10 July 2023

We embarked on Auroras' Greg Mortimer in Ushuaia for our 21 day voyage around the Antarctic, returning via South Georgia and the Falkland Islands. Our first night was crossing the dreaded Drakes passage, thankfully the weather was kind to us, and after a 2 day sail through open water, we reached the peninsular without any problems. The Greg Mortimer is a new X-Bow ship, designed to cut through choppy seas, and be laterally more stable with their retractable fins. Nothing can prepare you for the first sight of land, we were so lucky with weather with mostly bright blue skies, calm seas, and sparkling white landscape Jane and I had also signed up to do Kayaking on the visit. This meant for early starts as kayakers and snorkelers (yes people snorkelled) were usually first to start their excursions on any particular day. Boarding the kayaks we all looked like mini Michelin men, we had to wear several layers of warm clothing topped of with a dry suit. I can honestly say even in a blizzard we were never really cold, and our hands we protected by neoprene mittens which kept them too warm if anything. Though not experts by any means, we soon got the hang of the tandem kayak, which gave us a completely different experience to those who just did dry land landings. In all we spent 5 days around the Antarctic, managing to weigh anchor in a harbour every day, and have completely different vistas to wake up to. There are only 100 people allowed to make shore on any day, and there were only 83 on our ship, so everyone was able make a landing if they wanted to. This is what made the Greg Mortimer cruise so very special, I have seen cruises to Antarctica where you just sail right on by, without ever setting foot on or getting up close to wildlife. Speaking of wildlife, "please stay more than 5 meters away from penguins" they told us...try telling the penguins that, they were coming at you from all sides, we half expected to hear a David Attenborough type voice over every time we landed. There were literally 10's of thousands of penguins, numerous elephant seals, leopard seals, more birds, too many to count, and a highlight for me was to be on deck as 4, where we had a BBQ on deck, music played, drink flowed and right on cue 4 humpback whales performed a synchronised bubble feed right at the side of the ship. In a crystal blue bay with not a cloud in sight. I honestly could have ended the cruise right there. The more north you cruise, the less snow and ice you see, even to the point of cruising past glaciers, which had receded so much in the past few years, a real sign of the effect of global warming. The next stop north was South Georgia, which again completely took our breath away. To see some 40000 breeding pairs of penguins literally line the shore, as far as the eye can see. Then to land on Grytviken, Shackleton's place of burial, to shop in the local shop and meet the researchers who spend 8 months of the year on the island. What made this cruise special for us was the amount of knowledge shown by the expedition leaders. Every day we had a talk about some interesting aspect of the area, always informative, never boring For example, did you know Antarctica is land surrounded by water, and the Artic is water surrounded by land, fun little facts like that. After South Georgia we made our way to the Falklands, I felt honoured to be able to have the opportunity to visit the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery to pay our respects, mainly as I used to work with someone who served and survived the sinking of HMS Sheffield, and at one point I thought i'd be conscripted, and many of those who served, never returned. All the museums, large or small were very well kept and presented. The Falklands War Museums in Port Stanley is a must to visit, with many of the stories of the war told through the eyes and voiced of the children who lived through it. Was also very strange to go into a shop and hear, brummie or scouse accents, along with some Spanish. After a very short landing we re-boarded the ship for the 2 day sail back to Ushuaia. We met the kayak team for one final get together when they presented us all with a short video to music of us all out on the water, every time we watch it , it brings back so many great memories, and we thought was a lovely gesture. We also discovered we get a souvenir book of the voyage, and are so looking forward to seeing that when it arrives. It truly was a once in a lifetime experience, though we are considering, cruising the Artic on the same ship in the future. The photographs can only give a small taste of the Antarctic, and if it wets your appetite for more do get in touch, and allow me to help plan your trip to the 7th Continent.

03 July 2023

Back in 1979 the rock band Styx released an album called Cornerstone, the cover of which featured the portrait pictures of a lady along side the Moai Statues of Easter Island. Pretty much ever since then, i'd hope one day to be able to make the trip to the other side of the world to see them for real. We had been planning our trip to Antarctica, and try decide the best way to make the journey. Chile and Argentina were on our list of places to visit, and now post pandemic you can only get to Easter Island via Santiago, Chile. Unfortunately as the world was coming out of the Covid Pandemic, Easter Island was closed to tourists. Then a stroke of luck, just as we were finalising our itinerary, we heard the news that Easter Island was opening, and by the time we visited some 6 months later, would be fully open. So we slightly amended our itinerary, made the decision to remove one of the stops in Argentina to give us the time to visit Easter Island. The flight to Easter Island is operated by LATAM B787, an aircraft with long enough range that if it meant we couldn't land, it could turn back safely to Santiago. We left Santiago early, and arrived at Easter Island some 5 hours later, we were met at the airport and taken to our hotel just on the outskirts of the main area. Simple, clean accommodation with A/C is really all you need, and the Hotel Altiplanico was a nice place to stay. A pathway by the beach making a short cut to the town. A strange occurrence happened every day, where on our walks to town we were escorted by a different village dog, who would meet us at the end of the lane and walk with us, all the way to town, it happened every time we ventured out. Another strange phenomenon, is that the Chilean Govt have kept Easter Island slightly out of time with their geographical position in the world, practically this means that mornings are cool and still quite dark, whereas it stays light and uncannily warm long into the evening, as the Island is 2 hours out of time from where it should be . We visited for 3 full days and had tours planned for every day, visiting the sites of the Moai, and their history, and the quarry where they were carved. Yet though there are many theories, there still isn't the proof required to know why the islanders stopped making the statues. You can see on walks, many of them just lying flat on the ground, where they were left during transportation. It was truly amazing to see these monolithic faces guarding ancient villages, and they were only every finished once the eyes were painted in. On our final full day, we joined our guide for a 20 km hike around the coast line, taking in many Moai sites. It was truly an isolating experience, internet signal was sporadic at the least, which meant we were virtually cut off from the outside world, which doesn't happen very often in the modern world, and we loved not being connected and having a bit of a tech break. We loved our visit, the people and our excellent guides who shared their stories and lives with us.

22 June 2020

The Cordis Langham is well known to Travel Counsellors, our best TC's were based there during their Gold Weekend celebrations in 2015, and I have sent several clients to stay. I also had a visit to the hotel to meet their trade team, so have built up a good relationship with them over the years. As there are no tourists in Hong Kong at the moment, many of the hotels are putting together great ideas for a staycation, usually involving a theme around couple and families. A new batch became available on June 1st, and as June is our birthday month we decided on the "Love is in the Air" package. This included a night in a studio room with breakfast, Club Lounge access, dinner in the Food Truck at the Garage Bar, and Spa treatments for two, and a late checkout. We decided to maximise our stay and book our Spa treatment for an hour before we could check in. We have been lucky enough to experience massages all over Asia and India, and were well impressed with the Chuan Body Massage. We then checked into the Club Lounge, and after a quick tour of the facilities we were shown to our Studio room on the 37th floor, giving great view down over to the harbour and Hong Kong Island, and the hotel provided us with a plate for strawberries and a bottle of prosecco as a welcome. As the hotel has a rooftop pool we decided to spend the afternoon swimming, reading and relaxing. The hotel also provide poolside drinking water, sun lotion and ice-lollies to cool you down. We knew afternoon tea was served in the Club Lounge from 3 p.m. so we made our way down a few floors to the 36th, and we settled in with some savoury snacks, and a typical English cream tea with scones, jam and clotted cream. The food and drink on offer were of excellent quality, and the staff on hand to cater to every need. I was particularly impressed with the loose leaf tea selection, which I really enjoyed trying. After sampling the goods on offer we returned to the room just to chill and have a nana nap. We got ourselves dressed and ready for the evening drinks and canapes Lounge servings at 5pm. This time more nibbles on offer from fried rice, salads, cold meats, cheese and sandwiches, not to mention the extensive drinks selection. We had booked dinner for 8:30pm and just before one of staff came to collect us, and escort us to the Food Truck. Which certainly needs and explanation. The Garage themed bar is at the side of the hotel on the Lobby level. The food truck is a converted tuk-tuk type vehicle, a table which could comfortably sit four, or a family of six. We had pre ordered our food and the oysters arrived just after we sat down. We were also offered our choice of drinks, and two glasses of a very nice Australian Red were soon served. The truck was also air conditioned, and had as a feature a vinyl record player with a choice of 6 albums to play, we plumped for Queens Greatest Hits, followed by The Carpenters. For main course we had the beef and king prawn, which was just right for the evening. Lastly we were served a dessert platter consisting of various fruit puddings and cheesecakes, all served on a floating bed of dry ice, which I thought was a nice touch. The whole experience with music, wine and coffee took around 2 hours, and was a lovely way to end the evening, and afterwards we had a short walk around Mongkok, just to stretch our legs and walk the meal off. The Sunday morning was fathers day, so the hotel began to fill with families all celebrating their fathers. We had a very relaxing breakfast at The Place restaurant, which really did cater for every breakfast need. with fruits, cereals, and both Western and Chinese traditional breakfast dishes. The Sunday was also the day of my wife's birthday, and we decided to go to the rooftop pool for a swim and just be able to relax for the rest of our stay. We managed a few hours by the pool until it was time for us to get our stuff together and prepare to leave, though there was one more surprise to have. I had told the team at the hotel, that it was Janes birthday, and just after we got to the room, they delivered a birthday cake and a bottle of fizz, just to end the day in style. Before checking out we made our way back to the lounge for afternoon tea, and it was a really nice touch of the staff who all wished Jane a happy birthday at various times during our last visit to the lounge. We had a few nibbles and sandwiches, and a very nice glass of Pinot Grigio, before admitting defeat that our time in the hotel was at an end, and we caught a taxi for our short trip home. We have already decided to go back to the hotel sometime before the end of summer, still taking advantage of the offer, and I have to admit will look forward to the massage, good service, and great food. Hope this has given you an idea what different kinds of service are offered by the hotel, and with a great team to look after your stay, its a hotel i'd thoroughly recommend.

17 June 2020

Our trip to Australia was cancelled due to the worldwide pandemic, and as our anniversary would have been celebrated when on the trip, we decided to do something special at home. We knew many hotels in Hong Kong were offering great staycation deals for residents, as there were no tourist visitors to the city. The most iconic and famous hotel in Hong Kong is The Peninsula, situated right at the centre of the Tsim Sha Tsui harbour front, and somewhere where would never have considered staying under normal circumstances due to the eye watering room costs. However, this was a special occasion, and the deal offered was too good not to take. We only stayed for one night, and booked one of the Special Day deals, which offered room upgrades, and credits. I had already informed the hotel of our anniversary, and when we arrived, we had a warm greeting from the reception staff, the Manager also introduced himself as we were escorted to our suite in the tower, the first upgrade. We were taken to the very corner of the building on the 23rd floor, high enough to see well over surrounding buildings, and to our suite. Only word to use was breathtaking, the suite itself was larger than our apartment, it had a huge vestibule and loo, leading to a dining/sitting area with large sofa, table desk and wardrobes. Back through the hallway led to the bedroom, floor to ceiling picture windows, another TV, then walked through to the dressing room and bathroom at the rear of the hotel, along with sunken bath. The room quite literally wrapped itself around the hotel. The hotel had also provided us with a cake creation and tea. After getting unpacked we decided to go out for some lunch , we caught the Star Ferry to a cafe on one of the pier on the on the island side. Called Cafe8 (http://www.cafe8.org/) the restaurant provides vocational training and provides employment opportunities for their students, and those of other NGOs and organisations in Hong Kong, and they do great Aussie style pies. After lunch we took a taxi to the Peak, and after a quick look around the deserted shopping centre to have a look at the view neither of us will tire of, we completed the Peak Walk. A very sedate walk of 2km or so around the Peak brings you to some stunning viewpoints around the west end of the island and over to Kowloon, if you ever visit Hong Kong, its certainly worth an hour of anyone's time. We took the bus back down to central and the underground train back to the hotel, where yet more surprises awaited. It takes around 5 minutes to get through the lobby, into the lift and up to the 23rd floor, as we approached our room, a side door opened, and a chef greeted us with a trolly, addressed us by name and presented us with two hand designed and crafted fruit puddings. They were delicious, but only left us wondering how did they do that, what was already impressive just got better. For our evening meal we had a table booked at Aqua Restaurant (https://www.aqua.com.hk/experience) at the top of 1 Peking. It's one of our favourite places to take friends for a different view of the harbour, and for dinner we chose the 7 course tasting menu, with free flow fizz to go with it, well, it was a special occasion. The restaurant was also where our Gold Travel Counsellors had their Gold Dinner in 2015. I couldn't believe that after a very good nights sleep, I woke hungry, we made our way to the Cafe in the lobby, where full a la carte breakfast was served. There was an an amazing choice of, well, pretty much anything and everything you'd need for a western or Chinese style breakfast. We decided on the simple cereal, bacon and eggs, toast and pots of tea, which just kept on coming. After a very leisurely meal, we decided to take make the most of the nice weather, and walk along the newly completed Walkway of the Stars along the length of the harbour, ending at the K-11 Art Mall, which has to be one of the most unusual buildings in Hong Kong. Brand new it only opened at the very end of 2019, its is in fact a shopping mall, though set out like an art gallery, it even has suggested points for photo opportunities, the architecture is so unusual and impressive. After a break for coffee and cake we made our way back to the Peninsula te rest up before checkout and their world famous afternoon tea. You can't book a table for afternoon tea, unless you are a resident at the hotel, and we both had to admit there was something special about bypassing the queues to be shown to our reserved table. Though very nice, we couldn't finish the cakes, and decided to bring them home with us to enjoy later. All too soon we were in a taxi back to our small apartment, and we still smile even now thinking back on what is sure to be our one and only experience at The Peninsula Hotel, Hong Kong. Hope you enjoy looking at the photos not only of The Peninsula bit our anniversary meal and a day out and about around Hong Kong stay tuned for more staycation news soon

19 June 2020

For Christmas 2019 we decided to take a trip to the Seychelles, we had looked to do some diving and seeing as much as we could of the main islands. Often the best value way of doing this is to join an pre-organised tour. Its been a few years since we joined a tour like this, and after a bit of research we managed to find one which fitted around the dates we wanted to travel, and the itinerary meant we would get a small taste of 3 of the islands, Mahe, Praslin and La Digue. We arrived in Mahe a few days earlier than the trip date, primarily to do so diving and have some relaxing time. Thankfully many Travel Counsellors have travelled far and wide, and if you put the word out there, someone will be able to report back on hotels and recommendations what to do. After speaking to a colleague I met at conference, we decided to stay 3 nights at the 5 Star Savoy Hotel. We left Hong Kong late on the Friday evening, we flew with Ethiopian Airlines to Mahe, via Addis Ababa. When I checked us in there was an opportunity to bid for an upgrade, and as the flight was over 10 hours we decided to bid, and within a couple of hours we received the notification that we had been successful with our bid for Business Class. Check in at Hong Kong, was quick and efficient, and we made our way to the Bauhinia Lounge. We flew on a Boeing B787, seats were set out in a 2-2-2 formation with open configuration. The crew were friendly and attentive, and after a short stop in Bangkok we were on our way overnight to Africa. It really does make a huge difference to be able to stretch out and get some sleep on a long flight, and just as dawn broke we made our approach to Addis Ababa. Thankfully we had fast track passes through security to our connecting flight, the arrivals hall was chaotic with little organisation or order. After a few coffees and a short wait we boarded the B737 for the 3hr+ flight to Mahe. On arrival the passengers we required to wait on the aircraft for the passengers from an earlier flight to clear customs and immigration procedures. Thankfully our transfer was waiting for us and we were soon on the way to our hotel at Le Beau Vallon. Then followed 3 days of nothing but rest and relaxation, and a few diving trips, to see some amazing coral and undersea life. The Savoy was just a short walk along the beach from the Berjaya Hotel where we were to join our tour party. Day one was a short introduction to the island of Mahe, we were taken to the capital Victoria, and after a short orientation tour we were able to get about and explore ourselves, we wandered down Independence Avenue to see the cathedral and the clock tower, and for the afternoon we pad the botanical gardens a visit, the trees providing shade from the sun, and by late afternoon we were returned to the hotel for a quick swim before dinner. On our second day we had a full tour of the island, some 27 km long and 8 km wide. We also visited the Mission, a place of historic importance after the slave trade, then drove to Baie Turney Beach for lunch, followed by the coastal drive around the southern tip of the island back to the hotel. Our final day at Mahe was a visit to the St Anne Marine National Park. For the next 3 nights we stayed in Praslin, an hours boat ride from Mahe. We checked in to the Palm Beach Hotel, right on the beach. Departing after breakfast we took a full day boat trip to visit the island of Curieuse. Disembarking at La Pierree we are greeted by giant tortoises who amble freely, close to the waterfront. An hours' walk through the interior takes us across boardwalks above the mangrove swamps. We enjoyed a BBQ lunch cooked by the crew, when the weather began to close in, and within minutes we were caught in a torrential rainstorm, and we hoped it would clear. It didn't, and we had to get back to the mainland on the small pontoons, getting soaked in the process. For dinner Tina took us to the restaurant overlooking the island for sun downers and traditional Creole food. The following day we took the public bus to start our walk down the coastline, and after a stop for a lunch at a beach, a bit of R&R on the beach, we caught the bus back to the hotel. On Christmas Day we left Praslin for La Digue a short 15 minute ride away, and on arrival we collected cycles and had a ride around the coastline to the hotel. The staff really looked after us and prepared our special Christmas meal of fresh fish, chicken and various curries. The hotel was a short walk from the L'Onion Estate where you could explore and walk the coast. La Digue is the most stunning of islands and in one day we visited Grand Anse, Petit Anse and Anse Coco, they underlined everything we knew about how stunning the islands are. All too quick the trip was over and early on the last morning we took the ferry back to Mahe. Our flight wasn't until later afternoon and we were able to make use of a day room at Berjaya, time for a final swim and a plod along the beach. We had also bid for an upgrade for the flight home, again we were lucky to be successful, and after visiting the lounge with some new friends who also had bids accepted we were soon settling down to the 11hr flight back to Hong Kong, managing to have a good nights sleep on the way. The trip to the Seychelles was everything we were expecting it to be. The tour group were very friendly, and Tina the tour leader kept everyone in order, not an easy task. We would certainly look to go again, though maybe not in the rainy season.

20 May 2020

October 2019 I fulfilled a lifetime promise made to my Mum and Gran. My great uncle was killed at Dunkirk in World War 2. Coincidentally on a recent trip home, we were sorting our storage unit when we came across my Gran's handbag. In the handbag was my Gran's passport, the only travel stamp in it was the arrival into France, when three generations of our family visited my great uncles grave in Northern France. The coincidence was complete when we noticed the date stamped, it was 70 years to the day that we had found the passport. We had already made plans to go visit his grave, and this made us more determined to take the trip. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has is an excellent source of information to use as a starting point for making such a visit. We flew to Paris, arriving early, caught a train north to Lille which was to be our base for 5 nights. We loved the friendly cafe culture of Lille, stopping frequently just for a coffee and a cake, something we miss living in Hong Kong. After a couple of days local sightseeing, we arranged to collect a hire car for a few days, and tour the area. The fist visit had to be to Merville to visit the War Cemetery. It wasn't long before we left the Lille suburbs and was driving in open country. As the scenery changed we noticed how many immaculately kept cemeteries there are, paying respects to several allied nationalities. By lunchtime we arrived in Merville, parked and made our way to the cemetery, we knew exactly where his grave was situated, and it didn't take us long to find him, buried between 2 unknown soldiers from the North of England. The sheers scale and scope of the cemetery was something we wont forget, immaculately kept, grave stones lined with military precision. We read the inscriptions, men so young, making the ultimate sacrifice. I had found some rose petals in my grans purse, unfortunately i'll never know their story of how they came to be kept there, and both Jane and I felt it fitting that we placed them on his grave stone. Leaving the quiet of the cemetery we were emotional and very proud of his sacrifice, and I was so pleased to be able to have kept my promise to the family to visit, and pay due respect. We spent the following days, visiting museums and memorials in the area, and we particularly impressed with the Australian cemetery highlighting the work of DNA tracing, aiming to identify the unknown fallen in the area. One day we took a drive to Bruges, and remembered the time we visited with friends several years ago to celebrate New Years Eve. For our final day we took the train back down to spend the day in Paris. The very first holiday Jane and I spent together was in Paris, and it was good to have a gentle day wandering the city and being a proper tourist. We took the hop on/hop off boat, just going where it took our fancy, and managed to see all we wanted to see before catch the train to CDG and our hotel for the night. We chose the Holiday Inn Express as our flight due to depart early on the Saturday morning, and we didn't want to leave things to chance, getting back to the airport from the city so early in the morning.

