-esque run-in with the Russian authorities. Sounds like a quest to me.
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Take care ya! Do write in your blog about your experiences there! I am certainly waiting to read it..oh yes and pictures too!
There is something about a good quest that really goes so well with travelling.
We met a Canadian guy in Thailand that spent his whole time in Hungary trying to track down a life-sized chocolate Michael Jackson – he’d heard a rumour of it and spent weeks asking for it. Apparently he got close, he found a chocolate VW beetle, but sadly no Michael Jackson.
I love that story, and it made him so much more interesting than if he’d just mentioned he went to Hungary.
There’s a great book (not as good as yours though Peter) called “Round Ireland with a Fridge” by Tony Hawk – he spends a month hitchhiking around Ireland with a fridge, as you may have guessed from the title. Yet another great quest…
Thanks for the story Peter. It was indeed a quest for me to find Jack’s Café in Dali, but alas shitting is apparently allowed in the toilet there now…
My other great quest was to visit every city that has ever hosted the (summer) Olympic Games — there are 22 of them, including Beijing.
I’ve been there, done that now & am back home in Sydney.
What next?! Perhaps I will attempt to make it to 100 countries visited (am up to 72). Last I heard (read), you were in the nervous nineties…
Love ya work,
Greg Eccleston.
Actually Peter I’d be worried if I were you – I just saw this sign on flickr and thought “Peter Moore”!! Not really the first thing I’d be wanting people to associate me with
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trekkerpanda/71361265/in/pool-strange_signs/
I did find a pirate copy of your book in Cambodia! I got my friend to buy it actually: The Wrong Way Home
Did anyone notice that the sign actually says “no shilt”? Any ideas how one would go about shilting in the WC?