World food
World food and the local cuisine, is for us one of the essential elements of travel. It is one of the most important ways of understanding local culture and therefore a huge part of our enjoyment of a new destination. We put real effort into discovering where the locals like to eat, what makes up the local cuisine, and consequently getting away from the tourist areas. It’s fair to say we would try virtually anything. Probably the most unusual food we have eaten is insects. Street food, bar food, upmarket restaurants and dodgy dives all have a part to play in this journey of discovery. As we seek out new experiences we are in search of even more unusual food. You won’t get these experiences from hiding in your hotel!
- Africa, Asia, Central America, England, Greece, Independent travel, India, Mexico, North America, Photography, Transport, Travel Blog, Turkey, World food
Questions About Travel
Travelling the way we do, in regular lengthy stretches, is not something everyone is fortunate enough, well enough or even inclined to do. Whatever your chosen style of travel, there are some questions which all of us who do so are asked on a regular basis. Like… What do you miss about home? Answer: very little. My stock answer is “proper English ale” which is true, I do find myself craving a good pint sometimes. Michaela meanwhile goes straight for the roast lamb and mint sauce. With both of our families being scattered around the country, we always make a round of visits on our return and probably don’t see…
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Tales Of Smut, Keys & Turtles: Last Days In Mexico
We described Tulum in our last post as being too over developed, too touristy and very much too over priced for our liking, with an enormous amount of further development in the midst of construction, but, you know, everywhere has redeeming features – it’s just that in places like Tulum you have to look a bit deeper to find them. The music in some of the bars in the main street is simply too loud to hold a conversation, so loud in fact that I’m reminded of what my Dad used to say. “I do detest pubs which are so loud that I can’t hear myself drink”. But as we…
- Belize, Central America, Independent travel, Photography, Transport, Travel Blog, Wildlife, World food
Out Of Mexico And In To Belize
A dreadlocked guy lazes in a hammock and raises his hand as we alight from the ferry. “Welcome to paradise” he beams. The delicious smell of barbecued seafood drifts across the sandy track, a smiling girl clocks our backpacks and suggests we taste the local rum before we walk any further. We turn right, heading to where our next bed is. The breeze is deliciously warm, the sun incredibly hot. And everything is different, just a short journey has brought us to a different culture which feels so different that we could call it a different world, let alone a different culture. No longer is there any significant Spanish influence,…
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Ancient Sites & Plunging Cenotes: Our Time In Yucatan
After several hours of walking the ancient sites in soaring temperatures and 100% humidity, jumping from the rock platform down into the cool, cool waters of the cenote is exhilarating and refreshing beyond belief. Swimming in one is a pure joy, but more of that later. A half hour collectivo ride out of Valladolid is one of the so called “new” seven wonders of the world, the extensive remains of the ancient Maya city of Chechen Itza. Paying our entry fee and ambling towards the first section of the city, the first thing that strikes us is the sheer number of visitors. It’s not even peak time of day yet…
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Valladolid: Gateway To Wonders But So Much More
We leave the lovely little beach town of Puerto Morelos with a real sense of disappointment, an unshakable feeling that we really missed out here. Not so much that the seaweed invasion spoilt both the beach and the sea – though that was disappointment enough – but more the fact that I couldn’t shake off the bout of “travel tummy” enough to enjoy the town’s splendid bars and restaurants. Being a beach town, this is probably the best collection we’ve seen in Mexico, but regrettably I just wasn’t up to making the most of it. As we walk home on our last night here – a Friday – after eating…
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Breakfast With Peacocks, Coca-Cola Burps & Drinking Pox: Tales From San Cristobal
Emerging somewhat bleary eyed from the overnight bus journey – although we both slept better than we thought we would – and blinking in the morning sun, the crisp freshness of the mountain air strikes us immediately. After several stays in humid locations over the last few weeks, culminating in the cloying air of Palenque, it feels like a completely different climate here. We are some 2,100 metres higher above sea level than we were in Palenque and it is instantly noticeably different. This is San Cristobal de las Casas, where evenings will be chilly and, if all goes according to plan, virtually the last point at which we feel…
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Hola Guadalajara. Olé! Tequila!
Now and again something inside the grey-white cloud flickers like a fluorescent lamp behind a curtain, then a streak of lightning shoots sideways across the sky. A vertical bolt flashes directly to the ground. With eastward movement and night time approaching, there is a point where, from the aeroplane window, the orange sunset is reflected in clouds, yet the darkness of dusk is clearly visible further east beyond the colour. As we near Guadalajara, the thunder storm, at roughly the same altitude as the plane, just adds to this unusual scene. A few delays en route means a late arrival, so it’s morning before we get our first chance to…
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Going Large: From Monterey to San Francisco
A few miles south of Monterey across the peninsula lies the celebrated, Clint Eastwood-famed town of Carmel-by-the-Sea, nestling amongst the tall pines and cypress trees and looking out across the Pacific. There’s no mistaking, even at first glance, that this is one seriously wealthy town, as exquisite and well presented as it is possible to imagine. Almost too perfect. The pristine, gleaming main street slopes downhill through the trees to an immaculate white sand beach where the Pacific rollers roar and rumble; on its leafy streets Carmel must surely set a world record for the number of art galleries per square mile. Every garden seems manicured and well stocked, every…
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The Pacific Coast: 3 Days In Morro Bay
“My name is Claudia, I live here”, says the elderly, stooping lady, “I’ll show you to your room”, and leads us into a room which looks rather like an attempt to recreate an English country house, with deep pile carpet, fussy wooden furniture and a bed which needs a step ladder to climb into. Michaela says she’s back in Auntie Marjorie’s house. All I can think of is an English comedy show, The League Of Gentlemen – “this is a local hotel for local people”. It’s clean and it’s very welcoming but we’re in 1950s England rather than the thrust of modern America: we have to stifle our laughter as…
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Oasis: Days In The Sunshine And A Bit Of Morning Glory
Haircuts are something which need consideration when travelling longer term. Now, some who may have noticed that nature has already removed most of my hair will say that haircuts can’t possibly be a source of angst for me – and you’re right, they’re not. But bear in mind that when one doesn’t have much hair, a small amount of growth in millimetres is a large amount of growth in percentage terms – so whilst it’s not angst ridden, the problem is one of regularity. Michaela and her hair is of course a completely different matter, one which involves equal quantities of research, reconnaissance, perseverance and, ultimately, courage. Once through that…