20 May 2020

This year I celebrated my 60th birthday. Jane and I have an agreement that whoever is celebrating a big birthday i.e. ending on 5 or 0 , they get the honour and pressure of picking that years holiday destination, though to be fair, we are both on such a similar wavelength that any choice we make usually goes down well. Having first visited Japan for our 25th wedding anniversary, I really wanted to go back, as it was so easy to reach from Hong Kong. So using our collected points we flew Cathay Pacific Business Class up to Tokyo-Narita, unfortunately the incoming aircraft servicing our flight had developed a technical problem and we are almost 4 hours late leaving Hong Kong, which put paid to any early sightseeing in Tokyo. Upon arrival, immigration formalities were quick and easy, and only 30 minutes after disembarking we were buying our tickets for the train into town. Tokyo offers many good incentives to use local transport. We purchased a one way fast train ticket to the city, and a 3 day underground pass, so we could just hop on and off the trains. It only took 45 minutes to reach the city centre where we switched lines and to reach our hotel at Shiodome. I wanted to go back to the Park hotel where we stayed on our first visit, the hotel is located on the top floors of the Shiodome Tower, so even a room on the lowest floor is at skyscraper level. I had done some research to discover that the hotel had employed local artists to decorate rooms on their Art Floor, also if you booked a room on this floor you had access to a lounge that offered complementary snacks and wine between 5 & 7 p.m. Our room was decorated with a carp painting. As we had visited Tokyo before and seen many of the tourist sites. So we decided to go find some of the places i'd only heard about, but would love to find. So first on the list was a trip to the Budokan Sumo Hall, am not a fan of sumo, and the reason I wanted to visit was that many rock bands would play the hall when in Tokyo, as its quite a prestigious place to play, and going back to my youth I remember the seminal live album released by Cheap Trick was recorded at the Budokan, may sound daft to some, but we had to make the pilgrimage. The weather wasn't great, most days it rained a little but at least it wasn't hot and humid. We took the train to some of the more known places like Shubiya, Shinjuku and Harajuku. With nothing better to do than people watch, it is a great pastime, especially somewhere like Tokyo, with fashion statements at every turn. A highlight of the trip was a visit to the TeamLab Borderless Art Museum. Situated on one of the reclaimed islands, it was very easy to reach by underground. We had pre-booked our tickets, which were time stamped, and I would advise you plan to spend between 3 & 4 hours just wandering through the rooms. There is no map, you just go where you wish over, though there are queues into some of the exhibits with limited room. It certainly is an assault on the senses, rooms are dimly lit , and some like the Forest of Lamps where you move through a room colourful changing lights. My favourite room turned out to be one where you were able to contribute to the moveable artwork. Initially it looked like it was an activity for children. There were blank templates of fish outlines, and all you had to do was colour them in. Then what happened was just great to watch. You gave your drawing to someone who scanned it, and the walls were an equivalent of a digital fish tank, once scanned your picture came alive and was dropped into the fish tank, and it swam with all the other artwork. We must have stood for a good 20 minutes watching the virtual fish swim. Near our hotel was a stopwatch countdown to the Rugby World Cup, which was set at 80 days. I tried to find some merchandise to take as souvenirs, and even after searching google and wandering the streets we were unable to find any stores selling rugby world cup gear. After a few nights we left our hotel on the Haneda hotel shuttle bus, taking the short early morning trip to the city airport more known for its domestic services. We continued our trip to the small south island of Nara, which is nearer to Hong Kong than Tokyo. As part of the trip I also wanted to do some diving and beach time. We had booked 4 nights at the ClubMed Ishigaki. After arrival we settled in and went looking for the dive centre. We booked to have 2 dives per day for 3 days in an effort to find and be in the sea with the stunning Manta Ray. Unfortunately the rays hadn't read the script, and in 6 dives we didn't manage to see one of the majestic creatures. Though a dive can never be classed as disappointing as there is always something to see and marvel at. The setup at ClubMed is very European based. The food was excellent and we could have easily gained weight if we hadn't watched what we ate and drank. We spent the non dive time, relaxing on the beach and reading, and yes having the odd cocktail. We also liked the idea of ClubMed team members joining guests at mealtimes, it made a nice change. All too quickly the trip to Japan was over, and we took the short trip back to Hong Kong, for one night before making our way back to the UK for the rest of our summer.

13 June 2019

Over the latest Bank Holiday weekend to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, we decided to take advantage of the excellent Emirates service to Bangkok. The airline operates one of its flights from Dubai to Hong Kong, via Bangkok, and you can purchase great value tickets, just to do that segment without having to buy the follow-on legs to Dubai. When we purchased our tickets, the flight was scheduled to operate by their flagship A-380 aircraft, then we received notification that some of the schedules were changing and a Boeing-777 would fly the route. Thankfully, about 2 weeks before departure I opened an email from Emirates to inform me of a change back to the A-380. I was pleased with this change as I love flying this aircraft, even more surprises to come when I realised it was an A380 configured in a 2 class system, that being, all economy downstairs, and the first 15 rows or so upstairs, and the remaining rows towards the back were full service business class seats. We had booked to fly economy going out to Bangkok, and Business for the return, and on check-in we had been allocated economy seats upstairs, which I’d hoped would happen. The configuration upstairs is 2-4-2, and we were lucky enough to have seats together by the window. I can only assume this aircraft was converted to this layout, as it retained the side storage bins, giving us some extra space making for a more enjoyable trip. Boarding was surprisingly quick seeing as how the capacity was 615 passengers on this particular aircraft. The A-380 is such a quiet plane in which to fly, it rattles like the best of them on the ground, but once airborne, becomes silent. The relatively short flight of 2 hrs 15 minutes, passed quickly. We started the entertainment system as soon as we took our seats and were able to comfortably watch a movie in the flight time. The crew service was efficient, the meal choice good, along with all manner of complementary drinks. On arrival at Bangkok, as we were 30 minutes early, we were bussed to the terminal building, no great problem, as there can be quite a walk from some of the gates. We were really looking forward to the return flight. We checked in early and were given Fast Track passes though the immigration and security process. Apart from the flight experience itself, this is a major plus of flying Business Class out of somewhere like Bangkok, as the queues are usually long. After only a few minutes we were on our way to the lounge, Emirates have recently opened a new lounge at Bangkok airport, situated at the entrance of concourse G. We were one of the first to arrive, grabbed ourselves some comfortable seats and went to explore the food and drink. I couldn’t have been more impressed with the variety, and quality of what was on offer. A large array of Asian and Western hot food choices, several salads and cold plates, there was also two type of soup, fresh fruit and several cheeses to pick from. Not to mention the fridge full of soft drinks and beer with premium wines along with Moet et Chandon champagne served on request. The two hours or so we were in the lounge passed very quickly, and the difference in fare between Economy and Business was more than compensated by the food and drink, and quiet away from the busy terminal. All too soon the flight was ready to board, and we made our way to the gate, and with priority boarding really didn’t stop until we were seated, and another glass of fizz served. Emirates Business Class seat configuration is set out 1-2-1, in an alternate setup of two seats together, two apart. The seats are very private with every passenger having direct aisle access in their own little pod. We had decided to have our meal first, before venturing to the lounge at the back of the aircraft. The 3 courses were very tasty, served with a selection of wines and champagne. Again, with such a short flight time, the service was quick without ever seeming rushed, and once the trays were removed, we made our way to the lounge. We have been lucky enough to fly upstairs with Emirates on previous occasions, so we already knew what we were going to have from the bar, Marmalade Cocktails please. Once we had been served the drinks the purser kindly offered to take photos of us around the lounge, some of which you can see here. All too soon the flight was almost over, with 20 minutes remaining the crew started to secure the cabin, and we returned to our seats to watch the landing by way of one of the three on board cameras. I can’t recommend the experience enough, it’s one thing to turn right, but it’s something else to go upstairs. I love to look for good unusual routes with airlines where their premium classes are sold for just a little more than economy. So if you ever want to give them a try, give me a call

04 June 2019

Our trip to Bhutan started with a 3:30am check-in at Bangkok airport for our flight to Paro. Our 3-hour flight north would hopefully give us an amazing view of the Himalayas. We weren't disappointed. The aircraft makes a very gradual loop through the mountains into Paro, and the landing is similar to that of the old Kai Tak, the captain weaving between the mountains, finally lining up to the threshold for a perfect landing. On arrival we met our driver and guide for the tour and were taken to our hotel for the next 2 nights. As we arrived early, we found a place to rest, with a view of the river, and the airport, and enjoyed the fresh, clear mountain air, and a chance to rest before our sightseeing pickup. After a tasty local lunch, we made our way to Ta Dzong, originally a Watchtower, now housing the National Museum which gave us a great insight into the history and lifestyle of Bhutanese people. Our tour continued to Rinpung Dzong, now the home of the Monastic body of Paro, the office of the administrative head, and the judge of the Paro district. The traditional covered bridge giving great view of the architecture. We then had a walk around the town, browsed in a few shops and stopped for the ubiquitous coffee and cake stop. The following day was for us the highlight of the trip, we hiked the trail to Tigers Nest, perched 900m above the valley floor. For this we had another guide, as our driver and guide were driving across the country to Bhumtang, to meet us the following day, as we were making the trip by air. Our guide looked after us very well, it took almost 4 hours to make the almost vertical trail to Tigers Nest. The weather was almost perfect, not too warm, and the sky cleared as we progressed. We stopped just before the final climb for some coffee and crackers, which were very welcome. The location of the monastery is spectacular, seemingly clinging onto the side of the mountain. We lit some butter candles for the relatives and friends we had lost and had a blessing by one of the monks. All too soon we had to start our trip back down the trail, stopping for some lunch where we previously had coffee. The trip down took less time than going up, though harder on the knees. Our guide had learned it was our wedding anniversary and the company arranged for us to have a Hot Stone Bath. Local to Bhutan, it’s a huge, deep wooden tub is filled with cold water, the final 50 cm or so is separated by wooden slats, and then heated stones are added, along with fresh herbs and foliage, which relieved our aching muscles. Early next day we were back at the airport for our short flight to Bhumtang. When you travel in Bhutan, much travel is weather dependent, and our flight was delayed for over 2 hours. These conditions change very quickly so much so that the boarding announcement was made by the dispatcher running through the gate shouting "Bhumtang flight-boarding now", within minutes we were strapped in and ready for the short flight between the mountains to the rural Bhumtang. Our guide and driver were waiting to meet us, and we immediately started our tour visiting a few temples and fortresses. We all paid the penance of carrying the iron cloak around Ngang Lhakhang. Unfortunately, it was raining heavily which cut short the sightseeing, so we returned to the hotel for lunch, with a promise of further sightseeing later. At this hotel, the Village Lodge, we were the only guests, it reminded us of an old-style UK style country house, and our dinner was served in front of a log burning fire. The following day we took a drive to URA Lhakhang for the Yakchoe festival which only takes place over a few days per year. The festival was colourful giving insight into the lives of rural Bhutanese we had a good view of the festivities and watched the dancers and performers for a few hours before visiting a local hillside for a picnic lunch with a view of the Himalayas as backdrop. The following day was a drive to Trongsa, not too far in usual circumstances, but the short journey of 40 or so km took almost 3 hrs due to the condition of the roads, something that was to feature during our visit. Again we arrived as a festival was in full swing, and we visited Trongsa Dzong on the way in, and for the afternoon Ta Dzong, a 5 storey stone structure, where we met some local children who spoke to us in perfect English, asking about our lives and almost an hour later, remembering our names as we said goodbye. Another day and another drive, this time to Gangtey, the 85 kms took almost 4 hours, but it was so worth it. The little village is set in the Phobjikha Valley, entry of which is via the Pele-La Pass and almost a Shangri-la type first view of the valley floor, simply stunning. After a lunch at a local homestay we set off to walk to the hotel around the valley floor, usually off limits in winter as it hosted the migration of the black necked crane, the walk took a couple of hours and our driver was waiting for us at the valley floor for the short uphill drive to the hotel, to rest and admire the view of the valley. After one night we set off for Punakha , 70 kms in 3 hours, this time taking a pass which promised a great view of the eastern Himalayas, sadly, reaching the pass it was totally covered in cloud, our guide with good humour told us he gave us the best views of the tour. The weather here was hot and humid, compared to our last couple of days. After Punakha came Thimphu, final stop. On arrival we had a small city tour and a visit to the heritage centre to try my hand at archery (not very good it turned out). We had some free time to wander the streets and explore the town. On our final day we made our way to the textile museums, national library and the newly built huge golden Buddha Dordenma built over the memorial hall at Kuensel Phodrang. After a very enjoyable interesting tour it was time to set off back to Paro and our flight to Bangkok. We had quite a short transfer to the airport where it all began, and our flight departed on time, and we enjoyed the take-off, as the captain climbed reversing the manoeuvres of those on arrival, climbing and banking left and right until we passed the mountains far below. Planning a trip to Bhutan, takes some coordination, if you'd like to know more or would need help planning one of your own, let me know and I’ll be glad to help and share some more of our trip.

04 June 2019

On the way back from Bhutan, we had the opportunity of taking a short break in Bangkok. We have been lucky enough to visit several times, so we were looking for a nice hotel to base ourselves for out visit. It had to have good facilities, pool, maybe a spa, comfortable rooms and air conditioning. Have you noticed, all the online hotel booking websites promise best web price this, or cheapest online. What they never ever say, is "go talk to a person, you never know, you may get a good price, and you'll get personal service", which is where I come in, you only ever speak to me, no ringing some faceless call centre. I had sent clients to Banyan Tree Bangkok, and I had the pleasure of meeting a client of a fellow Travel Counsellor in Hong Kong, and she told me they always stay in a Banyan Tree if one is available in any of the cities they intend to visit. So I showed the hotel to my wife, and she liked the idea. Travel Counsellors have a direct contract with the hotel, which means booking with me gives you extra value, in the case of my booking we received an upgrade to the next room type available. So I booked an Oasis Retreat type room, which meant we would actually get a Serenity Club Room, giving us access to the benefits of the hotel club. The added benefits vastly outweighed the small increase in cost. The transfer to the hotel from the airport was 90 minutes, the Bangkok traffic doing its best to delay us. We arrived at the hotel and presented our booking to the front desk and within seconds the concierge had us to follow him to the dedicated Club check-in on the 19th floor, and our bags would be taken care of. Check-in was easy and so very relaxed. Our room would be on the 49th floor. We were escorted to the room and given a quick tour, the hotel also knew it was our wedding anniversary, and the concierge took our picture, which we would later discover was incorporated into a greetings card created by the front desk. A lovely touch. Our room was large by hotel standards, had a sitting room and a huge bed, perfectly positioned under the gentle air conditioning, as Bangkok was particularly hot during our visit. Club Room facilities included breakfast, though one morning we also ate in the main dining room, the club lounge was quieter and arguably had better choice of food. Afternoon tea was served between 12:00 & 4:00 pm, local beer was on tap all day. Canapes & hors oeuvres were served between 5:30 pm and 7:30 pm, with an open bar. Service was unobtrusive and attentive, and the lounge itself huge, with many seating options. The pool on the 21st floor was small, but enough for a cool dip in respite of the heat. There were 36 sunbeds, and the hotel had an unusual habit of placing towels on every sunbed when the pool opened. It had the effect of having clients believe that the beds were reserved, when in reality they weren't. It did however mean the pool was quiet most times we visited, and the structure of the hotel meant one half of the terrace was in shade until mid-afternoon. The hotel also boasts a rooftop bar and restaurant named Moon Bar and Vertigo respectively. We had to make a trip up to the 59th floor, the views were incredible, shame same couldn't be said for the service, trading heavily on its reputation, service was poor, and the beer warm. Still worth a trip up though. I think I satisfied the remit set by my client - Jane my wife, to have a luxury stay at a hotel boasting excellent facilities and service. I would have no hesitation in staying here again, or recommending it to clients.

04 June 2019

Making our way to Bhutan for Easter meant we had to make an overnight stop in Bangkok, and we decided to take the Thai Airways flights. There was such a small difference in cost between their Economy and Royal Silk (their version of Business Class), we decided to pay the extra, both for the comfort and service that would offer us. I always like to be able to speak with first-hand experience when clients enquire about the services offered by various airlines. We caught the first flight to Bangkok out of Hong Kong. The aircraft used on this flight arrives the previous evening and is positioned overnight. The Airbus A330, Royal Silk configuration is 6 rows of seats in a 2-2-2 layout, with seats set out in the traditional manner. The Royal Silk lounge in Hong Kong airport was quiet first thing, offering breakfast type food, juices, pastries and of course tea and coffee. Boarding was completed well ahead of departure time, with royal Silk passengers called forward first, and boarded separately via the front passenger door on the aircraft. On board both Jane and I were addressed by name and offered drinks and the menu choice for the flight. We had a wide variety of a choice of movies, Tv and Music, which made the flight pass very quickly. The crew handed out Thailand immigration cards just after take-off. Meals and refreshments were served quickly after take-off with it being such a relatively short flight (2 hours, 30 minutes). We arrived a few minutes early and within minutes were completing immigration and had a short wait for our priority checked baggage. Thankfully Thai operate such a wide variety of aircraft types on their local routes around Asia, originally scheduled to be operated by Boeing B777, our return flight was changed to Airbus A350. Jane was non plussed by this change, though it excited me, I have now flown on A350's operated by Singapore, Cathay and Qatar, and was now going to experience Thai’s service, on this new generation aircraft, which is rapidly overhauling the A380 as my favourite aircraft on which to fly. Thai Royal Silk check in at Bangkok, is quick and easy. One is met by staff at the head of the check in aisle and directed to seats in front of the desks. Bags were quickly weighed and tagged and passed on to the aircraft. Fast track security and immigration was also available, which if you have ever travelled though Bangkok airport, you'll know was more than worth the money paid. There were no queues at either desk and we made our way to the Royal silk lounge, seconds after leaving check in. The Royal Silk lounge runs the full length of the terminal, one floor below the main concourse. It was spacious and many seats were available. Both hot and cold food was offered with a very large selection of drinks, though there was only one bar serving alcohol which was right at one end of the hall, meaning it was a bit of a walk for a glass of wine or beer. We left the lounge around 45 minutes before take-off for the 10-minute walk to the gate. Thankfully we had access to the lounge as, on this particularly hot day, the air conditioning at Bangkok airport being vastly overworked. When arriving at the gate we didn't have long to wait for the flight to be called, again we boarded first and quickly found our pod seats. The A350 is laid out in a 1-2-1 configuration, I had plumped for 2 seats in the centre section. The purser introduced herself and offered drinks, which kept on being served until take off. I was a little disappointed over the food offered, which was a selection of afternoon tea items, of either western or Asian varieties. I was expecting a little more than finger food, though having said that, it was tasty and there was enough of it. We settled down, put the seats to the lie flat position, and even though the flight time was a very short 2 hours we managed to watch a film, and there is always time for a couple of more glasses of fizz. Upon Arrival into Hong Kong, by the time we passed through immigration, we only waited 10 minutes or so for the first bags to arrive. Very efficient All in all, an experience well worth paying the little extra for. Good value alone for the fast track security and immigration at Bangkok airport. We will no doubt use Thai Royal Silk Service again.

