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Fort Kochi, Town Of Rich Cultural Heritage
Our journey through Kerala is set to take us to ancient coastal cities, up into the misty mountains, through tea plantations, into the backwaters then down to red cliffs, a seaside holiday resort and even a specialist ayurvedic retreat. But we start here at Fort Kochi, which soon shows itself to be an utterly absorbing, multi faceted city with so many elements to its character and so many different aspects that it’s difficult to know where to start. So we’ll start with its rather unique geographical setting. Fort Kochi, its neighbouring towns and cities and even the giant sprawling Cochin city sit on what you might term a broken coastline,…
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From Ranthambore To The Pink City Of Jaipur
Breakfast is curry. Dinner is curry. Lunch, if you have it (we haven’t had room) would be curry. By our first Saturday we’re on curry number 10. That’s going to reach a very big number by the time we see anything like a change of cuisine. Tummies, you better be ready. Saturday afternoon and our fourth sortie into the Ranthambore National Park sees us take a break from seeking out animal sightings and instead we climb to Ranthambore Fort, the huge 5th century hilltop construction from which the National Park takes its name – indeed the vast area covered by the park once formed the fort’s hunting grounds. Today the…
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Iguazu Wildlife
Our week or so on the Brazil-Argentina border may not have been our most spectacular ever in terms of spotting wildlife, but it had its moments – moments dominated by butterflies. Here’s some nature shots to wind up that part of this trip….
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Day Trip To Gibraltar & Other Stories
Sausage, bacon and egg in a bun, a little dash of brown sauce, a sweetened cappuccino: hangover cure par excellence. It’s needed, last night was a long night and today is going to be a long day. But we can’t be this close to Gibraltar without making a visit – the first visit to an overseas British territory for either of us. Our base now is the coastal town of San Luis de Sabinillas on the Costa del Sol, for our last taste of the Spanish Mediterranean on this long journey south. We’ve chosen this location not just for one last dip in the blue but for two other reasons…
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Quepos And Manuel Antonio
A few random and unconnected facts. One: At the last official survey, there are 932 species of bird in Costa Rica – that’s more than the whole of the USA and Canada put together, pretty impressive for such a small country! Two: Since we began travelling together in 2011, we’ve kept a record of every place outside GB where we’ve stayed at least one night; Quepos is number 144 and the first one ever that starts in the letter “Q”. Three: This place puts the “rain” in “rainforest”. Wow, when it rains here, it really means business, we can honestly say that in all our travels we have never seen…
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Tales From The Land Of Smiles
Amusing Encounters of the Travelling Kind In these early weeks of our trip, the character of the people of Thailand is already one of the undoubted highlights. So friendly, always ready to smile, calm, peaceful and considerate, you just can’t imagine any of them ever losing their temper. And several of them seem to fall into the “joker” category. One such is a guy working at our residence. His name (not sure of the spelling) is Pass. We can’t help but imagine him on Mastermind…. “And we welcome our first contender. Your name is?” “Pass”. Pass is a real joker. On our first day, I placed my arm next to…
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Koh Lanta: The First 7 Days
Klong Nin village We have now spent a few days on Koh Lanta and the village of Klong Nin has become our paradise. The aquamarine Andaman sea gently laps the long pale soft sand beach. A selection of accommodation in the form of beach huts inconspicuously line the beach, nestled amongst palm trees with attractive tropical gardens and a backdrop of wooded hills. Beach bars/ restaurants are rustic and low key, decked in driftwood and shells, cool seating areas with mats and cushions on the floor, there is a real chilled out vibe here. Music from the bars is kept at an acceptably low level and the overall feel is relaxed…
