starlaquin

Omg… Morocco was so amazing lol I went as part of a charity hitchhike for Link Community Development, and it was just so good! We crisscrossed most of the country, going to Fes, Meknes (where we met the mayor randomly lol), Midelt (we went trekking in the mountains, it was so lovely there), the hell hole that is Beni Millal (they wouldn’t let us on the bus at the bus station! bearing in mind it was four in the morning and we’d just come from a five hour bus journey lol), Merzouga (camel trekking in the Sahara!), the Cascades, the coast, and, of course, Marrakesh! Everything was just absolutely amazing, I’m not sure I’ve ever had such a good time (I think I say that a lot though lol). In Marrakech, we went into the souk about six times. The last time in, we took one wrong turning and were lost for about two hours lol. But yeah, so so much fun, with ridiculously friendly (and ridiculously cheeky lol) people.

I’m now hopefully doing the annual hitch to Morocco for Link! Yay!!! I can’t wait ‘til easter rolls around lol

Kenya is just the most amazing place to be. I was there for a month teaching in a primary school in Mtwapa and living in Mombasa. It is so vibrant and cheerful, and has highly amusing nightclubs. I absolutely adored the kids I worked with, and the woman running the school is the most amazing person I’ve ever met – she set it up, turned it into an orphanage as well, and feeds the kids, all from her own pocket (she’s a nurse). I want to go back next year, to teach the kids again and to see how they’re doing. People are literally living on the edge over there, in sometimes horrible conditions, but they’re always willing to share and they’ll always give you a smile.
Kenya was a life changing experience for me, with snow-white beaches, many, many elephants (on safari fortunately, not roaming through the cities lol), and the most fantastically gorgeous children.
Despite the bad times, such as being assaulted by street kids, cheated at every turn (due to the, entirely justified, view that white people are rich) and being baffled by the airport, Kenya is well worth visiting. It’s definitely a place you have to immerse yourself though to get the full experience, rather than staying in a resort. Oh, and I ended up with a masai boyfriend, which was rather interesting!

So gorgeous! The landscape, the animals (very cute puffins, and the loveliest horses), the people, the frankly bizarre experience of climbing up behind a waterfall in a field inhabited by elves (there was a tiny house halfway up a hill with massive rocks scattered about it from various landslides, but the house was untouched because the elves had been protecting the man living there, a friend to them. So cool!). Iceland is absolutely amazing – I only went for an extended weekend, but it made an enormous impression on me. I saw Geysir, the geyser all others are named after, volcanoes, Thingvellir, the oldest parliament in the world, an adorable museum, made up of a man’s collection (an incredible range of things), a wide variety of waterfalls (including Gullfoss, the largest waterfall in Europe). I went to the coast and watched puffins flying in and out of their holes in cliffs, saw the place where two tectonic plates meet, wandered round Reykjavik, was driven across a semi mountain range in what seemed like high winds to me (rather exciting swaying of the minibus), but which were barely acknowledged by the tour guide, and clambered on THE glacier, now fast-shrinking (strangely remarkably fun – although I do love a good clamber!). On the last day, I went to the Blue Lagoon – very fun but do NOT let your hair get wet! I have hair down past my waist and it went horribly brittle and dull for a few days after – my skin felt luscious though! Iceland has an incredible landscape (at times you feel like you’re on the moon or underwater) and fabulous nights, and I can’t remember a single bad thing about my trip there. Personally, I don’t feel a life is complete without experiencing at least a part of Iceland!

School trip madness!!! Had an insanely good time in Russia, largely because of the people I was with. Its definitely necessary to keep a sense of humour in Russia, particularly as you’ll be hard pressed to find a local who smiles, and the food (at least where we stayed!) is atrocious. In the second hotel we stayed at (remembering we were a school trip) there was a strip club the school hadn’t been told about (THAT meant a couple of fun times!) and they tried to steal our passports. But, I absolutely fell in love with Russia while I was there. I loved the people, despite their generally scowling expression, there were many amazing sights, we went to the circus (incredible, but unfortunately had animals) and travelled from St. Petersberg to Moscow on the overnight train (more fun than it had any right to be!). There are so many things to see (Lenin’s body was rather cool – though the armed guards were mildly terrifying), and it seems like the perfect place to explore given more time. Russia is an experience to say the least, but it leaves some remarkable memories.

I cannot express how much fun I had in Switzerland, specifically Geneva. I went on a trip to the UN with a few other people, which in itself was absolutely amazing, but the spare time was also fantabulous. There’s an insane amount to do, the people are lovely, transport is easy to use and very efficient and the landscape is beautiful. There are some very nice pubs, strangely generally with an American theme (at least that’s what I found!), and the youth hostel I was in was great -so many fond memories were created there! Switzerland is incredible and the amount of things to see is astonishing, with all museums and churches in Geneva well worth a visit!

My dad is Swedish, so I’ve spent a fair bit of time in Sweden, specifically Stockholm, Uppsala and Sandham (a gorgeous little island). In my view, you can find everything good in the world in Sweden! Gorgeous animals and landscape (its very good for exploring – lots of rocks, cliffs and hidden beaches!), lovely people, just about everyone sails, and there are some fantastic sights (personally I love Skansen, the open air museum in Stockholm, although I must admit its mostly for the animals! – its gorgeous in winter, and there are far fewer people, but there’s more of a carnival type atmosphere in the summer, plus more’s open). Anwyway, Sweden is an incredible place to go, with the traditional in harmony with the new.