14 February 2019

On our first trip out of Hong Kong almost 5 years ago, we saw an article in an Air Asia in-flight magazine about this mythical looking place in north eastern China, called Harbin. The photographs looked amazing and we promised ourselves a visit, which is why a few years later, we look like we are on a polar expedition, and on our way to Shanghai and ultimately Harbin. Ever since I had an interest in aircraft, the planes of China and Russia always fascinated me, now however it’s all Airbus and Boeing, no doubt safer than what had gone before, but boring. That said the crew of the Air Sichuan Airbus 321, were the smartest with the most imaginative pre-flight briefing demonstration, complete with almost a dance routine. Great fun. On arrival, the first thing you notice is how cold it is, as in your eyes hurt kind of cold. The three days we were there the temperature varied between -11 and -26 degrees with a hefty wind chill factor thrown in for good measure. We stayed at the Holiday Inn, right on the edge of the main pedestrian street (ZhongYang Street) of Harbin leading to the frozen river. So, first morning, we set off in search of the ice and snow magic. We walked straight to the banks of the frozen river to be met with the sight of around 200 snowmen, all different, some characters you’d recognise, there was a very interesting Trump depiction, some just generic snowmen. I risked frostbite to take of my toon scarf and drape it round one for effect. We had been told there was a picturesque cable car ride over the river to Sun Island, our first stop on our tour. Sadly, and you think we’d know better by now, the cable car wasn’t working, in fact, there were no cars on the cables. It looked like it hadn’t been in operation all season, so how to cross the river? We saw people skating on the ice, and generally using the river as another road, so off we went, making a surreal sight as we strode off over the river, which was frozen solid. Proving that Geordies can indeed walk on water. The stroll took around 40 mins to get to the opposite bank, which led right to the door of the Sun Island snow sculptures. Even though we saw many photos before our trip, nothing can prepare you for the sight of these amazing creations, shown on a backdrop of crisp, clear deep blue sky, which showed the snow and ice off to its best effect. We spent a few hours just wandering the park, you can bike, ski or sled around the frozen pond, and some of the towers are built in such a way you can take a sledge and ride down to your hearts content. The cold does eventually start to eat away at you. We had been given a tip to take flasks of coffee with us, and they were very welcome indeed as we wandered around. As the sun began to set around 4pm, we set off and retraced our steps over the river to our side of the bank and the short walk back to the hotel. Once we regained the use of our limbs, we set off once again to go view another display, this time of ice sculptures in Zhoalin Park. Though best viewed at night, seeing these impressive sculptures up close was quite a sight. The following evening we went back to see them illuminated, but typically for China, no notice was given when the exhibition would be turned off, and that’s what happened, as we walked around, one by one, section by section, the models were plunged into darkness, leaving us to make our way out of the park, only to return another night. On the way to the main festival we dropped in on the Harbin Grand Theatre, a huge impressive building on the Songbei side of the river where you can actually walk around onto the roof from the outside of the building, an amazing piece of accessible, interactive artwork, available to all. The main part of the trip was to visit the Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, which didn’t disappoint in any way, even though it was the coldest I have ever been in my life, surrounded by walls and walls of ice, walking on frozen snow-covered ground, which illuminated as dusk fell. The great constructions just looked like blocks of ice, it was only after dark when the park really comes to life. We just wandered, tried to take it all in, and capture photos for keepsakes, which was extremely difficult under the conditions. Everything from replicas of the Great Wall of China, a church with ice pews and an ice lectern. Within a few minutes the whole park was illuminated, you really didn't know where to look next. We had taken flasks of coffee which were very welcome, you really don't realise how quickly the cold can set in, finger and toe tips getting colder by the minute, even though we were very well wrapped up. After a couple of circuits around the park, making sure we had missed nothing, we found our way to our waiting driver and the thankfully warm car. Something else to do in Harbin is to go see the impressive St Sophia Cathedral, sadly closed when we were there. Handy tips for you are to have a translation or screen shot of places you’d like to visit so the taxi can take you, prepare this information before you go, as google maps is not accessible from within China. It was lovely to have people offer to help when they could see we were having difficulties, and only the taxi drivers tried it on, though to be fair it was peak season, the Chinese New Year holiday, with a few negotiating fares rather than use their meters, one funnily enough tried to say is wasn’t working, as he turned it off right in front of us, as if we wouldn’t notice. That said, we had a great trip, it was everything we hoped it would be.

28 January 2019

Honolulu airport is strangely laid out, some of it indoors, the rest along open-air walkways and piers. We boarded the flight to Maui, which was operated by what I would call a DC-9. The cabin was sparse, thin seats, small tray, but accommodating leg room. That said the flight was only scheduled to be 23 minutes. We were offered juice, tea or coffee during the short flight, which really was an up and down job. We arrived in Maui shortly after lunch and it was a short walk to the car rental lot. Out of the choice of cars, we settled on a black Jeep, as it had tinted back windows, so that we could leave things securely in the trunk. We set off on the road over to the other side of the island, between the now dormant volcano craters. After about 45 minutes, along a spectacular coastal route, we came to the turn off for Kaanapali Beach. Our hotel was the Kaanapali Beach Resort Hotel, which was almost at the end of the strip. Check-in only took a few minutes and we parked the car in guest parking and made our way to the room. Very spacious, all mod cons, with a view straight over the extensive gardens to the beach and surf. As our first week took us over the Christmas Period, the hotel was full, though never felt it. There is a public boardwalk which runs the length of the beach, separating the hotels, and we made this walk a few times, having a look into the other properties or stopping off at Whalers Beach for some food or shopping. Thankfully, having the car meant we could go out and explore further afield. The first day we headed off to see what we could find and sought out hidden quiet beaches and good vantage points, every turn off the highway offering something new. We drove out and back, which took us around five hours in total, just to get a feel for the place, and to see if anywhere else needed further exploration. A little further down the coast was Lahaina, probably the largest town on that side of the island, with lots of bars, restaurants and shops. We found a restaurant owned by Mick Fleetwood, and decided to eat there on Christmas Eve. Linked to the restaurant was a music memorabilia shop, display Fleetwood Mac artefacts, and many music celebrity photographs of artists such as Queen, Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. we spent a good hour in there having a look at the displays and talking to the owners. One of THE things to do on Maui is go to the Haleakala Nation Park to visit the crater rim for sunrise or sunset. if you want to go at sunrise, you need a permit, which are sold out weeks before you need to go. If you miss that opportunity, the only other way of doing it is to go on an organised excursion, which requires a 2:30 am pickup, to make sure you get to the crater before sunrise. We decided to make an afternoon of it and go for sunset. We had been recommended a restaurant to stop at for lunch, which had a breath-taking view, before getting back in the car and driving the last 40 miles to climb to over 10,000 feet to the crater rim. We made good time and got to the ridge around one hour before sunset, wrapped up and had a walk around the visitor’s centre. We got there just in time as we noticed the drive to the summit became so congested that they closed the road. As the sun began to set, we made our way down a short way to the next viewing point just to take it all in. We've seen many sunsets all over the world, and this was something special. Of course, the one thing about visiting somewhere like this, is you have to return the same way, so it took us around two hours to make our way back down the mountain and over to Kaanapali. On Christmas Eve we wanted to drive the "Road to Hana", a picturesque 100-mile round trip drive through the countryside, and cliffside of the north eastern coast of Maui. The weather had other ideas. Once we got over to the north side, we hit rain, and it rained for the whole drive both to Hana and back, only breaking for a few short minutes to reveal a stunning rainbow over the coastline. We didn't know what to expect on Christmas Day, and it started with the hotel staff visiting each room block and singing carols with a Ukulele accompaniment, which we had never heard before. By the time they reached the last block, many hotel residents had joined in, and it became quite a moving little carol service. Before lunch, we decided to go for a wander down the beach, dive in for a swim and do some snorkelling, as you do on Christmas day. Lunch was set for 4pm, and I have to say, we were astounded at the amount and excellent quality of the food on offer, from Sushi, pasta, salads, heaps of vegetarian options, and a carvery serving lamb and ribeye steak. I had to make do with only four runs to the tables, as I was about to turn into Mr Creosote, and refuse a wafer-thin mint. They even had an offering of turkey and stuffing and roast potatoes for us traditionalists. After all that, we had to go walk it off, so set away along the boardwalk to see how far we could get. It was a lovely night, and everyone was in fine spirits. God Bless Us Everyone. On Boxing Day, we had arranged to go kayaking to see if we could see some whales and do a bit of snorkelling too. The only trouble was, it was an early start, with a meet up at 06:45, which is almost as bad as getting up to go to the Next boxing day sale. The meeting point was Leoda's kitchen and pie shop, which served amazing food. We had a steak pie and salad one afternoon, as we happened to be passing. I digress, we met our guide, and there were only seven of us to go out on the water. We had a quick briefing, and out we went. The sea was like a mill pond, flat calm, absolutely no swell or wind, conditions were perfect. All eyes were straining to watch for blow holes, and the whales. It wasn't long before we saw two quite close by, watching them breathe in unison, once, twice, then the third big breath before flicking their tails in the air and going deep. We tried to keep a distance of at least 100 metres between us, though you have no idea where they will surface. So we spent a very nice two hours plus pootling about in the kayaks whale watching. Unfortunately, we eventually had to turn around, get nearer to the shore, and drop into the warm ocean and have a quick look at what was below the waves. Plenty of coral, fish, and one lone turtle. It was a great end to a great morning. The next day we rested up, had a last look down the beach, and packed our bags ready to leave for Big Island, and New Year.

28 January 2019

We arrived at Hilo, Big Island early. The flight was uneventful apart from the approach, which I don’t know if standard, but is similar to the approach to the old Kai Tak airport in Hong Kong. The aircraft approaches at around 45 degrees to the runway and it was great to watch from the correct side of the aircraft. The captain turns in at what looks like the last minute to flare out, bang on the threshold, for a perfect landing. We made our way through baggage reclaim to the car rental desks. We had booked an intermediate SUV and we were given the choice of a Yute (which I would have loved to take, I used to watch Neighbours after all). Sadly, the rear was open and as we had 3 cases to transport, we couldn’t make them secure. So, we had to make do with the no less impressive Cadillac 3.6 SUV. Which was a lovely car to drive and tour in. As we had time on our hands, we drove south to find the now dormant lava flows and had an amazing drive around the newly formed lava land forms. I’ve never seen anything like it before. We then began the short climb to the very aptly named town of Volcano, on the outskirts of the Hawai’I Volcanoes National Park. We found our hotel, a very quaint little chalet a short drive from a few local restaurants. We also had a quick run into the National Park, once again, due to the US government shutdown, the park was being staffed by volunteers and was free to enter. We spoke to one of the very helpful assistants who told us that trails were being constantly monitored and could close or open at any time. On the way back to the hotel we happened to find a local winery, where we sampled and subsequently bought some local wine. We only stayed two nights, so one full day, we drove into the park, parked up and had a look around the trails, ending with coffee in the Volcano House hotel, on the crater rim. It was also worth noting that the visitors centre showing time lapse video of the crater collapsing was incredible to watch. The following day we drove through impressive landscape over to the west coast and our final hotel at Kona, arriving late afternoon. The hotel was at the southern end of the Kona strip, bordered with the usual array of shops, bars and restaurants. After check-in we headed off north again to find recommended beaches and other sights. First to note is many of the beaches are black sand which is quite unusual, though we did find long stretches of yellow sand, and made a note to revisit. We did notice a difficulty in getting somewhere to eat. We knew it would be busy, it was New Year week, but most places were showing at least a 45-minute wait. We always try and share our patronage to different restaurants, trying the local Thai, a traditional brewery/sports bar, and a specialist fish restaurant. The food was tasty and proportions generous. What was disappointing was the hotel restaurant was closed four nights a week, including New Year’s Eve, it not deemed high profile enough to be open. Around 10pm on New Years Eve, we noticed quite a large firework display on the horizon, taking place over the large Hilton resort some 10 miles away. Unfortunately, no display was arranged in Kona, a local bar set a few rockets away at midnight, and that was it. It was chalk and cheese compared to our Sydney experience last year. We took a drive back over to Hilo, right through the middle of the country, and such a contrast it was. Clear bright blue, warm skies on the west, climbing into the rain clouds over the highway, which stayed with us all the way to the coast, so much so we had to abandon plans to visit the Botanical gardens, as it was so wet. We decided to circumnavigate the island and return to Kona over the northern route, thankfully the further west and more miles we drove, the more the weather improved, until finally reaching the clear blue skies. On our last day, we drove back to a remote beach we found, we got up early and drove past the airport the 7 miles or so to the Kekaha Kai Beach Park. We arrived early and bagged a good spot under a tree for some shade, and watched families play in surf, all trying to keep their feet in the shallows, as the large waves crashed down. Most impressively, we watched a couple on motorised surf boards which I had never seen in action before. It was great to watch. All too soon it was time to leave the beach, get back to the hotel, and get packed. As the packed Boeing 717 taxied out to the runway, my wife looked out the window and mentioned it was just like leaving the moon, so barren and rocky was the landscape. We left early for our flight back to Honolulu and lunch with a friend, before we did our time travel trick, back over the International Date Line, across the pacific to Hong Kong. Now we have the hang of the islands, we are already planning a return trip to watch the whales. Watch this space!

24 October 2018

My wife and I were lucky enough to recently spend our half term break in Bali. We took advantage of some very good business class fares available with Hong Kong Airlines. Having experienced their service 3 years ago on a trip to Taiwan, and being impressed by it then, I knew it wouldn't be a gamble to purchase the tickets. The experience starts with a very informal check in procedure at aisle K at Hong Kong airport. No zig zag lines, just a welcoming office desk style setup where you are met, formalities are completed, and your bags taken away for tagging. Hong Kong Airlines now have two lounges at Hong Kong Airport, the older of the two. The Bauhinia Lounge is located beneath Gate 23 and was the lounge we used on our last visit. The food and beverage choice were good, but we found the lounge quite crowded on our visit. For this trip we visited the new Club Autus Lounge situated at the infield terminal to service Gates 200+. This was a completely different experience, with good food options, both Asian and western, snacks and an open bar serviced by a full-time bar person, serving wine and drinks on demand. There were several seating options, the ones nearer the full-length ceiling to floor windows gave an excellent view to the apron and one of the active runways, and piped birdsong played as background, all very welcoming and relaxing. After a couple of hours stay the flight was ready to board and our gate was nearest the lounge, so a short walk. In truth this terminal is quite small, and its length can be easily walked in a few minutes. As business class passengers we were allowed priority boarding and were first on the aircraft, where we were met warmly by the crew, addressed by name, and personally shown to our seat, which is a nice touch, but with only five rows we wouldn't have got lost. Hong Kong Airlines have large array of business class options, for a relatively small fleet. They only have 28 aircraft that offer business class, and those aircraft carry six variations of their business class product. This is probably four too many, as long haul international and regional versions are usually preferred by other airlines. Our flight to Denpasar was operated by an Airbus A330v. The seats were arranged in a staggered 1-2-1 formation in pod type seats with lie flat beds. The entertainment system was state of the art, with the latest Hollywood, Bollywood and Asian genre films, and huge choice of TV programmes and albums to listen to. Before take-off we were offered drinks, and the crew distributed the dinner menu. We had taken advantage of the service offered by the airline, in that we were able to pre-book our meal choice 48 hours before departure. We plumped for the beef, potatoes and vegetables, all served with a choice of champagne, wine or beer. After dinner we were served with a choice of tea and coffee, all served in in large builder’s style mug. The four- and half-hour flight passed so quickly, I am sure at some point I fell asleep missing half the film I’d been watching. We disembarked minutes after the airbridge was extended, and only the lengthy queues at immigration put a dampener on the experience. For the return flight, we left Denpasar early evening. Check in was efficient and smooth, and navigation through Denpasar airport allowed us to do some last-minute shopping before relaxing in the Premium Lounge alongside passengers from Emirates, Qantas, Thai and many other full service carriers. We boarded early, to find another business class layout on this particular Airbus A330T aircraft. This one interestingly known as the catchy "Optimares Maxima" configuration. The aircraft is fitted in a 2-2-2 layout, but interestingly set out in a way that even passengers sitting next to the window can access the aisle without disturbing their fellow passengers. Hong Kong Airlines is currently the only airline in the world to use this configuration with built-in inflight entertainment, and they only operate two aircraft in this configuration, B-LHA and B-LHB, this flight was on 'LHB' I must admit I much preferred this setup as opposed to the pod system. It gives the cabin a bright, airy and futuristic feel. Again, the crew service was attentive and very personal, making several walk throughs enquiring about passenger welfare and dealing with any food or drink requests. This is a brand new configuration to the market, and I found the seats a little hard, but this did not stop my wife and I managing a sleep on the way home. Disembarkation was quick, and we were soon on the train to the main terminal to collect our bags, grab a taxi and start our journey for the 45-minute drive home. Cost wise, it is a little more expensive to fly business class rather than economy, though not as expensive as you may first think. I think good value can be found, especially if the flight is over three hours and operated by a wide-bodied aircraft like an A330, which will invariably be fitted with lie flat beds. if you'd like to know more about these experiences or any others covered by my blogs, please get in touch.

03 May 2018

We were really looking forward to our long weekend and spending it at Elephant Hills in the Khoa Sok National Park of Thailand. On arrival at Surat Thani, the driver was waiting for us, and our seven other travellers, to take us to the camp. The drive was an easy two hours on good roads, and we arrived at the tented camp just in time for a briefing of the activities for the stay. A quick check into our tent and time for lunch. Our tent was one of three (number two) facing the impressive limestone formations. Lunch was plentiful and a good selection of six-seven choices, all Thai selections with some pasta too. After lunch, we had an hour to unpack and have a look around the camp. One main meeting area with a bar, reception and shop and a camp ranger available to answer any questions. Lined with benches where all meals were taken. At the arranged time of 2pm we all met at reception, some of the clients went straight of to see the Elephants, we went down to the river and had a canoe trip down the river, very calm and peaceful, with great scenery. We then were collected by the truck, and taken to the elephant park. The usual afternoon darkness was creeping in, and we were lucky to get through much of the afternoon's activities before the heavens opened. We had a great elephant experience, started off observing their interaction with each other, rolling in the mud and dust. They then made their way over to the area where we were to watch them, bathe and prepare some food. We then helped wash them and scrub them down, the elephants were so placid and calm and it was such a great experience to be near them and just experience their presence. Then the heavens really opened, it being the rainforest and the start of the rainy season. The elephants loved it, able to throw mud over themselves and each other. Then the highlight of us preparing food and vitamins for them. We all had pineapples, sugar cane, and bananas to chop up and we all had to choose an elephant to feed. Mine was a bit of a bully, getting in the front of the queue to get the food. We also had vitamin balls to wrap in banana leaves and try and feed the elephants. The rain kept falling, and we were all getting soaked through to the skin, but we wouldn’t have missed it for the world. It was a 20 minute ride back to the tents and it took a while to dry off. The welcome fan kept the tent relatively cool and provided some drying power for our clothes. After changing we were back in the communal area for a short film presentation about the rainforest, followed by a traditional Thai dance display presented by some local school children, and then a short cooking demonstration of Pad Thai. Dinner was served at 8pm, again with lots of choice, and plentiful. After dinner, and a day of travel and excitement, it wasn’t long before people were making their way back to their tents, though only after a briefing of the following day's activities. Day 2, breakfast at 8am, and we were all scheduled to leave at 9am, some of us to the rainforest camp for the night, others just for a day visit. On the way we visited a local market and a viewpoint over the dam. By 11am we were on our long-tail boat heading towards the rainforest camp, we passed many limestone pillars, similar to those found at Guilin, China, and Halong Bay, Vietnam. It was stunning as our boat captain slowed down and ventured closer to the great columns. After a 50 minute boat ride, we arrived at the camp at Cheow Larn Lake. The attention to detail of the organisation was great again, we arrived at one of the communal eating areas, and the departing clients were having lunch at the other waiting for our boat to offload, and go collect them. Again, a substantial, tasty lunch was served, and we were given instructions to meet at 2pm for the jungle trek. Each tent had a kayak for the occupants, and many of the children were already either paddling around or puddling around in the warm waters of the lake. We assembled at the communal area, to board the boat to the trek starting point. The rainy season came back with a vengeance, and barely 10 minutes into the boat rode, from nowhere a storm came over the hills. The water began to get choppy, and the rain started heavy at first, then of biblical monsoon proportions, thankfully the boat captain decided to turn around, so we never got to see the jungle. The rain lasted all afternoon, and long into the night, it was both unnerving, and peaceful to spend the night under canvas. All electricity is provided by battery, powered by solar panels, and once the battery flattens, you have to wait for it to become fully charged. We had prior knowledge of this, and kept electricity use to a minimum. No point in charging any gadgets, there was no wi-fi, and we charged all our cameras etc before leaving the tented camp. Thankfully the one fan managed to stay on through the night, providing a welcome breeze of cool air. It was amazing to wake up over the water and see the mist roll off the hills. An early walk had been planned by the guides, a bit too early for us at 06:30, though they did report that monkeys had been seen, and thankfully they stuck around long enough for us to see them on the way to breakfast. After breakfast, we had an hour or so kayaking around the lake, for some wildlife spotting and also to take in the peace and quiet of the countryside. Soon it was time to repack, have some more lunch, and be ready for our 12:30 pickup. The boat took us back to the pier, where our vans and luggage were waiting for us. The organisation was excellent, we were each allocated a car which would ferry us to our respective destinations, some, like us to Phuket, some to airports and some down the eastern coast. After such early starts and excitement over the last few days, all we could do was sit back, relax and enjoy the trip to Phuket, and a short two hours later, we were delivered to our beach resort hotel in Mai Khao for the night. Elephant Hills was an experience we’ll never forget, and such close encounters with the elephants definitely the highlight. With thanks to Chris, Banana, Tony and all the staff at Elephant Hills for their hospitality, friendliness and care to detail.

