Travel Blog
We set up our travel blog to keep a journal of our holidays and travels, it is easy to forget details. As we Travel around the world we want to visit as many countries as possible following the sun. Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Americas are all on our list to explore more
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Travel Challenge – Day 2
We were nominated by our friend Andrew Petcher to post one favourite travel picture a day for ten days without explanation, then to nominate someone else to participate. That’s 10 days, 10 travel pictures, and 10 nominations. We may not make it to the end of ten days, but for now we nominate our friends Maggie & Richard at Monkey’s Tale Please link to us so we know you have participated. If you are not interested, no problem. Nowhere in the rules does it say you can’t guess where the photo was taken. Hint – Despite appearances, definitely not on top of the world
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Travel Challenge -Day 1
We were nominated by our friend Andrew Petcher to post one favourite travel picture a day for ten days without explanation, then to nominate someone else to participate. That’s 10 days, 10 travel pictures, and 10 nominations. We may not make it to the end of ten days, but for now we nominate our friend Gilda Please link to us so we know you have participated. If you are not interested, no problem. Nowhere in the rules does it say you can’t guess where the photo was taken. Hint – most people think it is Asia, it’s not.
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The Dirty Plastic Bucket
With our travel adventures for 2020 complete, and our plans for 2021 on hold until there’s more clarification around travel restrictions, we have nothing current to write about. We do, however, have a load of stories from past travels, which we hope may be interesting or amusing. Such as…. Bakkhali, Bengal, India, April 2017. The little coastal town of Bakkhali is probably the place, so far anyway, where we have been furthest from our comfort zone. Despite the unique positioning of its beach, jutting out due south into the ocean, meaning that both sunrise and sunset are across the water, this is not a seaside town as we know it.…
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The Curious Tale Of The Day Bag And The Dress
With our travel adventures for 2020 complete, and our plans for 2021 on hold until there’s more clarification around travel restrictions, we have nothing current to write about. We do, however, have a load of stories from past travels, which we hope may be interesting or amusing. Such as…. Puerto Tazacorte, La Palma, March 2018 The island of La Palma, in the Canaries, had given us better than expected sunshine and some great food. Puerto Tazacorte has its own charm, the blue Mediterranean and its snow white surf crashing on to the jet black volcanic sands of its beach. After a day exploring the island by hire car we grabbed…
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Hamam’ing It Up
If you haven’t visited a hamam on a visit to Turkey then you have missed out on this centuries old tradition which the people of this colourful country still enjoy today. The truly traditional dome roofed hamams are fewer in number these days, simply because they date from times before most of the population had running water at home, but there is still a good deal of choice. Whether you go for a rustic hamam in a dingy building hidden down an alleyway where you are laid out on a marble floor, a more sumptuous spa where you have the luxury of a raised marble plinth, or any of the…
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From Turkey To Quarantine
And so we start our 14 day quarantine which will most likely run straight into a period of further regional lockdown given the high current COVID rates in our corner of England. We’re a little sad that the Turkey adventure ended the way it did, with our time in Antalya cancelled and an abrupt end to our newly found social life in Side. In the final three days after making our decision to return home, we did manage one last trip to our favourite riverside eatery in Manavgat before it all shut down, and even managed a quick dip in the Med on each of the last two days. So…
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COVID: How Quickly Things Change
All of a sudden our Turkish adventure is coming to an end and we are now travelling back to England on Monday. As we headed off to Alanya this week, news was breaking that the Turkish Government were about to announce increased COVID restrictions, although at that stage all of the talk surrounded weekend closures. When the announcement came, the measures were much more far reaching, with an indefinite closure of all bars and restaurants and heavily restricted opening times for all other outlets including food shops. At the same time an 8pm curfew comes in and, although the curfew, rather counter intuitively, doesn’t apply to tourists, it’s clear that…
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One Night In Alanya
For us one of the joys of long term travel is that “time to move on” feeling, when we pack up our backpacks, say goodbye to one place and prepare to explore the next one. As we’ve said before, it’s good to move on while you still love a place; that mixed feeling of wondering if you’re leaving too soon coupled with the excitement of a new destination, is a heady feeling and is one of the real buzzes of travel. And we’ve missed that feeling during our extended stay in Side. True, we have always wanted to experience a long stay in one place too, but it’s come earlier…
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Side & Manavgat: Mosques, History & The Modern World
Each day, the first haunting call from the muezzin sounds out around first light, greeting the day alongside the crowing of cockerels and, sometimes, the clanging of binmen emptying the communal rubbish bins in the street outside. We’ve been to places where the Muslim faith has seemed to be much stronger than it is in this part of Turkey, maybe westernisation has had an effect, but there is no doubting the evocative nature of the sound of the call to prayer, which still stirs us even after 8 weeks here. And with the daylight hours reducing, the muezzins’ calls become that bit more regular. Despite the apparent moderation of diligence…
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Making Roots And Planning Routes
It’s fair to say that we’re getting a bit restless. Here in Side it’s a little bit like becoming becalmed at sea, eager to press on with this voyage and even more eager to make more voyages in the future. Settling into a single place for an extended stay was always on our agenda, but probably not for several years yet. It’s an experience we’ve added to our repertoire rather earlier than intended, but then our travel in 2020 has been a very different shape from the original picture. Until COVID intervened and blew our plans apart, our intention after retiring last Christmas was to travel for around four months…
