Around the world
via Australia and Tibet in 1996

In 1996, I fled Montreal's cold by backpacking to Australia.  Of course, I could have gone there directly but it was much more fun dallying on the way out to visit Tahiti,  Western Samoa,  Tonga,  Fiji and New Zealand. I dallied also on the way back and visited southern Indonesia  (Timor, Flores, Komodo, Sumbawa & Bali), Brunei, Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal and Tibet before returning to Montreal via Paris. 

Here, I will tell you about some of my adventures and illustrate them with 282 photos chosen from the more than twelve hundred that I took on this trip. I hope that you will enjoy the pictures and be tempted to take off with a small bag... If you are, you will find detailed information through the links provided for each country.

Many readers have e-mailed me asking for advice on transport and accommodations. Transport is so volatile that I cannot help much. Lodgings also change but I can offer a list of the hotels I used and their prices with all due reservations as to its ongoing validity.

I continue developing this site for the pleasure of sharing the joys of discovery with you. Meeting wonderful people of all skin colours, ethnic origins and beliefs has inspired me to set up the Humanist Foundation of Quebec to promote critical thinking and intercultural tolerance.

You may download and use the globetrotter's photos provided you mention "Photo by Bernard Cloutier" with a link to this site below each photo. High resolution versions can be acquired from our agent Travel-Images.com.

If you feel like it, you may exchange comments and impressions with other readers in the questbook or express them to me privately by the e-mail link. Putting a link on your web site, if you have one, would invite your viewers to enjoy free virtual travel as I hope you did.