27 April 2018

Easter weekend in Osaka and everyone seemed to be on the streets. We walked the length of the Shinsaibashisuji shopping street, a covered lane of several blocks, where you can find every manner of shops, from high street retailers to Kimono hire shops. We wanted to get full value of our JR passes, so we took a trip to Himeji Castle. The whole complex was very crowded, and we joined a queue to enter the castle. It took almost two hours to gain access and look around the castle, giving great views over the city. The grounds were full of people, having picnics and enjoying the warm spring sunshine. When planning the trip, we had wanted to visit Universal Studio. We also thought as Easter wasn’t a holiday, it may be quiet. Oh dear. We set off early, though even at 7:30, the trains were crowded, and even though the attractions weren’t open the park was packed. We had such a fun day, we managed to get on a few rides, waiting the relatively short time of 150 minutes to get onto the Harry Potter experience. The main memory of the day, was seeing all manner of people all dressed the same, in their favourite character costumes, Minions, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, all the characters of Harry Potter, even a few full shark outfits. That night, we decided to go to the Omeda Sky building, have a look at the architecture and take in the vista. It was dark by the time we got to the top but the view was worth it. The next day we made the trip by bullet train to Takamatsu to visit the art island of Naoshima. It has several galleries, the ChiChu Art museum built into a hillside, the Art House collection and a series of seven buildings which have been re modelled. We had a great day, and caught the last ferry back to Takamatsu, which has a shopping street longer than either Tokyo or Osaka. Next stop was Kanazawa, where we collected our hire car to explore the Japanese Alps. We had a mix of rain and snow over the three days of our visit, but we managed to take in Kanazawa Castle, and Kenroku-En Garden. We also drove up the Noto Peninsula taking the unusual beach drive, where you can drive 10 kilometres or so along the beach. Our hotel in Kanazawa was near the preserved Samurai area, perfect for a bit of street exploration. Our drive to the Alps took us to Shirakawago, a World Heritage Site by way of their 250-year-old preserved farmhouses. Perfectly timed snow started to fall just as we arrived, and we toured the small village under snowfall, it must look majestic in winter. We continued our drive to Takayama where we stayed in a Ryokan. Takayama is a little town, the main sightseeing is within a 20-minute walk from the Ryokan. Small shops, bars and restaurants lined the streets and it made for a great stay. Out of all the places we visited, we had fewest issues here making ourselves understood. We continued onto Obuse, our base to visit the snow monkeys. Obuse is a small town, which also has a museum dedicated to the artist Hokusai. It had an impressive array of his sketches and paintings, and two films broadcast in English and Japanese. We also had an interesting experience trying to find somewhere to eat, as most tourists only stay for the day. We found a bar serving noodles where the owner followed the Premiership, so by using mime, sign language and Google we all managed to make ourselves understood and we ate our meal of pork and noodles alongside his young family. An unexpected pleasure. Early the next day, we set off to visit the Monkey Park in Yudanaka. The drive took around an hour and then we made the short walk through the park to the hot springs. We’ve watched the webcams and seen their behaviour. Unfortunately, the snows had all gone, but the monkeys still use the hot springs as their own personal sauna, and we spent a good while watching their antics. Our last day with the car had us drive to Matsumoto for a one-night stay. We arrived mid-morning, just in time to return the car. The centre was easy to get around, and we walked up to the Black Castle, where there were far less crowds than we had encountered in Osaka. Again, the weather wasn’t great, we were still in the lower alps and the snow had turned to rain. We were now coming to the end of our trip, but the one we were most looking forward to. We wanted to walk part of the Nakasendo Way. We left Matsumoto very early for the train to Nagiso. We wanted to try get something to eat and managed to find a café opening its doors. We ordered coffee, but it was too early for lunch, but the owners did something really kind. They knew we were hungry and came to the table with two baked sweet potatoes, just what we needed, and a lovely act of kindness. It certainly set us up for the walk. We wanted to make the walk to Tsumago, then onto Magome but it seemed no matter where you started, you had to walk uphill. We worked out by the time we got to Magome around four hours later, we seemed to have been endlessly climbing. Turned out it was the same, if you started to walk the other way from Magome, it was a very sleep climb out of the village onto Tsumago. It was a memorable experience, taking it easy, walking in the spring sunshine. We had some lunch in a local café, before walking for about an hour downhill to our spa hotel just outside Magome. The Hanasarasa hotel was a traditional Japanese hotel. There were no beds made up in our room, just tatami mats. Beds were made up when we took dinner later. Several courses were served, all with instructions from our Japanese hosts. The following morning, we took the hotel shuttle to Nakasugawa Station to catch the train to Nagoya, and onwards to Kobe for our final night. The transport system worked very well, all trains were punctual, and we made our connections with time to spare. Our final train journey was taken on the Nozomi bullet train. It was strange on rails, when it seemed easier to take to the air. We arrived in Kobe mid-afternoon, on a lovely sunny spring like day, so we took the opportunity to take the cable car to the Herb Garden. The view was amazing looking out over the bay almost able to see Kansai on the distant shore. We spent the evening picking up some last-minute souvenirs and after our final night, made the short trip to Kobe airport to catch the fast ferry to Kansai Airport. We have such great memories of a trip to a country of so many contrasts, and we don’t want to wait another 10 years for our next visit.

18 April 2018

I thought I’d post a more practical guide to travel in Japan. It can be quite daunting to arrive at Kansai armed only with a voucher for a JR Pass and wondering what you do next. We set off from Hong Kong, early on the 30th March in Business Class on Air India service to Osaka. Air India, are one of the many airlines that use regional hubs at Hong Kong or Bangkok to extend their networks into East Asia, utilizing spare capacity to pick up local traffic. Both outward and return flights were full. Very competitive Business Class fares can be found using these airlines, and we paid less for our seats than if we had used the HKExpress low-cost service. Who wouldn’t want to have a lie flat bed, full service airline experience at a reasonable cost? The flight was early and comfortable, although fizz wasn't served pre-take off, which is a usual business class perk. The crew were very attentive and helpful. From disembarkation, through immigration and customs, at Kansai took all of 25 minutes, and we joined the queue to exchange our rail voucher for our actual passes. We noticed an 'English spoken' sign at every ticket window, the queue quickly moved along and we found our way to the platform with our passes and seat reservations. It’s worth mentioning the Kansai Express trains are the only trains which offer extensive luggage storage for travellers. For our journeys where we travelled somewhere more remote, we used the very handy luggage forwarding service available. For around £14 per case, it will not only be transported to wherever you want (hotel or airport) and in the more remote areas you can use Tourist Information offices as mini hubs and collect from there. Not only were the bags waiting for us on check-in at the hotels, they had been delivered to our room - fantastic service. The Japanese Rail pass allows you access to all trains on the network, including the Shinkansen Bullet Train. Simply showing the pass to a person in the ticket office will get you access to your platform. Though if you want to travel on the Nozomi or Mizuho trains, a supplement must be paid. If travelling in busy times its worth pre-booking your seats which is a free service available at all the JR Ticket Offices. Even if you don’t pre-book seats there are usually at least two or three carriages available for those travelling without seat reservations. The trains are immaculately clean. Ticket inspectors and the staff serving refreshments respectfully bow on entering and leaving the carriage, a pleasant change to anything you'd experience in the UK or anywhere else in the west. We were lucky enough to ride on various types of bullet train, all quiet and comfortable. For our last journey to Shin-Kobe we travelled on the Nozomi N-7000 Bullet train. Unfortunately, the speed isn’t broadcast, though the sensation of travelling along the rails, watching towns and villages flash by is quite disconcerting. The only speed comparison we had was when we were (low) flying past Osaka airport, and we overtook a plane on final approach. We also decided to hire a car for our trip into the Japanese Alps, giving us a little more freedom. To be able to hire a car in Japan, you must have an international driving license. Even though the rental clerk spoke little English, along with my none existent Japanese (Arigatou doesn’t count) we quickly completed the formalities. Our car was a Toyota Aqua Hybrid, very comfy and quiet, only noticing a change in pitch when switching from engine to battery. Contrary to previous car hire experiences, this had loads of room in the boot, enough for one large suitcase, one large trolley bag type holdall and a large backpack. Both the rear window, and rear side windows were blacked out, making you able to leave the car and feel secure its contents were safe. It’s worth noting many of the freeways in Japan are toll roads. You could pay as you go, as we were advised to do, but we decided to hire an Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) card, for about £2, giving us freedom to drive through the electronic gates at the Toll Plaza. We settled the bill when we returned the car. Be prepared as driving distance can be expensive. We drove on six toll roads on our trip and the tolls amounted to 6620 JPY, around £44. We also paid a small supplement for a 24-hour helpline and roadside assistance, for the princely sum of around £5 for the duration of the hire agreement. Fuel was cheaper than expected - we had used just under half a tank and the top up cost was around £20. We found travelling by car easy and stress free. The car came with sat-nav as standard and the language was set to English. I found using the phone number of your destination when setting the system worked very well, it worked better than map references or place names. The local cars were also quite a surprise, most very boxlike with short bonnet. For our return, we had stayed in Kobe for our final night. It was a short walk to the Sannomiya train station where we caught the Portliner train to Kobe airport. The short journey took 20 minutes where we switched modes of transport to the fast ferry across the bay to Kansai. Discounted tickets are available for international travellers leaving Japan. Courtesy coaches wait for you at the Kansai jetty, ready to bus you to the terminal. A very quick, comfortable and convenient way to end the trip to Japan. For all you plane/train enthusiasts out there: HKG-KIX AI314 VT-ANC Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner Osaka-Okayama-Takamatsu Shinkansen Sakura # 551, JR Marine Liner # 25 Takamatsu-Kanazawa JR Marine Liner # 16, and what had to be my favorite Thunderbird #23 Magome-Kobe Ltd Express Wideview Shinano # 4 , Shinkansen Nozomi #25 KIX-HKG AI315 VT-ANJ Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner Don’t get me started on the toilets. Going to the loo in Japan is a treat in itself. Warm seats welcome you, and while you sit you are offered a choice of wash, rinse, even a modesty button which plays noises. I dread to think what would happen if a spin function is developed! Unbelievable, must try and get one.

14 March 2018

After arrival at Sukhothai we were met by our transfer that would take us to the sanctuary at Sappraiwan. Two short hours later we arrived and were met by the lovey staff, Katie, Pla and later Terri, who are responsible for the elephant program. Our program was packed with interesting subjects such as enrichment and food harvesting. We then drove down to an area where the herd were collected with their mahouts, just munching their way through breakfast. Sitting watching the interaction with each other, the elder elephants looking out for and protecting the younger members of their herd. In the lake, the younger ones were eager to get themselves and each other the wetter and muddier the better. Time goes by so quickly, we followed the elephants over a couple of pastures and at one stage we saw the true value of the herd. When spooked by something unexpected the whole her trumpeted and took off, the matriarch watching protectively as the older elephants crowded around the younger ones, the whole incident was over in a few minutes, it was great to see them act as they would if they were in the wild. The afternoon was taken up with enrichment for the large bull elephant TongTang. We prepared several spots where he could come and forage for food. We loaded trees with fruit and banana leaves so Tongtang could get back to doing what elephants do, rather than being hand fed by humans he would have to go look for food. From a safe distance we watched him walk majestically up the track to where we had prepared his enrichment. Watching him work out where the food was hidden, a conveyor belt of trunk action, selecting the branch, dropping the roots and catching the leaves in one movement, great timing and dexterity. We had a short break from elephant activity, and we took a drive of around one hour to the temple at Wat Pah Sorn Kaew, a most unusual Buddha temple decorated with crockery, trinkets and other such jewellery. We spent the evening listening to the thunderclouds rumbling overhead as we ate dinner in the Elephant house Lake View Cafe. The following day we ate an early breakfast in our room at the water’s edge, watching the elephants take their morning walk from their jungle resting place. Time really does stand still when you sit and watch these animals, eat, play and interact with each other and their trusted mahouts. After breakfast we joined the mahouts to go to a local farmers plantation and collect banana plants. We spent around 90 minutes, collecting the cut trees and loading them onto the truck for transportation back to the sanctuary, where of course they had to be unloaded too. It was heavy, hot thirsty work, but all well worth it. We had an early lunch, and a short break in preparation for the afternoon ahead. The rains kept on coming, we changed and made our way to the mahout area where we saw how the staff and elephants worked together in preparation for visits for vets. The elephants stand in a corral, and a mahout will touch the elephant in the area which is to be examined, and it will in turn, make this area available to the vet. We worked with lots of love and kindness, and fruit during this process, the elephant always a willing pupil. Our final chore for the day was to help give the elephants and medication or vitamins, these were usually hidden in mango or banana, which the elephants love and were quite happy to munch through. It was such a rewarding day, full of smiles, sharing stories and the best bit, watching elephants, being elephants. On our last day we got up early to prepare enrichment for one of the bulls. Once again, we loaded various fruits and leaves into hidey places, trying to be as imaginative as possible, so that the elephant would have to forage for his food. Again, time passes so much quicker, we worked for around 1 hour until we saw him striding purposefully through the camp, only one thing on his mind. We sat and watched him take apart our hard work in a very short time, always looking for another morsel of food. All this eating was making us hungry, time for our breakfast. The Lake View Cafe is open during the day, and allows passers-by, or those travelling by road, to come get a snack and a drink. The sanctuary advertises the fact on social media, that elephants can be seen from the Cafe at weekends. We were involved and helped setup the area for the elephant’s arrival, again making sure the elephant would have to forage for food. Running an elephant sanctuary is an expensive business, so customers are invited for a small fee to help make elephant 'sandwiches'. It’s a very messy job which children seem to enjoy doing the most. We take banana leaves, and along the length place various fruits, and then tie two leaves together, making a huge sandwich, these are then presented to the mahouts who in turn give to the elephants. After lunch we had our final session with the elephants, we walked down to the water’s edge, where once again mutual duckings were the name of the game especially with the juveniles, and almost instinctively as the afternoon wore on the elephants made their own way through the camp to their jungle resting place for the night. It was still funny to see a few of the younger herd members get left behind as we walked with the main herd, ever watchful as we knew at some point they'd realize they were being left behind. Sure enough, we heard a few trumpets, as they realized what had happened, and began to make their way to join the rest of the herd, we stepped back from their path as they all became reunited and headed off into the jungle. And that was it for our visit, we'd had amazing experiences over our three days, and it was also an education. There is always something to learn and be able to pass on from such experiences. After a quick shower, our car was waiting and we said goodbye to our hosts Terri, Katie and Pla, with the knowledge that we would return for a longer stay, and we look forward to see how the elephant program develops over the years. One final note on the strangely beautiful Sukhothai Airport, which has been voted Thailand's prettiest airport, and it’s easy to see how. Beautifully manicured gardens skirt the airport building and apron. The aircraft park a little way from the 'terminal' and passengers are ferried in by small trams. The whole loading and disembarkation process takes less than 20 minutes, so efficient. We know when we see THS on our luggage tags we know we are off to see the eles.

18 January 2018

On the drive down to Sydney from the Blue Mountains we stopped off in Penrith (bared no resemblance to the UK town) for some lunch and a spot of shopping. I had the experience of my shoes falling apart while walking through Leura, so was looking for replacements, and had another snack of the highest quality. We had a quiet day New Year’s Eve. We wanted to visit the Titanic Exhibition, which was very good, and even though the film had brought much to life, I hadn’t known of many of the other stories that were displayed. They also had a Virtual Reality Zone where you could don the VR viewer and literally dive the Titanic and explore the decks, all very interesting and entertaining, but not used to the experience I must admit to feeling quite nauseous and 10 minutes was more than enough. We had friends and I had clients visiting Sydney at the same time, and had arranged to meet at various times through the week, and on New Year’s Day, I had arranged a surprise for my wife where we met our best man from our wedding almost 35 years ago, who was visiting family in Sydney. It was great to see them again, and have a catch up over lunch at Darling Harbour. The city was relatively quiet on New Year’s Day, only the larger department stores were open, prime conditions for some retail therapy. We had arranged to meet friends to go for a hike from Spit Bridge to Manly. The weather was ideal for walking, we set away on the bus (Opal Cards an essential) for the ride over the Harbour Bridge to Spit Bridge (yes, it really is a bridge), and it was open when we arrived to allow some yachts to enter the sheltered harbour. We had a lovely long walk which took around three hours to walk around the headland, passing many small beaches crowded with people out enjoying the summer sunshine. The walk ends at Manly, right in front of the ferry terminal, and a short walk right through the centre of the town brings you to the Ocean. The beach that day was packed, and the weather was glorious. After another fantastic lunch and a couple of beers (it would be rude not to) we took a late ferry back to Sydney, and collapsed for the night. The hike-o-meter giving another high step reading. Out and about we took a drive to Coogee down the coast, south of Sydney. Another seaside town with plenty of cafes and shops to browse through and an impressive boardwalk, where we happened by bad luck to get caught in a downpour, sadly without an umbrella. Thankfully it passed quickly and we were able to walk to the restaurant at Coogee Pavilion, without getting too wet, for another good quality meal of local caught octopus and salad. Though on our first visit to Sydney we managed to do the Bridge climb, we had never actually walked over the bridge. So, we decided to do just that on our last day. We got an early start and made our way to the bridge walkway entrance on The Rocks. Our timing was perfect, reaching the pylon entrance just after opening, there were no queues. We climbed the 200 steps to the top, to see Sydney, the Harbour, and the Opera House laid out before us. After taking the ubiquitous selfies and several more of the Opera House we walked to the centre point of the bridge for even more photos of the Opera House, as if you could ever take enough. I’ve walked over the Tyne Bridge many times, but this was colossal by comparison, amazing engineering and scale which you don’t really appreciate until you are on it. On a weekend, The Rocks holds a market. We have been lucky enough to visit several times but still stopped to browse at the stalls, again stopping for lunch. Have you guessed, food played a major part of this trip. After lunch we took a walk through the Botanical Gardens to Macquarie Point for yet another view of the Opera House, this time perfectly framed by the bridge behind. After some last-minute shopping for souvenirs we had our final dinner in a local café serving excellent food and well kept, tasty beer. Then all too soon we had to pack, set the alarm for 'early' and get back to the airport for our flight to Hong Kong. The weather was cooler than we thought it may be, though on the day we left we could feel the temperature rising, eventually reaching a whopping 45 degrees. Slip, slap, slop, slide without a doubt.

16 January 2018

For New Year’s Eve 2017 we had tickets for the Portside Event at the Opera House. The city was very well organised, many vantage points were already full by late afternoon, the roads were blocked to traffic, and there we several security checkpoints on the way down to the harbour. We arrived early, around 17:45 (doors open 19:30) and joined an already fairly long queue, and were so pleased we did. When the doors finally did open we were met by lines of waiters serving champagne and hors d’oeuvres. Thankfully as we were one of the first 30 or so through the doors, and able to get a table with seats. We were soon joined by the family who, it transpired, were the family of the singer from DJ Vamp who were providing the entertainment for the night. We chatted, snacked at the food on offer and the time passed quickly. The family fireworks at 9pm were impressive, followed by the Harbour of Light where numerous ships, all decorated with rope light, sail on the harbour. Everyone was vying for a good view, spirits were good and very friendly, and everyone was making sure you could get your picture or have a better view. The food and fizz flowed long into the night. The group stopped playing around 11:50 and the sound system broadcast a local feed, so we could all hear the countdown. It started quite early at 100, and the excitement built quickly, and down it came to ….5-4-3-2…bang, and the sky erupted. It was everything we’d hoped it would be. The air was filled with light and sound from seemingly everywhere. From the main display on the bridge itself, to barrages on the water, and areas behind the Opera House, you literally didn’t know where to look next. It was also good to put the camera down and live in the moment, just to watch what the rest of the world was seeing on TV, and be part of something huge. One impressive display on the bridge was the Rainbow effect, in honour of the countries decision to legalise same sex marriage. Then all too quickly the display came to a climatic end, and it was all over. The event stayed open for an hour, though there was a directive for the area to be cleared by 1am. When we began to make our way out of the city, it seemed like the whole city joined us. All 1.6 million according to official figures, and we heard later only 13 arrests. We made our way to the transport hubs, to catch a bus to the suburbs. This is where we had some difficulty, and where some local knowledge would have been helpful. We ended up literally going around in circles trying to find the correct hub, sadly the volunteers brought in for the evening couldn’t really help, as most of them weren’t local either. Finally, we decided to pop into a hotel, and ask their concierge for help. We set off to walk, as it was almost closer to walk back to our accommodation than it was to find a bus. Thankfully after about 15 minutes walking, we noticed a taxi, flagged him down, he stopped and was able to take us home. By now it was almost 3am, and we were so pleased to get back without having to walk. The taxi fare was around £9, but to be honest we would have gladly paid two or three times that. To see the Tyne Bridges’ younger, larger sister all lit up and exploding in pyro is something I’ll remember the rest of my life, and even though we were half a world away from home, it seemed to bring us closer to our friends and relatives. Bucket list?

