Malc

Just got back after 4 fab days in Prague. Time to tick it off !!

Last week I headed off towards Lundy Island. I arrived in Ilfracombe, booked the boat over to the island and looked forward to finally visiting a place I had wanted to go to for a long long time.

And now the bad news …

On the day i was due to go the weather around Lundy Island took a turn for the worse. Despite glorious sunshine there was a very strong south easterly wind which meant that the boat could not land passengers. Unfortunately there was no guarantee of future sailings so I had to cash in my ticket and make other plans.

One day I will get to this place !!!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s like no other country I’ve been to in terms of culture. I worked in Seoul but managed to get around a little. Highlights for me … Kyonggbok Palace and climbing in the Pucasin Mountains. The people I worked with were fabulous and we had such fun in the restuarants and bars of Seoul

It’s not that it’s not worth visiting just that I didn’t see that much of it. Got a train from Albany up to Toronto. All I saw was the view along the Hudson River. Some industrial, some farmland ! Sure there is much more to this state and one day I’ll be back to explore.

To see the real Spain, stay north and avoid the Brits on tour !! Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and San Sebastian are all great cities and so unlike the image we Brits have of the Costa’s. Real Spain is what you need to see if you want to appreciate the country and the people at their best.

I originally said “not worth it” based on the fact that I’ve been to Brussels on at least 5 occasions and not seen any of it, apart from a dark taxi ride from the railway station to my hotel late at night, and then a dark ride out of the city the next morning. Decided that was harsh because I’ve been to Bruge (the Venice of the north) and also Antwerp which was once the European Cultural City of the Year. Both were really nice places, and some amazing architecture, and of course how could I forget Belgian Chocolates and Belgian Beer !!

Sorry no photos cos as I said it was pitch black !!!

But my over riding memory is of the people, their smiley faces and their love of music. Maybe down to the fact that they’ve had a traumatic history but these people know how to be happy.

I worked on and off in the Philippines for 3 years and still stay in touch with many of the friends I made. Places visited include the fabulous beaches of Borocay, Cebu where they grow the best mangos in the world, and Taal/Tagatay a very large volcano just waiting to go off.

Think I’ll post a few photos starting with some of those smiley faces.

Impromptu diversion on a road trip round Arizona, Nevada thank to an American couple I met at Bryce Canyon. They told me that I just had to go to Mesa Verde. Big exercise in trust cos I hadn’t even heard of the place. Anyway got up at 4am the following mroning to drive 250 miles or so with no idea what I would find. So so pleased I took their advice cos as you will see from the photo there is an amazing cliff dwellings built by the Pueblo people way back in the 1200’s !!

Out of interest I read that twenty-four Native American tribes in the southwest have an ancestral affiliation with the sites at Mesa Verde. Who ever said that the USA has no history !!

Been here a number of times and it such a laid back place. The people are very friendly and the local food and beer is good and cheap. Places to visit include Kolossi Castle, Curium Theatre & Ruins, Troodos Mountains, Pathos and a whole host of small villages and towns off the tourist trail. Hire a car and just explore and you wont be dissapointed.

My favourite country in SE Asia and the only one NOT to have been invaded, colonised by the west.

I love everything about this place, the sights, the sounds, the smells, the people, the food … EVERYTHING.

Bangkok – the city that never sleeps. Chang Mai in the north. Krabi, Koh Samui, Phi Phi and all the other islands. You can spend so much time travelling around. I was lucky to have lived and worked here, and I’ve since been back touring.

So many highlights but think my fondest memory was elephant treking in the jungle.