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Unwrapping The Philippines, Where Spain Meets The Orient
Our first week in the Philippines has given us an introduction to the customs and culture of the country and, whilst we have been surprised by the huge volume of American food outlets here (never mind the ubiquitous McDonalds, Starbucks, KFC etc, there’s even Denny’s and Dairy Queen), there’s one clash of cultures which is really piquing our interest: the fusion of Spanish and Chinese – or should we say Oriental. Unlikely as it seems, these two wholly disparate cultures are melded together here in ways which are surprising and unmissable. Tagalog, the most widely spoken language of the Philippines, is laced with Spanish words, both written and spoken. “Parar”…
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Doha To Manila: From The Pearl To The Grit
Philippines, Manila, Binondo, China Town, Chinese New Year, Intramuros, Jeepney, Travel journalism, Travel photography, Manila Masacre, Independent travel,
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More Notes From Doha: Oil, Riches And Fun On The Desert Sands
“I will say, you two don’t look English, you look German”. Well, Mohammed, I’m not sure whether we should be complimented by that or not, so we’ll give a little laugh and move on. Mohammed laughs too, points the Landcruiser out of the city and drives out towards the desert. Every highway is pristine, flyovers wind around each other like giant bowls of spaghetti, the carriageway is wide and lined for miles and miles with colourful flowering shrubs. Qatar simply shouts of riches, of money, of investment. Our route to the desert passes evidence not just of how the riches are spent, but also from where those riches emanate. Giant…
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A Medina For The 21st Century: Notes From Doha
A whole host of playful and inventive architectural minds must have been let loose in Doha and granted the freedom to create the spectacle which the city now is: an astonishing environment where its ultra modern districts sparkle with breathtaking space age buildings which thrill, deceive and impress all in one go. It’s a futuristic skyline which must surely be up there with the most stunning in the world – and there’s more than one such skyline in this city. Astonishing, gigantic, amusing, inspired: everything is here. The area known as West Bay boasts skyscrapers in cylinders, pyramids and twisted shapes of irregular lines. Asymmetric floor levels taunt the eye…
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More Notes From Doha: Oil, Riches And Fun On The Desert Sands
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That Was 2024
Well, our travelling for 2024 is done and dusted and we eagerly await our first adventure of the new year. We think it’s fair to say that although 2024 was another splendid year of travel, not everything went according to plan. What with having to return home when Michaela’s Dad passed away, hiking ability being blighted by hip/groin trouble, becoming unexpectedly Africa’d out and heading to Turkey instead, the year ended up with a shape significantly different from the original plan. You could say it was a year of mighty rivers, as we saw or sailed upon the Amazon, the Rio Negro, the Mississippi, the Tennessee, the Thames and the…
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Retracing Our Steps: Different Sides Of Bodrum
One last morning cappuccino in the Greek island sun, one last tickle of the friendly cat with the pretty face, one last pastry from the savoury counter, and it’s time to pack the bags and wander round to the ferry point. With impeccable timing, Meltemi has taken a rest day and the Aegean is benign and flat as well as its usual spectacular blue. When we looked out on our first morning on Kalymnos, preparations for some sort of ceremony were underway, one which lasted through the Sunday morning and featured the army, a naval captain, a marching band and what appeared to be most of the island’s dignitaries. The…
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More Of Kos, Then On To Kalymnos
A number of things changed on Kos between our arrival on Monday morning and the Saturday ferry to our next destination. For one, the dull grey start turned into some glorious sunny days with blue skies and temperatures in the low to mid 20s, interrupted by heavy downpours on the Wednesday but leaving us feeling that generally we have been lucky. And, as the weather improved and the weekend approached, cafes and coffee bars started to reopen – not so much the tourist restaurants along the seafront but the cosy sites within the town, seemingly having moved on to a seasonal Thursday-to-Sunday opening regime. For our last day with the rental…
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Tavuk Sis To Souvlaki: From Turkey To A Greek Island
What in God’s name possessed us to decide to leave the waterproofs at home? How on Earth did seasoned travellers like us make the conscious decision to leave them out of the backpacks until next time? Well somehow that’s what we did, which is how we come to be heading to the ferry in the early morning light by lurching from shop doorway to shop doorway in order to keep out of the worst of the rain. Mercifully it eases off just as we reach the open territory of the dock and we can pick our way through the puddles without getting a dousing. Just. An hour later – though…
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Bodrum: Party Town Or Ancient Treasure?
Sometimes it’s a strange feeling, saying goodbye to an airbnb host who lives on the premises. For a few days your lives have crossed, your stories have entwined, and then you move on, knowing that those paths will never cross again. Our host at Datça, a tiny elderly guy named Bulent, shows real kindness by driving us across the peninsula to the ferry point, then caps it all by parting with warm heartfelt hugs on the quay. Bye mate, and thank you. In order to reach Bodrum the ferry at an hour and 45 minutes is a much better choice than three hours by road, especially with the sea flat…
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Further Afield: More Of Datça Peninsula
The Turks of the peninsula have clearly decided winter is here, on the basis that there has been one single chilly day, last Sunday. No matter that the next few days were sunny and 22 degrees and then Wednesday touched 27, the quilted coats and heavy woollens are out now and they’re not going back until some time next Spring. At Hayitbükü, three guys work repairing a fishing boat on the beach, toiling away in body warmers and sweatshirts, a few yards away from where a girl, obviously not a local, is stretched out in a bikini. Datça town, the only place of any size on the peninsula, is a…