18 January 2018

We landed in Sydney early morning after the nine-hour overnight flight from Hong Kong. I was pleasantly surprised at the speed, efficiency and friendly staff at Sydney customs and immigration, and this was to set the standard for our next 10 days. We passed through the airport, collected our bags and hire car and in almost record time we were heading west to the Blue Mountains, passing local names such as Penrith and nearly taking the slip road home to Newcastle. We stayed just outside Leura and made our base at the Fairmont Resort Hotel. As it was just outside the centre, we were thankful for the car. We had an idea of what we’d like to do, some hiking and get out and about in the impressive countryside. One thing we did notice about the area, was that during the day it was very busy with visiting tourists, then at night, deserted. In fact, one restaurant where we tried to get dinner, told us it closed at 7pm, so eating out was quite a challenge. The concierge at the hotel was most helpful, supplying us with walking maps, and the following morning we set off with backpack, snacks and water to walk the Grand Canyon. The walk was spectacular and would take almost four hours, and indicative of the area, the first km or so was straight down, as opposed to the final 700 metres, which was an almost vertical climb, not what you want after a three-hour hike. We had been given the name of a good place to try for lunch, so we set off down the valley. The vista could change almost by the minute, exploring the roads and in an hour or so we found ourselves on the valley floor, and finding a packed café, miles from anywhere. We stopped for a tasty lunch which was just what we needed after our hike. That evening we again looked for somewhere to eat and found a local pub It l looked nothing from the outside, but inside housed a restaurant, bar and sports bar under the same roof, only in Oz. Again, the food was very good quality. We were so pleased to be doing so much walking as keeping fit was also helping the waistline. Our final day in the mountains, we decided to visit the Three Sisters and Scenic World at Katoomba. We set off early as we knew it would take tour buses from Sydney two hours to reach the centre. Good plan - we managed to get there while it was still quiet and queues non-existent. The entry to the National Park is free, you pay for the rides on the railway, skyway and cableway, which I was so pleased we did. After taking around an hour to make our way down to the 3 Sisters, we found the pathway leading to the Giant Stairway, 1000 steps to the valley floor, we didn’t count them, taking the literature at its word. It was hard work going down, so we were surprised to have people pass us walking up the stairs. Madness! Better them than me. The whole thing only took a couple of hours, and thankfully we had purchased railway tickets, we were able to cheat and catch the train almost vertically back to the base station, coffee and lunch. The hikes together totalled over 21km’s for the two days. Our legs certainly felt it from all the climbs and descents, and it felt so good being out in the country in all the fresh air. The following day was an early start for our visit to Sydney and New Year’s Eve.

15 January 2018

The week leading up to Christmas we had arranged to go to Hoi An, Vietnam for a short break. Hoi An is around 30 minutes south of Danang Airport on the eastern peninsula of the long Eastern Vietnamese coast. It was 18 years since our last visit and were keen to see how it had changed and developed. We stayed just outside the city at the Hoi An Silk Village Hotel. After checking in we took a walk to the old town, it only took 30 minutes after a quick stop for a local cheap lunch. When we arrived at the Old Town, we found the centre to be just as quaint as we remembered, lantern lined streets lit your way as you meander and browse through the narrow streets, though always wary of lines of rickshaw peddlers beep beeping their way through the streets. As the evening drew on the streets became more crowded, thankfully there was enough restaurants, bars and coffee shops to cater for every taste, and across the bridge was a further selection of bars and restaurants and also the night market selling everything from lanterns to banana fritters, all at a reasonable price. In the following days we hired bikes and cycled to the coast, it was further than it looked, and we remembered. At the time of our visit it was quite windy and cold, the beaches were quite deserted, though you could see how full they would be in better weather. One of the main draws of Hoi An, are the vast number of tailors, offering both ladies and gents clothes with a promise to have the finished article ready in a day, two max. We found ourselves being drawn back day after day, just to wander the streets, stopping for regular coffee and cake, to watch the endless tourists walking the streets in their freshly made Ao Dai, taking selfies. There were many places to eat and drink, we particularly enjoyed the ‘Streets International’ restaurant, where all trainees spend part of each week at the restaurant, applying what they have learned in their classes. It is an essential part of the overall STREETS program, providing a training platform for hands-on learning, observation and practice. The food we had there was probably the best we ate during our visit. We have tried their restaurants in Cambodia, years ago which was equally as good so please if you are travelling and see the initiative at work, pop in and give them a look. We always found something to look at, somewhere to eat and drink, and something to buy. If you aren’t staying in an Old Town hotel, you’ll find transport cheap, food cheap and varied and enough to satisfy all your tastes and enough to do to occupy all your days If you are visiting Asia and have a few spare days, Hoi An is worth adding to any itinerary, give me a call if you fancy a trip.

25 September 2017

I realised I’d never reported about what is available to do in this fantastic city, and there are many attractions to keep visitors occupied. Living in a large city, rather than visiting as a tourist, certainly enables you to get out and about to discover the hidden gems that can be found. Did you know the name Hong Kong means ‘fragrant harbour’ and it was given this name due to the amount of incense offloaded from ships. With careful planning around other travel arrangements, it is quite easy to be able to get around to see all the major sights in a relaxed way. Top of most people’ list of things to do are Big Buddha and Victoria Peak. When visiting Big Buddha on Lantau island I’d allow almost a full day. It takes around 45 minutes by MTR to get to the final stop at Tung Chung. There are several ways to reach Ngong Ping village, most opting for the cable car trip up and over the hills. The trip takes around 40 minutes and you get a great view of the new bridge link to Macau and Hong Kong International Airport. Once at the top, there is a mini tourist village with lots of shops and food outlets. It’s a short walk to the steps up to the Big Buddha, but be warned its quite a climb, especially in the heat of summer. You can also reach Ngong Ping by way of a public bus and of course by the ever-present taxi. Victoria Peak looks over the harbour. A good rule of thumb as to whether it is worth visiting is that if you can see the peak, take the trip, as it can frequently be covered by mist and fog. An interesting way to reach the top is by the tram. Spending the 10-minute ride sitting at a 45 degree angle, the queues for this can be long and tiresome. Sometimes it is far easier to make your own way up by taxi, and take the tram back down. Once at the summit you can see as far as the hills leading to the New Territories, the old airport at Kai Tak which is now a cruise terminal, and of course the harbour front at Kowloon. Another thing not well known is that there is a peak walk. It takes around 45 minutes to an hour and is mostly tree lined, until you make your way around to the island side facing the harbour. It gives you a different view of the area and good photographic opportunities. On the way down from the peak, you can visit the cathedral and look over the iconic HSBC bank building. On the island side you can take a tram all the way from Western Market to Happy Valley. The tramlines also indicate the original harbour front before land reclamation extended into the harbour. The tram is a great, slow way to take in the area, but be warned it is a boneshaker of a ride. Speaking of Happy Valley, the great and good of Hong Kong will make their way to the racecourse on Wednesday nights in winter. It is not all about horseracing, the entrance fee is very small, and like most things Hong Kong, can be paid for by the ubiquitous Octopus card, which is a must have. A great time to get there is before dusk, and watch the surrounding skyscrapers light up the sky. The other racecourse at Sha Tin also has meetings during the winter, running on a Sunday, in daylight. Also in the Sha Tin area is the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas which is quite a hike up a steep hill to several pavilions. Once you reach the top it is very tranquil and probably not what you’d expect, and though I haven’t counted everyone, there must be near 10,000 Buddhas. Also in the nearby mall is a small Snoopy World. A short walk along the canal from Snoopy World is the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. Entrance is free and well worth a visit. Another must see on many lists is Stanley Market on the south side of the island. It’s a common place for tourists, locals and expats to spend their weekends. The front is bordered with bars and restaurants, and is punctuated at either end by Stanley Plaza at one, and the famous market at the other. The market itself is covered after a fashion, though it does give welcome shelter against both the sun and the rain. During the week, it can be very quiet unless a cruise ship is in town. You can find some good quality local souvenirs here, especially local fabrics, lacquer ware, prints and paintings. If you feel adventurous take the public bus back to Central. It takes you back over the island and lays it out below you as you travel back. Food plays a major part of any visit. Many of the outlying islands have seafood restaurants, and one on Lamma will organise boat transport from central to the restaurant. Sai Kung in New Territories is famed for is seafood restaurants, they line the harbour front where you can either eat from a set menu, or select your own fish from the vast tanks. The area was featured by The Hairy Bikers TV show, Asian Adventures, fame at last for our little village. A good place for any local food is the daipaidongs on many of the streets in central, and of course Dim Sum available anywhere, but local favourite restaurants are the Din Tai Fung outlets in many malls. If you crave western food, you won’t go hungry. From Starbucks and Pacific Coffee shops to high end Michelin star restaurants which can be found in most parts of the city. Check out the Dining Concepts group of restaurants, there are two on the harbour front Kowloon side, a very nice way to spend a weekend lunchtime having brunch overlooking the harbour. A little off the beaten track at Diamond Hill is Chi Lin Nunnery and Nan Lian Gardens. Free to get in, the gardens provide a real breath of fresh air from the surrounding noise and traffic. The gardens themselves are immaculately kept and feature many kinds of bonsai and other trees. The pavilions have exhibitions of local craftsmen and entrance is free on Wednesdays, though even at other times its only $20 HKD. There is a very nice gift shop and vegetarian coffee shop. The gardens also have what is purported to be the best vegetarian restaurant in Hong Kong, in a lovely spot situated behind a waterfall. For the more adventurous wanting to get out of the city, there are many hiking opportunities and there are several local islands and you can reach them by regular, cheap ferries. It is also easy to visit Macau by ferry and the Chinese border city of Shenzhen is only 20 minutes by train. Visas may be obtained at the border. I hope that’s given you an insider’s view on Hong Kong, over and above what’s in the guide books. There really is no substitute for local knowledge.

30 August 2017

The final part of our adventures had us fly to Victoria Falls. We flew South African Airways for the 100 minute trip to Victoria Falls airport. Though you can obtain visas ahead of travel, we had opted just to get them on arrival. Thankfully as we were nearly the first to disembark the aircraft, we had an early opportunity to complete the forms and get them authorised by an immigration officer. The bags were delivered promptly and within 15 minutes we were on our way to the Ilala hotel. The drive took around 30 minutes, check-in was completed quickly, rooms were large and comfortable with a wet mini bar containing wine, beer and soft drinks. We had to make the most of our time, we only had three full days. It didn’t take too long to walk around the town, it's only a few blocks long and wide. We had heard that it was quite expensive to eat and drink in the town, but we didn’t find that, it is more expensive than South Africa, probably because it is a major tourist attraction. I had pre-booked some tours before we left. The first was a tour of the falls, and we set off around 9 am with a guide who explained all about the falls as we walked through the national park. As park admission for the day had been purchased, we decided to stay in the park and explore on our own. It's only when you see the falls from every angle can you appreciate the scale and power of the water constantly falling, and in July it’s the dry season, so the falls weren’t as full as they would be earlier in the year. After we left the park we had a treat and took ourselves off to The Victoria Falls Hotel for traditional afternoon tea. I thought we’d still be hungry, but I couldn’t eat a wafer thin mint when we were done. Three tiers of cakes and sandwiches, accompanied by tea or coffee went down a treat, so much so, we passed on dinner that night. We discovered you could obtain a bridge pass at immigration and walk over to Zambia, works well, so long as you didn’t get stamped in to Zambia. So we had a walk to get a different view of the falls, the aspect changing constantly. We also watched some daredevils have a bungee jump and do a zip-line over the gorge, better them than me. Last day was action packed, we had decided to do a helicopter flight over the falls, to make the most of every opportunity. It certainly paints a very different picture to the one you see fall side. We circled 3 times so got a great view from all angles. On the way back to the helipad , the pilot noticed giraffe and elephants probably only a couple of hundred yards from the landing spot. So he kindly circled a couple of times for us to get a good view. We were taken back to the hotel, just in time for a quick change and wait for our transfer to the Zambezi River cruise. For the next 3 hours we sailed calmly and quietly up river from the falls. All refreshments were included , both the wine and nibbles flowed. We saw hippos too numerous to count, and one very impressive young bull elephant who posed quite happily for photos. Not to mention the seen and unseen dangers of the ever present crocodiles. All too soon our visit was over, other than the Falls there are a few other attractions available for visitors, but unfortunately they included elephant riding or some kind of big cat petting. Thankfully everytime we passed the offices promoting those tours they were empty. hopefully a sign that ecological tourism is starting to catch on. If its on your bucket list to go, try visit during the rainy season, as we were informed the amount of water going over the falls at that time is huge in comparison to the dry season.

22 August 2017

Our journey in Mozambique ended with an overnight stop in Bilene, a small town on a lagoon, once joined to the sea, but no longer. Again we reached the hotel by slowly driving over sand road. Looked like we were the only guests at the hotel, cabins spread out over the property. For one final night on tour we all ate together, knowing we had other, different experiences to come on our 2 day visit to Kruger National Park. An early start had us on the road, so we could get to the park in order to take a sunset game drive. Sure enough with time to spare we check into the Berg En Dal camp, safe behind fences and guards. Our guide made us a great supper before we joined others in the camp on the truck for the drive. You have to keep reminding yourself, this isn’t a documentary, there are things out there somewhere that are very dangerous, so keep all limbs inside the cars at all times. We drove around the park roads, lights from the 4 corners of the car searching for shales and eyes. We managed to see elephants, rhino and a civet which we were told was quite rare and unusual. Following day our guide had arranged a private vehicle for the day, and we were to set off 6:30 am (no lie-ins on this trip) to make the most of the time available. It can be quite chaotic on a group tour, everyone has their own needs and expectations, thankfully before hand we all agreed we would swap rows in the van every few hours to give everyone a fair chance of observing whatever we came across. So, what did we see, well, we saw 4 of the Big 5 before morning coffee and the final piece to the jigsaw was the lion we saw just before lunch. However the day took on a dramatic turn driving back to the lodge, we had earlier witnessed a giraffe at a watering hole, but something spooked it, and it moved on. We found out later what. A leopard had caught some prey minutes after had left the watering hole, it had taken the prey into the trees, to get it away from other predators and scavengers. We had to pass the watering hole, and all this drama was still taking place when we arrived. The dropped prey had been commandeered by hyenas, and all the leopard could do was watch from a branch in a nearby tree, as they fought amongst themselves for the larger share. We were just in the right place at the right time, as one made a break for it, carrying the remains in its jaws, intent on keeping it all, the hyena passed no more than a few feet behind our van, hotly pursued by the others and off the disappeared into the bush. We could hear the growls and yelps from the van. If that wasn’t enough we saw two herds of elephants on either side of the road, not far from where we had earlier seen large male lion. You could tell the elephants were spooked, and there were two youngsters among them, which a lion could try and attack. At one point the young elephants strayed a little too far from their mothers, and with a trumpet were clearly ordered back, they made it back to the herd safely, but you could tell they were all still on edge. The lion wasn’t far away. The eight or so hours in the van flew over, we could have stayed for longer, but park rules say all non residents have to vacate the park by 6pm so we hurried back to the lodge so our guide could leave safely. The photos we took can't convey how it felt to be there. I have previously visited elephant sanctuaries where once working elephants and those who have got used to humans will interact, but this was as raw as it gets, real life and death in the bush, amazing. After all that excitement we came to our final meal together. Our guide and driver had created a fantastic final supper for us, local meat dishes, and accompaniments, huge portions and we had all brought beer and wine to wash it all down. We sat and ate and reflected on a great trip. We were certainly happy seeing such wildlife both above and below the waves. Next day we drove back down to Jo’berg, one of the comfort stops we took had its own game park attached to it, I think we managed to see 3 of the Big 5 before we had a chance to order a coffee. We continued onto Jo’berg, the bus was remarkably quiet, arriving at the airport mid afternoon, where quickly and without too much fuss or ceremony, we all said our goodbyes, and went our separate ways. Our adventure though would continue for a few more days yet, one night at an airport hotel and onto Victoria Falls.

22 August 2017

We have been lucky enough to have some great diving experiences, which is why for this trip we wanted to do something water based, which would also focus on conservation too. Upon arrival in Tofu, we set about arranging our activities for the next few days. It was good to once again be settled in one place for a few days. The hotel was right on the beach, and a short walk took us to the centre, of restaurants and some bars and shops. Following day, we met at the dive shop for a quick briefing of what encounters we may have, and how they would be managed. We then all made our way to the beach to launch the zodiac and set off. It wasn’t long before the captain announced that some Manta Rays were just ahead, and we were to prepare to get in the water. Once in the warm water, I am a great believer in not following the flock, and anyway when was the last time a human outswam a fish, exactly. So I just hung back from the posse who were intent on following these magnificent creatures, the gamble paid off, and after a few minutes out of the milky plankton I saw a shape of black and white swim before me, a huge Manta Ray, who banked slightly more graceful than any aircraft. I hung around a few more minutes to see a few more just swim under me, it's very hard to smile underwater, but am sure they could see me grinning. The boat guys gestured us back on the boat as there had been a sighting of a whale shark, again we sped off to a position around 10-15 metres in front of this incredible creature, again trying to get into the water silently and just wait around to see what would happen, again I heard the fin splash above anything else, and knew the shark was close, when out of the gloom this huge fish appeared, didn’t give me a second look as it swam by, very close by. I could only think, that’s it, I’m done. I was very happy to be in such close proximity to two sets of beautiful yet elusive and shy creatures. One thing to note, the guides have an unusual way of getting back on dry land, they drive to Zodiacs at full power, straight at the beach, quite an emergency stop. After some lunch we met our fellow divers and crew for our first dive, there were about 10 of us in two groups, larger than I would normally dive with. We were taken to a drop off point just a few hundred metres from the coast. The dive site was named Marble Arch, and after a quick descent we were met with literally hundreds of schooling fish and amazing coral. We soon found out why it had the name Marble Arch, during the dive we swam through a huge arch of coral reef, simply stunning. All too quickly one of the party were getting low on air, and as 50 bar was the agreed stop, we convened at 5 metres for our safety stop. It’s a little known fact that sometimes though the surface of the sea looks choppy, underneath can be calm, once we got on the surface the boat quickly found us and thankfully got us out of the choppy water swell quickly. Another nice touch, the dive guys handed around lollipops to counteract dry mouth and also stave off any bouts of seasickness. That was day one over, we couldn’t wait to get out again the next day, but of course with animals nothing is guaranteed. We reported back to the group that the dive was good, and we saw some amazing sights. Day two followed same routine as day one, a quick briefing at the dive centre, launch the boat and keep your eyes peeled. We saw many humpbacks near the surface, we cut the engines and floated alongside, until they dived away. Again our captain could spot things we couldn’t, and we were on our way to another whale shark encounter, then by chance we came across some Manta and other rays near the surface, remembering what happened the previous day, I waited on the boat, let the splashy people get in, and waited around. I stayed fairly close to the boat and watched the fins disappear, always looking beneath the surface, this time not only did I see two huge rays swim right by, but also, slightly deeper, 2 juveniles swam by, in perfect formation. One great thing when in the water is looking out for the reaction of others, and I raised my head to see if anyone was near so I could tell them they had incoming rays, just as they passed right beneath her, as she lifted her head excitedly and smiling to tell me what she’d just seen. I was quite near the boat at this point and I have to say was quite satisfied to board, my expectations more than met seeing the rays up close. Now to the shark, we headed off and positioned ourselves about 30 metres in front of where we’d hoped it would swim, unfortunately another boat had beaten us to it and already had swimmers in the water, and previous encounters told us the shark would outswim the humans in no time. Again people too eager, jumped in, and swam towards the huge fish, and of course it dived, thankfully the water was only around 10-15 feet deep, I just slid in off the boat and took a gamble and positioned myself where I hoped the shark would swim, minutes later the shape of the shark appeared, probably around 10 feet down, I gave it some room and it swam just under me and to the left, what struck me most was the effortless way it swam, very efficient slow moving tail, powering through the water, and off it went. On this trip we had a marine researcher accompany us, who had identified the shark as one they named Rodney. The whole party were buzzing at the close encounters, and we had more to come with another afternoon dive to look forward to. We met our dive master, to discover we were the only two people on the dive, and we were to have a shallow dive quite close to shore. The dive master knew the location well, and promised we may see some interesting things - what an understatement that turned out to be. We saw fish I’d only previously read about, and some I couldn’t identify: Lion Fish, Stone Fish, Spotted Rays, Moray Eel, Grouper, numerous shoal fish, angel fish. The interesting type he promised were 3 harlequin shrimp and peacock mantis shrimp, small but stunningly beautiful even in the colour washed deep water. It was a great end to our stay in Tofu, unfortunately words cannot convey their beauty. I would certainly recommend Tofu for anyone interested in Marine Welfare and Conservation to give it some consideration. No animals were forced into any interaction, they are all wild.

