Walking
At home in England, walking is a big part of our lives, either in the countryside or by the coast. So of course, as we make our way around the world we love to go trekking. Mountains are there to be conquered, hidden waterfalls need to be found, those ruins need to be experienced. In some more challenging places we may use a guide, for safety and for information. However, we usually walk alone, just us and the map and our sense of direction. There are few feelings better than sinking that rewarding beer at the end of a long day walking thinking back over all that you’ve seen. Quaint villages, fabulous views, village bars, classic buildings, you will see it all, the rewards are endless.
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Plitvice: Deep Gorges and Gorgeous Villages
About a 40 minute drive north of Mukinje is the incredibly picturesque village of Rastoke, which is so utterly charming that it’s difficult to know where to start to describe it in words. But we’ll give it a go…. Two rivers converge in the village, but one, the Slunjcica, enters at high level from the mountains; the other, the Korana, flows in from the bottom of the deep gorge and therefore at a much lower level. Consequently, the waters of the Slunjcica cascade down a series of waterfalls and rapids, flowing into the larger Korana in multiple places throughout the village. In fact, much of Rastoke is effectively built on…
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From The Sea To The Lakes
Saturday morning’s rainstorm has just about cleared by the time we pick up the hire car and head off on the road trip section of this adventure. With the Adriatic on all sides of the city bar one, the only way out by road is the steep climb up and over the mountains which form such a dramatic backdrop to this part of the Dalmatian coastline. For our journey northwards from Split, we ignore the motorways and head along smaller roads through great plateaux of green between the rolling hills, passing through quaint towns and sweeping valleys as we make our way towards Plitvicka Jezera, the Lake District of Croatia.…
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Walk On The Wild Side
There is very little to occupy one’s time during this lockdown, but thankfully the behavioural guidance from the UK Government includes taking outdoor exercise once per day. For us, our daily walk in the countryside is our only escape other than shopping for food, but it’s a very welcome daily event. Luckily, we live in a village surrounded by attractive countryside and woodland and can walk straight from our house into open country, safe in the knowledge that we will see almost no one and easily practice social distancing. Equally luckily, this period of lockdown has so far coincided with a spell of lovely Spring weather, we’ve had a lot…
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Isn’t Life Strange
Spring sunshine pours through our windows, the first warmth of the season alternating with blasts of cold wind coming in off the North Sea. Music plays, books get read, the TV is on more than usual. We are filling time, trying not to dwell on the fact that we would today have been in Hoi An, taking evening strolls along its quaint lantern-lit streets. Each day the saved internet sites update us with the growing death toll across the world, the TV news has just one subject every single broadcast, an unprecedented worldwide horror story unfolds before our eyes. We tune in to our Prime Minister’s daily briefings, obeying closely…
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The Other Side Of It
We always try and keep the blog upbeat and positive in keeping with our outlook. But of course although we are very lucky, not everything is perfect. This story is for those like our lovely follower Terrie who always says she wants to see a “dark side” blog post. It’s the story of Day 41; not exactly a disaster but probably not the best day of the trip so far. Written by Phil… For me the gut rot attack had arrived the previous Tuesday. You know how it is, a slight odd feeling upon first waking quickly becomes extreme gripes and an hour later it’s obvious that breakfast is off…
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Laos: Nong Khiaw
Nong Khiaw is an absolutely spectacular and beautiful place, just simply one of those places which really does take your breath away. It wows everyone: every other traveller we meet uses phrases like “most beautiful place I’ve ever seen”. It is for us too, it is beyond stunning. More description in a minute. First, it seems the storm on our last day back in Luang Prabang was actually the outer reaches of a typhoon, and as we leave, our minivan has to pull around fallen trees and other debris, and we hear stories of one of the Mekong riverboats being turned over into its murky depths. Hopefully with no one…
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Nongtao Part 4: The Jungle Trek
Night noises. You fall asleep to the sound of a thousand cicadas, and wake to dozens of cockerels. Now and again in the darkest hours, the village dogs bark and howl as one; maybe a wild animal has passed through the village and the dogs are on guard. As dawn approaches, our wooden hut creaks and groans as the temperature plummets. And then the national anthem booms out. The morning dew is heavy as we await our guide, these sweeps between day and night temperatures absolutely soak the ground each morning with both dew and mist. Still cold at dawn, the rising sun brings instant warmth and another mountain day…
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Potholes and Waterfalls: Koh Lanta By Road
The best and most commonly used way of getting around this island is by moped, but if like us you don’t ride then there are tuk tuks and backs of trucks, but it’s around 300-350 baht each way to cross the island, so hiring a small car for 24 hours at 1200 baht is a decent option. A grocery store near our home in Klong Nin has hire cars available; there’s no insurance forms to complete, you can’t pay by card (cash only), they don’t even check driving licences. They take no deposit, but instead hold my passport hostage until we return the car. Husband is slightly moody as he…
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Legends, Kings & Storms in Wet and Wild Cornwall
With just a couple of weeks left before our travels we take one more trip down to Cornwall. We arrive at the tail end of Storm Brendan battering the UK, the Cornish coast is being buffeted by the strong winds and the Atlantic is crashing in making a dramatic scene. The Atlantic is in an angry mood. So after reacquainting ourselves with some of the Padstow pubs on our first evening, we spend the first full day here battling the elements at Tintagel, Boscastle and Port Isaac. Tintagel is of course the legendary site of King Arthur’s castle, with its wonderful tales of Merlin, Arthur and the Knights of the…
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Canterbury: A cradle of Christianity
The countdown to the start of our amazing adventures and trips around the world is well underway, with just three weeks to go until our departure on January 29th. From that point on, the next chapter of our lives begins. So currently we are doing our best to shake off the extra pounds put on over Christmas and get quite a bit fitter before the adventures begin. The New Year has to date seen a stroll around the so-called lost waterways of London, following the trail of the River Fleet, a tributary of the Thames now mostly buried underground, and a delightful walk around the picturesque villages just south east…
