handyOrcs

Apparently it’s both gorgeous and cheap (you know, like Prague was before everybody went there…)

It’s had some enormous investment in it (including government sponsored wi-fi access across the whole country, apparently) and everybody there speaks about 4 languages minimum, thus putting us brits to shame.

Oh, and apparently there’s 3 types of women in estonia according to my mate – gorgeous blue-eyed blondes, gorgeous brown-eyed brunettes, and old women – apparently there is no middle ground.

Fantastic place for a peaceful holiday.

We hired a farmhouse villa with its own pool in Xhagra, and it was brilliant (although a house that would sleep 6 was possibly excessive for 2 of us…)

If you’re thinking of going, I heartily recommend contacting Joseph at http://www.aboutgozo.com – we got our villa through him, and he is a star man (although he does look disturbingly like Joe Pesci…)

Fantastic place – beach resort area south of Mombassa.

We stayed at the Southern Palms hotel for a 2 week all-inclusive holiday, and we’d go back in a second (in fact, my girlfriend keeps eyeing up prices for flights).

Friendly people, great weather, just brilliant.

Watch out for the beach vendors – they will take you for as much as they can, but not in an agressive way. We bought various carvings etc. on our second day there, which we could have got cheaper, but they are master hagglers.
The average daily wage for the bar staff at our hotel was the price of a single bottle of local beer (to us foreigners), and that’s a good wage and a secure job so it’s no surprise that the beach boys have an eye for the main chance.

Lovely place – will go back as soon as the piggybank is full.

Went on a 2 day overland safari to Tsavo East and the Saltlick reserve – 2 words… “Absolutely fantastic”.

Would go back in a heartbeat, but I think we’ll go to the Massai Mara first.

Stayed at the Pyramisa Hotel, which is huge and has a lobby like the lair of a Bond villain! Interesting people-watching potential, especially the russian gangsters and their stick-thin gold-draped girlfirends ;-)

I’d go back, but to a smaller hotel – maybe go to Dahab instead of Sharm.

It’s alright – there’s plenty of chavs in shitty cheap cars that have been badly “modded”, no decent pubs for people want to go out for a jar or two but who don’t fancy either having a load of Fred Perry / Ben Sherman clad geezers crushed around them on a friday night or being surrounded by WWII veterans, and it’s devoid of decent entertainment facilities despite being bigger than neighbouring Huntingdon (which has a big cinema, gyms, out-of-town shopping etc.).
Still, it’s on the A1, which makes it nice and easy for me to jump on my motorbike and head down to work in London when I don’t fancy the train.
Oh, and the house prices are a hell of a lot more reasonable than Cambridge, and it’s only 20 minutes away.