22 August 2017

Our Mozambique Marine Adventure began by meeting our fellow travellers and boarding the bus for the drive to Shayamoya Lodge in the Pongola Game reserve, the first recognised game reserve in South Africa. We arrived just in time for a game drive, seeing many rhino in the process. When we returned, the lodge had laid on a braai, or what we would call a BBQ. The food was amazing, all kinds of meat on offer, salads and potatoes, with dessert too. A lovely way for the group to come together, get to know each other and share travelling stories. The following morning, we got the first glimpse of the stunning view from our lodge, but all too soon we were back on the bus and heading for the border to Mozambique. The crossing was fairly straightforward, then we drove off the 20 km to Ponto Do Ouro, and sand roads - yes sand roads. Once you cross the border, the tarmac of South Africa, ending replaced by sand. The van was unable to drive over this so we all transferred into safari type vehicles for the 20 km drive to our next hotel. We had two marine encounters planned, but hope wasn’t high for the first one, as the weather and wind had closed in, the swell was too large, making us feel really glad we brought some seasickness pills. Following morning, we took a walk to the lighthouse, which is usually off limits (but we knew a guy). It was strange climbing a hill of sand, certainly gave the legs a good workout, and we were rewarded with a great view into Mozambique and down into South Africa. From there it was time for our second attempt at some wildlife interaction. We headed up the coast, saw whales, but no dolphins. Our boat stopped at a reef for us to have a snorkel, then it was back on the boat, we thought that was it, and would be disappointed, then the captain spotted some dolphins, we got ahead of them and cut the engine. We were in the care of the researchers at dolphincare.org, who specialise in dolphin research and they manage all interactions. They told us, if the dolphins get inquisitive, we would be allowed to slip into the water, as quietly as possible, and if we were lucky the dolphins would come and have a look. We were very lucky, we spent around 20 minutes in the water with them, at one point I thought I’d taken the space of another swimmer, and made move to apologise, when I realised it was a couple of dolphins giving me the eye. It was an unforgettable experience. We were told by our guide to get back on the boat as the dolphins were beginning to lose interest in us, and we’d have one more attempt at a swim. We did enter the water a second time, the second swim was shorter, though just as memorable as the first. Next few days were long days in the van. We left Porto Do Ouro by taxi van, again on sand roads, until we met up with the new Chinese built road, in the middle of nowhere, this then took us to the capital Maputo, where we’d stay for one night before continuing north to our most northern stop of Vilinkulos. In all we had 3 separate stops for one night in very diverse places, one hotel just outside Maputo was at an art hotel, where Jane and I, and two others shared the Penthouse Suite, which consisted of 4 double bedrooms and en suites and a huge dining area, if we’d been there any more nights, am sure we’d have had a party. Again we all got together over dinner, the group becoming more friendly as the days and miles passed. We had to take a ferry over the river to continue our journey and it was fascinating to see the locals just go about their normal lives. We then headed north onto Xai Xai (so good they named it twice), again staying at a unusual accommodation, a lodge built on a hill overlooking a beautiful beach. We quickly settled in and joined some of the others at a beach bar to toast the sunset. Next morning a few of us got up early for the sunrise at 06:15 and were rewarded with the most colourful start to a day. Not to mention the ubiquitous whales swimming up the coast. A quick breakfast and off again, putting the miles behind us, for lunch today its worth a mention we stopped at a small roadside café. Our guide took a chance it would still be there since his last visit many years before. Thankfully it was and we were served a traditional mince butty, which would be the best way to describe it, though it was much tastier than that, it seemed to contain onions and something sweet , which we couldn't quite place, all served in a flat bun, with a coffee, and very nice it was too. That night's accommodation was something special, somewhat rustic on the beach, shared kitchen and bathrooms (between 4). Huge comfy bed, no windows, just wood slats and mossie nets, no A/C. only the gently breeze from the shore only feet way. I swear it was the most restful night I had all trip, and that was taking into account the several nights of 5 star luxury we’d had in KwaZulu Natal. Dinner was prepared by our guide, and then we all sat by the fire on the beach for some stargazin. Quite a day. The next day was a relatively short drive to Vilinkulos, where we could de camp and stretch out for three nights. Our accommodation here was better than expected. The group took over a whole house, and had our very own chef, who not only cooked breakfast for us in the house, he also accompanied us on our dhow trips at sea, where he prepared beautiful food over an open fire on the dhow itself. Here we relaxed and had two very different days at sea visiting nearby islands. The first was a short sail away, and we were rewarded with a drift snorkel with the incoming tide. One of the first things I saw was a Lion Fish, very beautiful. No matter where you looked something would grab your attention. After a good while in the water, it was time to dry off and eat more barbecued fish and accompanying salad. Some of us took off around the island to climb the dunes, which was easier said than done. Second day was a longer boat trip to two mile reef, just as the tide was turning we spent around an hour just hanging around, fish types and numbers to varied to mention. Another lunch on the beach before heading back to the house, where our chef Alfredo once again cooked us an amazing meal, leaving us only to pack and get ready for the trip to Tofu, which would turn out to be the highlight of the tour.

25 August 2017

After leaving Rorkes Drift we drove for seemingly miles on gravel roads until finally we reached tarmac, and began to make good time on our journey. We knew the park closed at 6pm and thankfully we made it through the gates long before then, and started the slow drive to our lodge, always looking for something, anything. Many times we said hopefully, “Is that a rhino?”, when it was simply just a rock minding its own business. As you get used to the surroundings, you do start to notice animals moving against the foliage. We did see a rhino on the way to the lodge , but thought better of sticking around to observe - I didn’t think the hire car would fare too well against it. We drove through the gates to the lodge just before dark, and were surprised to be told after dark we had to be escorted to our rooms by security, no half measures here. We had a 3 night stay at Rhino Ridge, and its position over looking the plain below gave us ample times to spot wildlife, with elephant and giraffe frequently being seen. The food here was very good, as was the wine. Part of the agreement of the lodge construction was that staff were to be taken from nearby communities and trained to work in the lodge. Our first morning (and every morning) was an early start at 6 am for coffee and danish, in time to join our dawn game drive. Well wrapped up, 4 of us climbed onto the back of the vehicle and set off through the lodge gates in search of wildlife, I swear it was like being in Jurassic Park. We spent around 4 hours driving around, with one very welcome stop for refreshments all served very civilised from a table brought by our guide. We lost count at what we saw, rhino, elephants, giraffe, impala, buffalo. Twisted necks and searching eyes straining to spot the next animal. The days are well structured at a lodge, after the dawn drive you return to the lodge for a hearty breakfast, and a bit more wildlife spotting, until around 2:30 when you are served with a light snack before joining the sundowner game drive. So not only do you sit in the comfort of the truck all looking to spot game, but as the sun goes down, your guide takes you to one of the many rest stops, and expertly sets up table offering snacks and drinks to toast the sunset, we could certainly get used to this. The sundowner drive could take anywhere from between 3-6 hours depending on how far you get away from the lodge, and there is ALWAYS something to see. Once back at the lodge, it's time to eat - again! We did something special on our last full day, we joined another couple and a guide to do a bush walk, in the open. We left the lodge just as dawn was breaking and headed out. We parked just off the track near to some zebra (as y’do) and our guide took us aside and explained his life and the life of nature in the park. He also gave us a short pre flight check on what to do and not to do if approached by animals. He also had a rifle, we all hoped he didn’t have to use it. It was quite strange walking through the park wondering if eyes were watching you, hopefully them more wary of you. As we walked silently in the park, we noticed he was barefoot, none more so when we stopped next to some elephant dung, which he then temperature tested with his feet, confidently informing us that it was fresh, and elephants were close. The highlight by a mile was to come face to face with a fully grown white rhino and her calf. Our guide directed us to freeze, make no sound, which it turned out was quite easy to do. We watched them, they watched us, and after about 15 minutes of grazing and sniffing the air, they got bored and wandered off. I swear I had held my breath the whole time. Then surprisingly our guide presented us with water and the crunchiest apple I had ever eaten, and we all crunched away, the rhino still close by. We made our way back to the truck just taking in all nature around us, not to mention the zebra and other rhino we passed on the way. Over lunch we noticed a family of giraffe down on the plain about 15 minutes drive from the lodge. That afternoon we left the lodge to drive to our next stop at St Lucia on the coast, but before we left the park we were so very lucky to cross paths with the giraffes, standing only feet from the track. We stopped the car, and ran silent, for almost 30 minutes, not speaking to each other, so close to these magnificent animals. We must have taken hundreds of photos of anything and everything, and it was so well worth it, and we had one final little smile as we exited the park - two juvenile elephants appeared from nowhere at the side of the road, a fitting way to bid farewell to the park.

22 August 2017

On July 1st we stepped off the aircraft to a clear blue, warmish sky at Durban airport. It wasn’t long before our luggage was delivered and we collected our car to begin our 2 week exploration of Kwa Zulu Natal. Welcome to South Africa. Even after a long flight we were eager to get on the road to our first stop on the outskirts of the Maloti Drakensberg Park at the Champagne Castle hotel. The drive took us through many vistas from hills to flatlands, until we began the steady climb to Central Drakensberg. We arrived at the hotel just in time for an afternoon tea of scones and cake, all very welcome after the 3 hour drive. We quickly settled into our room facing the stunning mountains and ‘sphynx rock’. The hotel itself was very comfortable, food choice was extensive, all served buffet style with several (some could say too many) choices. We never left the dining room hungry. Another nice touch for us, was the over 18 bar and lounge, where adults could sit in the relative peace of a child free environment. We had 3 nights here and was able, on both our mornings, after breakfast to join the hotel's own guided walks into the hills. Not too arduous and a good excuse to keep fit and work up an appetite. Our guide effortlessly climbing hills. There we were very safe, as we weren’t in a park that contained game, so we could walk freely around the property. All too soon we had to leave and continue our drive north, this time to Rorkes Drift. We passed through many townships on the way, the tarmac road eventually giving way to gravel in the less populated areas. Just before dusk we pulled into the entrance way to the Rorkes Drift Hotel. We were surprised to find we were the only residents, and we spoilt by both the staff and resident dogs, who always seemed to find an excuse to look for us for a quick tickle behind the ears. Charles the hotel owner, also was on hand to really bring alive what happen there and the battle at Isandlwana. The morning of our full day there, he walked us through the battlefields and the characters that fought there. It really helped make our visit come to life, remembering his stories as we visited the museum and the battlefield at Isandlwana. We later visited the mission and hospital at Rorkes Drift where arguably the greatest battle of the campaign took place. It was all very atmospheric and moving. The following day we set off early for our journey to Umfolozi-Hulhulwe, and our stay on a game reserve. Please check out my other blogs for a report. From there we drove around 3hours to St Lucia, quite a unique setting. Crime free except for the hippos(!). We were advised not to go out at night as it wasn’t safe, and we initially thought our hotel was in a dodgy area, but no, it was because after dark, the hippos had a habit of roaming the streets. We would be safe in town, but were told to remain in well lit areas. On our full day here, we drove into the Cape Vidal National park, and made the 70 km round trip to the top of the park, where we had lunch on the beach, watching the humpbacks breach just offshore. Makes me smile even now. We only spent two nights in St Lucia, and would like to spend more time there, but time is short and more miles to be driven. We set off early to drive back down to Durban, and a treat to stay in the renowned Oyster Box Hotel, at Umhlanga, north of Durban. Unfortunately the weather, (we’d had nothing but blue sky since arriving) decided not to play fair and for the 4 days we were in Durban, it rained, every day. We did manage a drive and a walk at the promenade in Durban, a small shopping expedition, and a highlight was meeting up with a friend we’d known from our time in Hong Kong, she’d left in 2016 to further her studies. Luckily, she was home in Durban for the summer, so we drove into the country and met at a small private game reserve, with her parents, and some friends, who just happened to be a direct descendant of David Livingstone. We had a lovely last day with them, him telling us of his and relatives past. Unbelievable. Last day we drove back to the airport, dropped off the dusty dirty car, and flew to Jo’berg to continue our adventures, but that’s another story - to be continued!

20 April 2017

Its been over 30 years since we first visited India, and have never really had the opportunity to return, until now. I had come across a tour put together by one of our Indian destination partners. It seemed ideal - we'd heard much about the south of India from friends, and how beautiful the Kerala Backwaters were. We decided Easter was the best time to visit, it would give us a good length of time to visit, and it would be just before the climate was too hot to visit. The short tour would take us from Cochin, to the cool hills of Munnar, onto Periyar and its nature reserve, onwards to Kumarakom, where we'd board our own Rice barge to cruise the backwaters, before spending 5 nights at the beach resort of Marari. We didn't get off to a great start, the first thunderstorms of the season along with coastal fog, meant a 2 hour delay on our first flight, it will be of no surprise to our friends that we made the connection, but our luggage didn't! We started with a short orientation tour of the Fort Cochin, which gave us a good starting point for exploring on our own later. Cochin was very hot, we stopped in one of the many coffee shops for some lunch and a cold non alcoholic drink, we found out later the sale of alcohol had been banned. Later that afternoon we were taken to a local venue to see a Kathakali dance, we also arrived early enough to see the performers apply their make-up for the evening's performance. Following day after an early start we visited a local laundry to see how the locals offer a service dating back centuries, we then visited the Jewish Quarter and Synagogue, and took a short walk of the area before our drive to Munnar. We met a new guide for our tour of the tea museum, right in the middle of the plantation. We stayed for around 2 hours watching educational, informative films, and looking at the machinery used for tea production, we later took a short walk through the village. Every evening the mist would descend over and our driver wanted to make sure we reached our hotel before we got totally socked in. The next day we took a tuk-tuk from the hotel to the centre of Munnar, we walked the streets, explored the markets and mixed with the locals. We noticed a newish looking coffee shop, so we decided to stop for a break, we had some very tasty banana fritters, a few home made biscuits and a couple of glasses of coffee, all for the amazing cost of around 80p for everything. We could not believe the value for money. We returned to our hotel for the afternoon of just sitting on the balcony admiring the view before it was swallowed by the mist. Excellent food was served at the hotel, dinner was a couple of main dishes, usually a meat and a fish, and several vegetable and rice accompaniments The following day we drove to Periyar, and its wildlife. Easter was approaching so all the churches were being prepared for one of the biggest celebration in the church's calendar. Even at 5 am they thronged with worshippers. We checked into our hotel and had an evening walk through the bustling little town An early start the following morning had us join a trek through the park only the two of us with a ranger. He was most knowledgeable, pointing out the variety of wildlife, and the tiger paw prints, which he told us were a few weeks old, thankfully. The undoubted highlight, was on our exit from the trail we saw two elephants at the side of the lake drinking, we watched them for a good half hour before they just turned and disappeared back into the forest, amazing. This was quickly followed by a visit to a Spice Plantation, where we duly stocked up on some fresh spices to take home. We had an early start to avoid possible problems caused by a general strike, we arrived at the pier just after 6:30 am and our hotel boat arrived shortly after to ferry us to the Coconut Lagoon hotel, on the banks of lake. We had one night there , which turned out to be a great place to stay. We had a large two-storey bungalow, with open air bathroom (a novel experience) and upstairs bedroom. Again we found the food offered by the hotel good value and plentiful. Next came what we thought was the highlight of the holiday, just after 1 pm, our crew welcomed us aboard our rice boat for our 2 day cruise around the backwaters. The next two days were spent cruising slowly around the backwaters, stopping when and where we wanted, the chef prepared delicious 5 or 6 dishes per meal, water and tea or coffee was served on demand, along with tasty snack offerings, biscuits, fritters, doughnuts all throughout the trip. I still don't understand how quickly the days passed, we did nothing other than watch the villages go by, the wildlife, the bird life a plenty, and the scenery changed almost constantly. A trip we'll never forget. All too soon we were docking and saying goodbye to the 3 man crew, and rejoining our driver for the 20 minute drive to Marari, where we were to spend the next 5 nights. The resort seemed so very quiet, and stayed that way pretty much all week. We noticed fellow travellers we'd met at hotels along the way, and we'd all ended up in the same hotel at the end of our respective tours. It was great to compare notes and stories. All too soon it was time to leave, I had arranged a transfer to the airport a day early as we didn't really want a 2 am start, so after spending a leisurely day, we were collected at around 5 pm, and drove to Cochin in daylight on Good Friday, I am so pleased we did, as we passed many processions to churches , one even had a magnificently dressed elephant leading the way. We arrive at the Courtyard Airport hotel, checked into a large, clean, cold room. We had a very pleasant final dinner, very tasty and very good value again. It certainly was a trip of contrasts, and I honestly had no expectations, the food throughout was amazing, varied and always tasty. People were friendly, all hotel staff and guides really couldn't do enough for us. Finally our driver was careful, considerate and quickly got used to our frequent requests for coffee stops. Just the kind of level of service I expect for myself and my clients, and I would love to be able to send you to share the great experiences we did. I could not have been more impressed with the organisation by our partners in India, we were treated like VIPs all the way. Oh and by the way the luggage arrived home,on the same aircraft we did, always a good sign.

17 February 2017

We had planned a short break in Cebu to coincide with Chinese New year holiday in Hong Kong. Booking a Cathay Pacific flight in Premium Economy, we were looking forward to checking out their levels of service. I'd only flown with them once before, from Doha to Hong Kong when returning from Travel Counsellors' Conference in Manchester a few years ago. I was already impressed. When we checked in at the airport, we were pleasantly surprised to be upgraded to Business Class. It was a seat-only upgrade, there was no lounge access offered, or priority baggage, but we were happy to be afforded the opportunity to try their business class service. It began with priority boarding. The flight to Cebu today was a 4 class service, First, Business, Premium and Economy. Four neat lines were forming at the gate, with First (there are only 6 First Class suites onboard the aircraft,) and Business class (53 seats) passengers being called to board simultaneously. On boarding the Boeing 777, we were welcomed and greeted by name, and shown to our seats, after packing away the carry on luggage into huge overhead bins , we settled down to be offered a drink choice of either Champagne, juice or water. We both chose champagne. Boarding was completed very quickly, as was pre-take off checks and formalities and within minutes we were making the long taxi to the take off runway at Hong Kong. I have been fortunate enough to fly Business Class on Hong Kong Airlines, KLM, Emirates, Etihad, Air India and Astana, all offer an excellent level of service, though I have to say for sheer space, Cathay was excellent. I am over 6' 2", and sitting down stretching out, my feet didn't reach the foot rest. Once the full flat bed was extended, the foot of the seat became raised to form a flat platform joining the base. The huge screen nestled into the side of the seat in front, and opened to position itself just in front the tray. The meal service was efficient, our side of the aircraft served by the Purser, offering you at your seat a tray with all the menu choices, after each passenger chose their main course she went back to the station to replenish the supply. Even though the flight was short at just over two hours, the food service was quickly delivered and cleared. Offers of freshly brewed tea and coffee followed along with a choice of liqueur. There was just enough time to check out the in-flight entertainment, my choice unfortunately was longer than the flight time, so I made a note to finish it on the return flight! At all times we were addressed by name, which many of the other airlines mentioned do not practice. We landed ahead of schedule, the doors were opened and we deplaned within 10 minutes. Customs and Immigration were not busy, and our bags were delivered very quickly. A very comfortable and restful way to start any holiday. For the return, the flight wasn't full, and though check-in was compartmentalized into First/Business/Premium and Economy lines, there were few queues, and we were checked in without delay at the next available agent that became free in whatever section they were serving, the airline moving our prebooked seats to allow a family of 4 to sit together. Once the queuing First & Business Class passengers were boarded, we made our way to our seats in the small Premium Economy section (34 seats), seat pitch was a generous 38inches, more than enough room to stretch out, especially with the recliner seat. The seats are also wider than economy with built in arm rests, again creating an impression of more space. The short flight was quite bumpy, so the service was restricted to just food and accompanying drinks, and I managed to find the film I began to watch on the outbound leg, and watched it to the end. We found the whole experience worth the little extra cost to fly Premium Economy, as being tall, I always welcome any extra legroom on flights long or short.

