<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="0.92">
<channel>
	<title>White Sun of the Desert</title>
	<link>http://www.desertsun.co.uk/blog</link>
	<description>A British expat on Sakhalin Island</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Mon, 06 Sep 2010 11:06:28 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<docs>http://backend.userland.com/rss092</docs>
	<language>en</language>
	<!-- generator="WordPress/3.0.1" -->

	<item>
		<title>Why Travel Writers Should Avoid Making Political Remarks</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Extracted from Ghost Train to the Eastern Star by Paul Theroux, an American writer. Page 368: All this order, prosperity and efficiency the Vietnamese had found for themselves after decades of war, in spite of us; we could take no credit for it. Page 370: &#8216;What sort of work do you do in Saigon?&#8217; &#8216;I [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.desertsun.co.uk/blog/?p=731</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Crane</title>
		<description><![CDATA[]]></description>
		<link>http://www.desertsun.co.uk/blog/?p=728</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Geneva</title>
		<description><![CDATA[]]></description>
		<link>http://www.desertsun.co.uk/blog/?p=724</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Blogging Stuff</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Once again, apologies for the interruption in service.  It appears that this blog, which recently saw its 250,000th visitor, has outgrown the hosting company, who I have been with for 10 years.  So I&#8217;ve moved to another host, hopefully one a bit more able to deal with the traffic (which is mostly spambots) which my [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.desertsun.co.uk/blog/?p=722</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Security Advice</title>
		<description><![CDATA[As received from my new employer regarding travel in Nigeria: In case of danger, stay in your car, ask your driver not to run away and give immediately what you are asked for (have always about 5.000 Naira [$30] with you to give).]]></description>
		<link>http://www.desertsun.co.uk/blog/?p=717</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Business as Usual in Russia&#8217;s Oil and Gas Sector</title>
		<description><![CDATA[A series of articles in Upstream Online illustrate well the mentality of those attempting to run Russia&#8217;s oil and gas industry.  First up is a report of yet more &#8220;tough talk&#8221; from Igor Sechin, Russia&#8217;s deputy prime minister and chairman of Rosneft.  Unfortunately, &#8220;tough talk&#8221; &#8211; for which read macho posturing and anti-foreign idiocy &#8211; [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.desertsun.co.uk/blog/?p=706</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Blog Died, Resurrected</title>
		<description><![CDATA[You may have noticed my blog was offline for a few days, apparently a rogue script almost caused the host server to crash and my provider thought the best way to deal with it was to pull the plug on the whole thing and send me vague emails every couple of days. Anyway, I&#8217;m back [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.desertsun.co.uk/blog/?p=703</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>How to register yourself in Russia</title>
		<description><![CDATA[As I mentioned in my previous post, during this trip to Russia I am staying in the apartment of a friend.  Unlike all previous occasions where I have either spent the first night in a hotel or have been here working, this time around I have to register myself.  For those of you who are [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.desertsun.co.uk/blog/?p=698</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>How to Buy Lightbulbs in Russia</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m back in Sakhalin for two weeks, having finally managed to obtain a visa for $200 thanks to an efficient agent in London and my second passport (Brits are allowed multiple passports).  I&#8217;m here purely on holiday to catch up with friends, most of whom will themselves be leaving soon, and to see the place probably for the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.desertsun.co.uk/blog/?p=693</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Dubai and Lebanon</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Okay, my jaw is better now and I can resume normal service.  Sorry for keeping you waiting. Anyway, firstly to the UAE&#8230; That was a nice little trip, my first to the place since I left a-Sakhalin bound in September 2006.  Many things had changed, but many things had also stayed the same.  We arrived [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.desertsun.co.uk/blog/?p=677</link>
			</item>
</channel>
</rss>