17 February 2017

Over Chinese New Year and the school half term we had arranged to go to Cebu on the Philippines. We had a 6-night stay booked, and had planned to do some relaxing, diving and the possibility of swimming with whale sharks, even for just a short time. We stayed at the Movenpick, a 5-star hotel on the land leading up through Mactan Island. The hotels all have a small safe beach, with easy access to shallow warm water. After weighing up the options, we decided to take one of the offered tours to Oslob to see the whale sharks, little did we know the excursion had an early start, 4 am, for the long drive to Oslob. So, we were duly collected by a car and a guide, and started our long drive. Nothing much to see at that hour, the roads were very quiet. after almost 3 hours we arrived at Oslob, the scene was quite incredible, literally hundreds of tourists, forming lines to join a boat to either observe or swim with the whale sharks. The whole operation is well monitored by the local fisheries department. Boats were lining up to take people from shore, only a few metres to slightly deeper water, where the whale sharks were feeding. We had paid for a swimming experience, and had barely left the shore when a very large noise and mouth broke the surface in front of our boat. We slid silently and without fuss into the water. The boatmen were throwing clumps of plankton in front of the sharks, and they duly followed the food. After around 10 minutes we were asked to get back in the boat, to join the procession of boats further out from the shore. Luckily we were in a boat that took its place to the end of the line, and before long two juvenile sharks appeared, and fed directly from the boatmen. Again we slipped back into the water, and just snorkelled our way, navigating around the huge fish. We never felt in any danger either from the fish themselves or their large tail sweeping through the water. All too quickly we were herded back onto the boats to return to shore. The whole experience was over in about an hour, it was one of the experiences that will stick with us for a long time. I'd had friends who previously had visited Cebu to dive, they had really whetted our appetite,and the following day we had arranged to go on two dives from the local dive supplier annexed to the hotel. Unfortunately the weather deteriorated very rapidly in the afternoon, meaning we were just as wet out of the water as when we made our dive. The weather did not affect the diving, in fact probably enhanced it, the current and the stormy weather meant the abundant fish life were feeding. We saw many amazing fish types, of all colours, a sea snake made a rare appearance, and we gave it a wide berth, though it did, stop and give us the eye as we swam by. All too soon we had to make our safety stop, and after 3 minutes made our way to the surface, though it hadn't felt like it, we actually had drifted a fair way, and had to wait for our dive boat to make its way over to us... The weather was still poor, raining heavily with strong winds, though. Thankfully, our second dive of the day was closer to shore, much closer to shore. The dive boat returned to base and replenished the tanks, a few of the divers left at this point, leaving only the two of us to continue with the afternoon program. It was barely worth getting back onto the boat, as it took us just beyond the reef line. We descended into around 10 feet of water, and drifted down the reef. Again, the fish life was incredible, we saw a lone, large Barracuda swim effortlessly past, again giving it a wide berth, though not known to be dangerous, you always may come across one that hasn't read the book. We were under for quite a while, a 50-minute dive, just taking in the coral, the fish, not knowing were to look next. All too soon we surfaced and made our way back to the hotel, primarily to get warm. The rest of our time on Cebu, we took the hotel shuttle to the centre of Cebu to look around and to do some shopping. Taxis are very cheap, and a long ride back to the hotel barely cost £4 for the 40-minute ride. There were very little local attractions outside the hotel, though a few bars and restaurants could be reached a short walk away, mostly frequented by locals, and it was good to visit and get a feel for the local life. The hotel itself was very comfortable, the staff attentive and very helpful. We also had Executive Club privileges, which meant we could take breakfast, afternoon tea, drinks and canapés, it was well worth the small extra cost. The drinks alone more than making it good value. All too quickly the six days ended, and we made our way back to the airport for the flight back to Hong Kong. We will probably revisit the Philippines, there are far too many islands to visit without going back to the same place! Manila is also worth a visit, only 2 hours flying time from Hong Kong, which makes it an ideal destination for a weekend break.

17 February 2017

We decided to spend New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in Amsterdam to break our trip back to Hong Kong. It was a short walk along the impressive Centraal Station to the Doubletree Hotel. After a quick check-in we went out to explore. We stopped at a nearby cafe for a quick snack. The food was tasty and plentiful, and reasonably priced. We had decided to do the hop on/off bus on New Year's Eve, unfortunately the weather was poor, not wet, but freezing fog, as you can see from the photographs, unfortunate, though we weren't going to let it spoil our visit. We wandered the streets taking in all the sights and attractions Amsterdam has to offer. On New Year's Eve we made moves to get out early and be on the first river cruise, we cruised the canals until we reached the museum quarter. The queues were very long to get into any of the museums, even for those who had pre-booked, so we just wandered the area taking in the atmosphere, found a cafe with a great atmosphere and food just off the square, to where we decamped to get warm more than anything else. After lunch, we had a walk back to the canal boat stop to rejoin the tour. It seemed to be getting colder making the way back to the hotel, and definitely time for a nap! We had booked a table at a nearby Japanese restaurant for our New Year's Eve dinner. On the walk to the restaurant we noticed how quiet the streets were, in the absence of an organized display we wondered how the evening would pan out. After dinner we made our way back to the hotel and the skylounge bar, to which we had VIP access as staying at the hotel, and more importantly on the same floor as the bar. We soon discovered why the lack of organized display, it seemed from our rooftop vantage point that fireworks were going off all over the city, making a fine spectacle. It lasted long into the night. On New Year's Day, we took the bus tour, to see the city from a different aspect, we didn't hop off as the tour takes around 2 hours, and we had to make our way back to the airport for early afternoon flights. We visited Amsterdam for a specific reason, and weren't disappointed. The weather could have been better, but that did not spoil the mood of the people or our visit.

07 November 2016

We have long since wanted to visit Myanmar, and after previously arranging a trip there for clients, who had a great time, I thought best visit the country myself. We flew via Hanoi to Yangon brand new International Airport. We were met by our guide outside, bearing the "Travel Counsellors" sign, always a welcome sight. Our car was waiting for the 25 minute drive to the city. We checked in at the Reno Hotel, which was comfortable and absolutely immaculately presented. It almost felt the room had been freshly decorated for our arrival. We settled in to wait for our 5am call for the flight the following morning, where our real journey through Myanmar would begin. It seemed like organised chaos at the airport with new flight information screens installed, which didn’t show any real worthy information, so it was left for ground staff to walk around holding signs with flight numbers written on them, to look for wayward passengers. Our flight was called, the labels on our clothes duly inspected, and we boarded the one hour flight to Bagan. We arrived (again to our waiting sign and guide) around 8 am, and immediately started our tour of Bagan with a visit to a local market. With over 2000 stupas in the area of Bagan, we were so pleased we had a knowledgeable guide who knew exactly where to take us. We saw so many people doing their own thing, bypassing past these amazing buildings without so much as a second glance. A real shame of missed opportunities and experiences. We checked in to the hotel for the afternoon. Later we were collected and driven to our private barge to sail down the Irrawaddy River on our sunset cruise. We boarded to be welcomed with a rum cocktail, and hors d'oeuvres which made a very nice way to spend a few hours on the river for the sunset. All the while our guide giving an unobtrusive commentary. The following day, we headed off for a further days exploring the area that is Old Bagan, visiting and learning of the history of Buddhism in the area, fascinating. The day ended by climbing, one of the largest Pagodas in Bagan to watch the sunset. A perfect end to a great day. Early starts are the norm touring Myanmar as we were collected at 06:30am for the flight to Mandalay, a modern city, with traffic and noise, and more than its fair share of monasteries. We began our visit with a tour of one, where contrary to usual practice, the monks are fed in house, and do not wander the streets for donation. We watched as they lined up to collect food donated by local people, who will also come to serve, and eat with the monks. We ended the day climbing Mandalay Hill, again to watch the sunset. Our second day in Mandalay began with a drive over the river to the old capitals. We first visited a nunnery, where the nuns also lined up to be served food donated by locals, we then had a short boat ride over the river for lunch at a riverside restaurant. We also visited a monastery which was both a school and an orphanage. It was great to see the boys playing football together, using bricks and jumpers as goal posts, arguments raging as to whether the ball would have gone in or not, after going over a jumper. To end the day, we along with what seemed to be most of the population of Mandalay, walked the impressive U Bein Bridge, so side rails, and is said to be the longest teakwood bridge worldwide. We enjoyed this very special atmosphere as the late afternoon sun casts long shadows and illuminates the local people heading home. As a stunning day comes to an end head back to Mandalay for the night. Another early start to fly off to Heho, and Inle Lake. On arrival we were driven to the dockside where our boat and driver waited to take us through the Venice like canals to the open water of the lake. This to us was the highlight of our stay. We had managed to time our visit to coincide with the ramada procession of Buddha relics, down the lake through some of the villages. Our guide asked us if we'd like watch the procession, and at 06:00 the following morning, our boat driver had collected us from the lake hotel, and staked out our claim for a place in the water for when the huge procession passed by. It was both moving and impressive to witness the huge armada of barges, bearing the Buddha relics, and will be something to remember for the rest of our lives. A great experience. We then visited a local market, where our guide explained the date was very similar to our own Christmas Eve, where people would be out buying food, and gifts, for the visit of their friends and relatives It was great to walk through the thronging busy market, stop at one of the many coffee shops as the village went about its business. After we sailed back to the hotel for the afternoon, we had a Myanmar massage, a relaxing way to spend our last afternoon. Following morning our boat driver was waiting, and drove us back across the almost deserted lake to the shore and our car waiting to take us to the airport and Yangon. Again organised chaos was waiting for us on arrival, along with their very unusual way of baggage handling. i.e. get it off the plane, and watch the free-for-all ensue. The only element of control was having to match up your baggage receipts with the actual tags. It seemed to work. Again our sign-bedecked guide was waiting for us. We made our way back to the Reno Hotel, checked in and head out for some lunch and an afternoon sightseeing. Our guide took us to the main sights of Yangon, and the Shwedagon Temple. Crowded with locals determined to celebrate the festivities. Even asking taking photographs of us, our guide explained that many people make this pilgrimage from their remote villages, and we could have been the first westerners they had ever seen. We ended our day on a walking tour, just ambling around the streets. Our guide was very interested in our lives and we told him we were from Newcastle, and before long we were climbing some stairs to visit the Rangoon Café, created by a Burmese Doctor who previously worked in Newcastle, such was his attention to detail. The day and ultimately the whole tour ended with a dinner at Le Plantation restaurant a short drive from the Reno Hotel. I can’t praise enough the organisation of our ground partners in Myanmar, they looked after us so well, and I know I can trust them with the expectations and hopes of my clients. I’d also recommend anyone wishing to visit Myanmar to use guides to fully appreciate and understand the local culture and attractions. If you’d like to know more, and even plan a trip to visit this fascinating country before it becomes too popular, give me a call.

22 September 2016

The weekend of September 17-19 marked the fifth anniversary of becoming a Travel Counsellor, and by coincidence was also the date of the autumn festival holiday. We decided to have a short break away with some friends, and spend the weekend in Bangkok, and do it with some style. Emirates have a route which flies Dubai-Bangkok-Hong Kong, and returns the same way. The flight is operated by an A380, and the seats in Business Class are very good value. We duly booked our seats and were looking forward to the break. We arrived at the airport around three hours before the flight, checked in and settled into the lounge. The pre-flight drinks and meals were most welcome. Around 45 minutes before the flight, the lounge hostess came around to say boarding had commenced, so we made the short walk to board. We have been very lucky to have flown a few times upstairs on the A380, and it still impresses so much as an aircraft. All seats are set out in pods, Jane and I had selected two in the centre so we could chat, or synchronise our viewing, or in Jane’s case, put the screen up between us. All too quickly the flight was over (a short two hour, 17 minutes tonight) and we were through immigration and customs to our waiting car. The drive into the centre took around 45 minutes, on very quiet roads. We checked into the 20th floor of the Rembrandt hotel and promptly crashed out. Next morning, after a relaxing breakfast and a couple of hours relaxing and swimming, we showered and changed and made our way into the centre. The Skytrain was just at the top of the road, only a few minute walk, and we bought our very cheap tickets, around 60p for the trip to the centre. Day tickets are 110 THB. We took time to wander the streets, popped into MBK and Paragon Malls (not for shopping, more the welcome air conditioning) and generally take in the sights and sounds of the city, one of the most fascinating cities of the world to visit. I think we were all still getting over that late arrival, so we grabbed a tuk-tuk (something you have to do) and made our way back to the hotel, decided to get some food and have a later start the following day. Sunday was another glorious day, the roads and streets were crowded with people. For one of our party it was their first visit to Bangkok, so we decided he had to see at least a few magnificent temples on this trip. We grabbed a taxi outside the hotel and visited Wat Po (Temple of the Reclining Buddha) which is still as magnificent a site as it was on our first visit 30 years ago. Entry is cheap (100THB) which includes water. The temple complex itself is quite large, with many pavilions, though the main attraction is the Reclining Buddha, long and gold glistening in the sun and the flashes of the tourist cameras. After the visit, we decided to forego a visit to the Grand Palace as it was as crowded as ever we'd seen. We walked the short distance to the river to catch the public boat back to central piers. The local boats are full with people and cheap at 14THB for the trip. The pier is joined to the Skytrain station, and within minutes we were on the train to Chatuchak weekend market in the north of the city, stopping off on the way at the Hard Rock cafe for some welcome refreshments. This particular market is huge on every scale, from some stalls that line the streets to endless covered warrens which sell anything you never knew you wanted. We spent around an hour here, just wandering, and we did pause to buy the odd souvenir. We managed to find our way out to be surprised we were nowhere near where we thought we would be. Thankfully we almost walked into a parked taxi and negotiated a good price for the trip back to the hotel, around £4. I think in that heat, we would have happily paid double. We had decided to take our friend on his first foray into the tourist side of the night markets in Bangkok. We had a very passable Thai meal, accompanied by a huge case of welcome ice cold beer, before setting off by taxi to Patpong. Here the streets are lined with stalls selling clothes and souvenirs, and of course the mandatory girly bars for which the area is famous. We took a walk, being approached many times to visit the bars. We heard music coming from the other side of the stalls and found a bar with a live band. After a few songs and drinks we decided to move on. Though this area shows the seedier side of Bangkok, life still goes on, with the children playing in the streets, and we even saw a girl doing her homework behind her mum looking after one of the souvenir stalls. The people watching experience was incredible. The drinks were expensive for Bangkok (though interestingly not compared to UK costs). My advice would be if you want to visit, try not to be offended, and approach the area with an open mind. I don't think it’s something you'd experience anywhere else in the world. It’s also worth mentioning the lanes are full of tourists, groups of ladies and men, curiosity taking over. It’s always safety in numbers. We retraced our steps to the market entrance, easily finding a taxi. Next morning at breakfast we compared notes and thoughts over the previous evening’s events, all having different opinions on the experience. The flight was scheduled to depart at 2pm. The hotel pick up and journey was smooth, efficient, and air conditioned. There were no queues at the Business Class check in, and with Priority Lane Passes we were quickly though security and heading towards the lounge. This quickly filled with familiar faces, most of them having been on the flight from Hong Kong with us. We boarded shortly before take-off and settled into our seats. On this flight we all had individual pods at the outside of the aircraft. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, perfect for flying. After a short delay holding for a runway inspection, we were airborne. If you haven't flown on the A380 it is an amazing aircraft, when it takes off it almost becomes silent, as if the engines were off, so smooth is the ride, it really is something special. We settled down individually to relax, watch some TV and reflect over a great weekend away. All too quickly (though for the route quite a long 2 hours 45 minutes) we were on the ground in a now dark Hong Kong, and back to reality. Any visit to Bangkok has to be approached with an open mind. The city is always busy, hot and humid, even in winter. The people are very welcoming and friendly, it isn't called "The Land of Smiles" for nothing.

31 August 2016

We arrived at San Francisco and made our way to the international terminal, to find the airline had moved our flight forwards by 30 minutes. So we took a quick gallop through more security to get to the gate just as boarding was commencing. A comfortable five hour flight later we arrived in Honolulu, to wait despairingly for our luggage ....again, I hear our friends say. Once again we arrived at an airport, without the luggage making the same journey at the same time, and probably not on the same plane. We completed the formalities like seasoned professionals and duly went off to check for our flight to Kauai. Contrary to popular belief it wasn't a ruse to get around checked in luggage fees. It was a short flight to Kauai and, having no luggage, we jumped in the nearest taxi to make the short drive to our hotel at Coconut Beach. It’s now normal for US hotels to charge a 'resort fee' on check in, which can include many things, some you don't want or need. However one advantage of the resort fee here was the ability to take out beach chairs, umbrellas and cool bags for any trip away from the hotel. Quite a good idea really. It also included car parking internet and one free Mai Tai per person, per day. Our room was large clean and had the promised sea view. Later that evening we got the call to say our bag had arrived, thankfully there are approximately 20+ flights a day between Honolulu and Kauai so it was delivered to us later that same evening. That's the news, here is the weather....we now had news that Tropical Storm Darby would hit the Hawaiian Islands sometime in the next 48 hours. We spent the one clear day on a beach, watching the waves and the wind both increase in strength and intensity. The day the storm was due to arrive, started well, clear skies though windy, then it all went rapidly downhill with the storm blowing in from the sea and the south. We had little option but to return to the hotel and watch the beach being battered from the relative calm of our room. That was the last we ventured out for a couple of days. Finally the storm cleared, somewhat earlier than expected, and the skies began to clear. We took the decision to hire a car, and get out and about exploring on the three full days we had left. One thing we had decided we would do was to take a rescue dog out for a field trip as they call it. We had read of the initiative by the Kauai Humane Society on the flight over. They set up a scheme where residents and tourists could go to the centre, and basically take a dog out for the day. So we drove up to the centre, completed the forms and were led, along with around 10 other couples and families to the pens at the rear of the building. Some dogs weren't available for a field trip, some had recent operations, some were too young, and thankfully some were being adopted and therefore in quarantine. We walked the pens, every one with a friendly face looking back at you, seemingly saying pick me, their tails wagging. We came across a quiet dog, who looked at us, and bent down, picked up her chew toy, and brought it to us. That was it, she had picked us. So armed with water, treats, poo bags and a very fetching 'Adopt Me' jacket we left for our day of adventure. We took her to the beach, parks and sights. We had a great time, she settled very well, and always looked after us if one of us left the car. She also proved very popular. Everywhere we stopped people were approaching us, asking about the dog and how they could get involved. Sadly the six hours were over far too quick and we were taking her back to the centre. We'd had a great day, and I’d like to think she did too. We recently had good news, the centre contacted us to say Zahira had been adopted shortly after our visit. The next day we had booked a 'doors off' helicopter trip around the island. The weather had improved greatly and we received word that the flight would go ahead as scheduled. It was an early start and we made our way to the office to be weighed and watch a safety briefing. Within a few minutes we were off in the van to the airport and our helicopter. We boarded and were strapped in tightly (no other way with the doors off) and off we went. Flying over many beauty spots and well known film landmarks like the waterfall from the start of Jurassic Park, the hill where Indy runs from the natives at the start of Indiana Jones, and the beach where Johnny Depp walks with Penelope Cruz from Pirates of the Caribbean, all recognizable. The hour flew too quickly (sorry) and we were back at the airport to return to base and the waiting car. We then set off for a drive up the west coast of the island. We stopped at Poipu for breakfast and a short drive along the beach to see the Spouting Horn Park and the water feature. We then drove the only road north, just taking in the beauty of the island. We returned via the national park so similar to the Grand Canyon, and back to the hotel. We drove the opposite direction the following day, up the east coast to Hanakei and Wainiha. You can’t drive totally around the island, but can get near to it. Though if the weather is poor, the single lane bridge which takes the road to the very north, is closed. We parked at one of the many beaches, the waves were powerful and capable of sweeping you off your feet, just yards from the shore, and it was great fun. I seemed to be emptying sand out of my board shorts for the next few days. We also had lunch at a restaurant owned by the musician Todd Rundgren. He wasn’t there though his wife did serve us. We thoroughly enjoyed our time on Kauai, even though it was truncated a little due to the storm. We drove back to the airport to catch the short flight back to Oahu.

31 August 2016

After driving for almost three weeks around the highways of the states, and rarely seeing a car, it was a bit of a shock to hit the outskirts of Denver, and traffic, lots of it. We managed with the help of Martha our GPS, to find our way quite quickly to Capitol Hill, our base for the next five nights. We decamped and walked a few blocks to a small collection of shops and restaurants, where there was an Asian Restaurant, so we had to go in for some comfort food, two House Special Fried Rice...made such a change from the food we had previously. Denver was quite a happening place. The weekend we were there the main streets were closed off for various artists and other attractions to take over the space. Everyone was encouraged to walk around, sit down and take in the atmosphere. We also discovered that Adele was playing 2 sold out shows too, we vowed to try get tickets the following day. One of the main reasons we visited Denver, well two if I’m honest, is that the Denver Hard Rock Cafe is one of only a few that display memorabilia from the rock band Rush (I am a huge fan) and that I felt a calling to go and visit Red Rocks Amphitheatre just to the south. Ever since I watched the U2 film shot there, and though was never a big fan, it always reeled me in to want to visit. Turns out it’s just as special a place as I thought. During the day is open to the public, many people use it as their own personal gym, running shuttles up the benched seats, and criss-crossing the rows too. If a gig is being played the area gets closed at 2 pm for concert preparations. If nothing is planned you are free to walk on stage, backstage and all around. Unfortunately a gig was scheduled the day we visited, though it was good to see the road crew unloading the trucks and setting out the production. Speaking of gigs, we made our way back to Denver and got out to the box office at the huge Pepsi Centre. When we asked if any tickets were available for Adele, we were told that seats had just been released, 16 rows from the front so we got them and a few hours later were sitting in front of Adele's big eyelid on the safety curtain. It was a great gig, she didn't miss a note, very impressed. Another one to tick off the list. It was also like a busman’s holiday, visiting the convention centre to see a few thousand travel agents gathered. Note to the events team, can we go to Denver next year? We also visited some of the more historical sites of Denver, like the Unsinkable Molly Brown’s (of Titanic fame) house, we also managed to gain entrance to the Governor’s Mansion (only open for two hours on Tuesdays in summer) and that was very impressive. So we managed to put our five days in quite nicely, not having to run around for anything, just taking it easy enjoying the sights. Even managing a trip out to a local outlet store just to stock up on essentials. I think a return visit will be on the cards. On the final night stay there was barely time to sleep as we had a 6am (my wife commented, "Which idiot travel agent booked that?") flight to Honolulu. The alarm was set for 2:30 am and we have a very quiet drive through the suburbs out to the airport. The car lots were deserted apart from skeleton night staff. We duly unpacked the car, checked our belongings and handed Martha the GPS back to the office. We waited a short time for check in to open, we weighed and tagged our own bags, as is the way these days at the thinned down US airlines check in services. Same could not be said for the horrendous lines at the security checkpoints. Even at the unearthly hour of 4am, it still took around 45 minutes to have documents rechecked and to have ourselves scanned and searched. We boarded early and were soon on our way to Honolulu via San Francisco. To be continued.......

31 August 2016

The weather was stunning the day we left Whitefish to drive south to Great Falls via The Road to the Sun, as it was stunning in bad weather and we wanted to see if it was just as good in sunshine. It was, and perhaps a little scarier as you could actually see the plunging drops off the side of the road. After more stunning scenery, we arrived in great Falls. The first thing you learn is, there aren't any, they were dammed years ago and just a trickle remains. However there is a very informative local history centre which we visited and what we learned was to shape our next few days on the road. Lewis and Clark were sent by President Jefferson to head west over the continental divide to the pacific coast. We came across many references to their journey on our own adventures through Montana & Wyoming. We continued south the next day to Billings Montana, for a two night stay, which proved to be one of the unexpected 'really pleased we stopped here' moments of the trip. We decided to take ourselves off and do a large loop around the scenic route, of course this meant a driving day of over 300 miles, but it was well worth it. We drove south to Bighorn Lake and took a sedate boat ride between the Grand Canyon-like walls. It was a worth trip gazing up at the canyon walls towering 1500 feet above the river. We then drove over to the site of Custer Last Stand. Again, a real treasure to find, with volunteers and rangers on hand to graphically describe the events of the day, an interesting day, and well worth a visit if ever in the area. On our way back to the hotel in Billings, we stopped off at one of the only places in the west where you can actually see evidence of the Lewis and Clark expeditions at Pompeys Pillar National Monument, hand prints and signs hewn into the rock. The park was actually closed, though you are allowed to explore under heavily monitored walkways. (Thankfully the loos were open too). The whole days drive worth it in every respect. Next day we continued south. We planned to stay overnight in Sheridan and that also turned out to be another great find, a typical frontier town with interesting shops, bars and restaurants, and in a spectacular tribute to poor timing, we left the day the rodeo started. Still, it was a great place to spend the evening again learning the history of the west and names such as Buffalo Bill, who was well known in Sheridan. Then the following day driving to catch up with some recent history, Devils Tower, from the film Close Encounters. A very impressive land mass, very popular with tourists who just seem happy to sit and gaze or visit the gift shop. There is an easy walk around the base which takes an hour or so, depending on how many stops of photos you want to take. Our ultimate destination was the town of Keystone for our visit to Mount Rushmore, though we noticed on the maps that Newcastle Wyoming was (almost) on the way, so we thought it would be churlish not to pop round, so we did. Turned out to be quite a little bustling industrial town, and about the only place we visited where we weren't asked where we were from, I somehow don't think they would have got the irony. Still, we ate there, and drove the final part of our journey to Mount Rushmore. When we arrived it was just getting dark. Once more, the countryside and mountain views were stunning. We arrived late at the hotel and had arguably the best room in a top floor annex. It was a short drive from the hotel to the monument and we wanted to get there quite early. Similar to lots of public parks in the US, you don't pay admission, you pay a parking fee, and it can be valid for days. We had decided to go to the monument, look at the exhibits, do a walk, and return in the evening for the sound and light. It was amazing to be told how they used simple mathematics in the construction of the enormous facades, with little margin for error, they turned out better than planned, recognisable and perfectly to scale. The walk around the monument was relatively quiet, with plenty of opportunities to stop for pictures. As it was beginning to get more crowded we decided to head out to Custer for lunch on our way to the Crazy Horse memorial, currently under construction. There is quite a bit to see at the Memorial site, no less than the impressive statue on which the sculpture is based. Sadly work is progressing very slowly and it will take several decades before the work will be complete. From there it was a short drive back to Mount Rushmore for the evening sound and light show which turned out this evening to be very special. We visited on the day following the tragic events happening in Nice. Every night a park ranger gives a little speech, though this night, it was in tribute to the victims of the tragedy over in France. The American anthem was sung with such gusto it did make hairs on the back of your neck tingle. Absolute silence was maintained at all times as the flag was lowered into the arms of the waiting serviceman and veterans from the watching audience. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite. Next day we had a long road day ahead, the final drive down to Denver. We already decided to take some detours on the way, and none were more surprising than the one driving through herds of buffalo, literally either side of the car. We wound our way through the park, very slowly and aware, as one of these huge beasts could easy tip the car, so I was giving them right of way at all times. It made the day much longer, but so much worth it. After driving for almost 3 weeks around the highways of the states, and rarely seeing a car, it was a bit of a shock to hit the outskirts of Denver, and traffic, lots of it. We managed with the help of Martha our GPS, to find our way quite quickly to Capitol Hill, our base for the next five nights. We decamped and walked a few blocks to a small collection of shops and restaurants, where there was an Asian Restaurant, so we had to go in for some comfort food, two House Special Fried Rice duly ordered, it made such a change from the food we had previously. In total 3780 miles driven in 23 days, approximately $300 spent on gas which was a pleasure at those prices. Martha only got us lost once, we listened to some great rock radio and spent three weeks with your best buddy laughing at everything and nothing. Roll on the next one, and I wish that I could live it all again.

23 August 2016

The flight from Seattle to Denver was just over two hours. On arrival our bags were delivered quickly, and we made our way to the courtesy buses which took us to the car hire depots stationed off airport. Car collection with Alamo was very quick, we had booked a generic AWD car and I am impressed with the way most car hire firms allow you to select your car from a pool. From a Kia or a Jeep, we chose the Kia - it was larger and more suited to our trip. We also had a sat nav option (christened Martha) and soon she was telling us our route, 210 miles to Steamboat Springs for the night. Away from the suburbs of Denver, the roads quickly became deserted, and by early evening we were approaching the hotel. We settled into the room, and decided to go into town for dinner. The town itself was pretty much how we expected the towns in the west to look like, long straight streets with boardwalks leading up to the shops and restaurants. There is also an impressive selection of street art which was repeated all through Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. Being mainly a winter resorts it was fun to see the dry ski slopes and ski jumps waiting for their autumn snows to begin. The resort was notably quieter than probably it would normally have been in winter. The days were warm, bright and the evenings cool. We were on the road for the following two nights on our way to the ranch in Wyoming. We had chosen our stops well, Rock Springs was really only a bed for the night, it had no attractions of note, and we even had difficulty finding somewhere to eat that didn't involve fast food or burgers. We were on our way early next morning to search for the Pilot Butte Wild Horses of Wyoming, sadly even though the drive was stunning, the horses were elusive. We drove on to Jackson Hole, again traditionally a winter sports town, it still proved to be a magnet for many tourists, being on the way to Yellowstone. Jackson Hole was another frontier/cowboy type town with locals parading around in Stetsons and riding garb. We took the chair lift to take in the scenery overlooking the town and couldn't fail to be impressed, it being shadowed by the distant Grand Teton ranges. We stayed there for two nights, just to take stock, have some time away from the road, and do some laundry! Finding somewhere to eat was easy, with most tastes and budgets catered for, and after a restful two nights stay we made our way north. After our visit to the ranch we made our way west, through the Grand Tetons to Idaho Falls. We planned to stay here as we had heard stories of their July 4th celebrations, boasting the largest firework display "this side o' the Mississippi". The drive again was full of grand views and scenery. We arrived at the riverside hotel late afternoon, and decamped for the next few days. The town itself was relatively quiet, July 4th being a holiday, and we had a pleasant walk along the river past the falls to the old town and back. We found the location for the following nights display, and thankfully our hotel was perfectly positioned to have a great vantage point. On the morning of July 4th there was the traditional parade, throngs of people lined the streets to see locals pay tribute and homage to servicemen both active and veteran, and it was noticeable that at some point all public service workers like teachers, police , firemen etc. all had floats or displays honouring them. It was here we had our first bout of retail therapy, and were both rewarded with bargains. The hotel were offering traditional American snacks to accompany the fireworks, and for once it seemed churlish not to grab a burger and a bud and go join the throngs. Sure enough the fireworks display was impressive, all 31 minutes. From Idaho Falls we made our way to Yellowstone Park for two nights, where we had planned to drive the park for the one full day we were in the area. The town of Yellowstone West is quite small with city blocks, lined with a few hotels, shops, restaurants and bars. We made our way to the National Park office to pick up permits and maps and get a feel for how far we could go in one day. Just a point to note - if you are planning to visit a few National Parks on a visit to the USA, purchase a yearly pass at your first park. We set the alarm early, had breakfast and made our way into the park to our first stop at Old Faithful. The rangers can predict eruptions within an eight minute window, so if you miss one, you can take a walk around the volcanic park until the next scheduled spurt. From there we went on an anticlockwise route, completely circumnavigating the park. We had rest stops, photo stops, and elk and bear stops along the way and didn't rush the experience. We ate a packed lunch on picnic tables under trees in the wild and managed to do the whole route in around nine hours. The park was very busy, we couldn't stop at some of our planned breaks, as parking was hard to come by. On return back to Yellowstone we only had time for a quick bite to eat and repack to get back on the road. Our next couple of days we headed to our northern most stop at Whitefish, on the way we had some unplanned rest stops to take in the countryside, forests and waterfalls. For one night we stopped at Helena, the state capital of Montana. A college and medical town, with a stunning cathedral, with locals on hand to give tours and pass on information. The town itself was small, well laid out and worth a night stopover. The following day we continued our trip to the north, the weather we noticed was getting cooler as we travelled, bliss. Late afternoon we arrived at our hotel for the next few nights, just outside Whitefish. The hotel room was huge, we managed to unpack and decamp before heading out to explore. We also located the laundry room, an important find on any road trip. The main reason for our trek this far north was to visit Glacier Park, around an hour’s drive from Whitefish, and to drive the Road to the Sun. A long climbing winding road through snow, ice and sheer drops. We had initially planned only one day driving the route but the weather was so poor, although it was still an experience to drive through the rain and cloud. We decided on a small change of route and took the decision to return to drive the road again on the day we left, which thankfully was clear blue skies. As we left Whitefish, we drove the Road to the Sun on the road south to carry on our trek…

23 August 2016

We had arranged our road trip around the north western US states primarily to experience a stay at a Dude Ranch, and wish I could give it more than 5 stars. We left Jackson Hole early afternoon to drive deep into the Wyoming countryside. Soon paved roads made way to tracks, and a very scenic 45 minute drive brought us to the entrance to the ranch. It comprised seven log cabins, all with a view of the corral and the countryside beyond. After unpacking we made our way to the paddock for the 7pm running of the horses, some ridden and some running wild. Following the gallop they made their way to the side of the paddock to meet and greet the new residents, the horses were very healthy looking and very friendly. There is a large restaurant where all meals were served. You stay here on full board basis, with packed lunches supplied if you take one of the longer horse treks, as we did. The food was a very high standard, with several choices at every sitting and you certainly didn't leave the canteen hungry. The ranch offers several activities to try, apart from the extensive horse riding program. Each cabin has its own off-road vehicle at their disposal, which allows you to go off the beaten track and take some time to explore at your own pace. There is also target shooting with .22 rifles or BB guns, Geo-caching, hatchet throwing, archery, horse games, fishing instruction, themed trail rides, wagon rides, team penning, unguided tubing the river, unguided hiking, unguided mountain biking, and roping practice. So time is never boring, though if you do want to kick back and enjoy the ranch, there is an outdoor pool and a spa at your disposal. We signed up for some skeet shooting and tomahawk throwing, it’s not every day you get a chance to try that. We also took the ATV out for a run on both afternoons to see the amazing countryside and wildlife. We decided to ride both the full days we stayed. I was paired with a large grey mare called Charlotte, who was so laid back. First ride was a short orienteering ride of around four hours. It was a gentle introduction to the area, and an opportunity to get to know your horse. In the evening after dinner, guests gathered round the open camp fires (it does get a little chilly even in summer) to chat and share stories. We had signed up to a longer ride on our second day, and only the two of us accompanied Abby our guide for the six hour trek around the hills and waterways. It was an interesting experience, fording water on horseback (and not falling in). We saw several of the local wildlife and just before we stopped for lunch an eagle flew by giving us the eye, amazing. After a short break, we made our way back to the ranch, via a circular route over some hills and through rivers, once again "Charlotte" (my horse) paused at every thistle to nibble at the fruit. On getting back to the ranch after six hours in the saddle, it was commented by the cowgirls that we had fitted in so well, we were starting to walk like cowboys. On the third and last evening, after dinner, all the guests made their way to the ranch entrance for sunset selfies, after which down to the campfire to toast smores and chat some more. Breakfast the following morning was quiet, new friendships had been made, and even though it was early some guests had to leave to catch flights home to other parts of the US for their own July 4th celebrations. We didn't really know what to expect visiting the ranch, and what we experienced was way over what we ever imagined.

23 August 2016

To be filed under the section "this never happens" we checked in for our flight to Seoul with onward connection to Seattle, only for the check in staff to inform us that our seats had been changed. I get very protective about the seats I choose, and just about to argue the point, only to be told, sir we have moved you to First Class. It was a lovely to experience the service of the Asiana crew. It’s not every day a flight crew bow to the passengers before take-off. On arrival in Seattle, we caught the local train shuttle to our hotel just out of the centre of downtown Seattle. After checking in to the Executive Pacific, we made our way to Pioneer Square. We joined one of the underground tours available, outlining Seattle’s history which mostly took place at least 15 feet below where Seattle currently stands. Who'd have thought? We had done some research as to how we would spend our one full day in the area. Jet lag ensured we had an early start and we ready to board the first ferry to Alki just across the bay. For early summer the morning weather was cool. After the 15 minute crossing, we had a very pleasant walk right around the promenade to the sea side park, stopped for the ubiquitous coffee before catching the ferry back to Seattle. We continued to walk to downtown starting at the Sky View Observatory, which in my opinion gives a much better view of Seattle than the Space Needle. Seattle celebrated pride weekend during our stay and we followed the parade all the way into town. It was a very colourful spectacle. We made our way to Pike Place market, avoiding the fish throwing on the way. The front is populated by many bars and restaurants and we plumped for lunch at a local craft brewery, it was a welcome relief to the now warm afternoon. We then walked through Olympic Sculpture Park, up to the Space Needle and the EMP Museum showcasing music, science fiction and the arts. Coincidentally a display of wearable art was featured, the same one as we saw in Nelson, New Zealand during our visit in 2015. There were also Star Trek exhibits, and many other interesting film and memorabilia articles. It takes a good couple of hours to take in all the floors and displays. We then took the monorail back into the centre and stopped off for tea at a local diner. We found Seattle, a friendly, comfortable place to sightsee, with (as you can imagine) a Starbucks on every corner. By the way, the very first Starbucks can be seen just along from Pike Place market. Transport is efficient and relatively cheap, and transfers from the airport are regular, punctual and good value. It is worth noting to make extra time for check in and security procedures at Sea-Tac. It took around 60 minutes to complete the necessary formalities, and get to the departure gate.

10 December 2018

I'd always thought that, given the opportunity, I would try and attend our Australian Conference. I just happened to be watching our Australian division TV show broadcast weekly from Melbourne, on the day they announced the date and location of their yearly conference. As soon as I saw the camera pan over the impressive block paving, and the Rolls Royce standing on the drive, I knew it was going to be held at Palazzo Versace. My wife and I are great I'm A Celebrity fans, and I knew I'd have little trouble in persuading my wife to accompany me. Our conferences are great social occasions, with wives and husbands also being welcomed like long lost friends. So, Thursday before conference, we found ourselves strapped into a re-furbished Qantas A330 for the 8-hour flight to Brisbane. The food was good, entertainment excellent, and after watching a couple of films and a swift Nana nap, we arrived into a bright blue Brisbane sky, which was to accompany us all weekend. We collected our car and drove the short distance down the M1 (memories of home) to our first stop for some food and retail therapy. At this point we were only around a 20-minute drive from the hotel, and we had already done some groundwork to see where we could stop on the way down. The coastal scenery was flat and calm, the traffic lighter, the nearer the coast we drove. After some sunny shopping and sightseeing, we arrived at the Palazzo Versace hotel. The grand entrance is every bit as good as it looks on TV. I dropped our bags at the lobby before going to park in the free underground car park. When I returned to the lobby to check in, my wife told me the bags had already been taken to our room. The rooms were large and very well appointed, with one of the most comfortable beds we've had anywhere in the world. Friday evening was the reception hosted by Etihad, held in a restaurant, a short walk from the hotel through the Marina. Sadly, I didn't get to bid on many of the yachts for sale. Food, entertainment and company were all superb. Our Australian counterparts made us feel very welcome and it was very interesting comparing our businesses. We certainly weren't the first to wind our way back to the hotel and turn in for the night. Next day was the start of the conference proper. Our conferences are much more about inspiring stories and relationships rather than travel or selling. One of our speakers was the amazing Gill Hicks who was injured in the horrific events of the July 7th bombings in London. She had us laughing and crying in equal amounts during her presentation. Having sat through many inspiration speakers with outstanding stories, I had hankies at the ready. Please take a moment to check out her website. One afternoon of all our conferences is set aside for Pow-Wow, where we meet our suppliers, who really get the concept of Travel Counsellors, and many others who'd like to be part of what we are trying to achieve, great customer service and creating lifelong memories, because we care. I was surprised to see a few suppliers I have met in the UK, and one in particular whose accent changed to pure Glaswegian on hearing the sound of my Geordie accent. My wife spent this time walking around the area, taking in the beach and part of the walk down to Surfers Paradise around 4km away. Saturday evening is always Gala Dinner night, a black tie do where everyone gets dressed up and gets together to celebrate the company. We were lucky enough to be on a table near the stage, with an Australian Travel Counsellor who I had only previously met on the phone. A bit of a lie in on Sunday for the slightly later start of 9am. We spent the time wisely packing as we had to check out by 11am. The morning sessions were over far too quickly and before long conference closed at 1pm. We took our packed lunch and drove up the spit to the ocean where we ate in the sunshine watching all the busy activities on the waterway. We then took a short drive down to Surfers Paradise, just to walk the very impressive beach, and dip our toes in the sea. We had to remember this was the start of the Australian winter, and the weather conditions were perfect, clear blue sky, warm and dry, and we didn't forget to slip, slap, slop either. The last part of our journey had us drive north to the Brisbane outskirts to meet up with friends last seen 13 years ago. That will teach them to live near where our conferences are held! An early start on Monday had us drop the car at the rental agency. I had already checked in online (I do it for my clients, so I may as well do it for myself), and by 7am we were sitting down to a very nice Australian breakfast. We had one last drama on the flight home, we had boarded on time ready to go, and the captain made an announcement that his seat was broken and would have to be fixed before we could take off. Thankfully, his estimates proved spot on and we left around 2 hours late, though he must have put his foot down as we made up an hour of the time and arrived only an hour late.

11 April 2016

This was our second visit to see the elephants at BLES and we were keen to meet the new arrivals since our last visit almost two years ago to the day. We were met at the airport by one of the staff proudly carrying the BLES Elephant Sanctuary sign. The drive from the airport takes around one hour, and we were soon familiar with the places en-route. We arrived at BLES to the usual Elephant welcoming party of Wassana, Pang Dow and Lotus (a.k.a The Gossip Girls) patiently waiting for us to arrive so we could accompany them on their daily walk. It was great to be so close to them again and be part of their daily routine. The change the sanctuary has made since our last visit was noticeable, the 16 Elephants now have much more land to be able to wander freely and be safe, and special enclosures where they are housed at night, both for their own and the community’s safety. We were able to watch them take mud baths, some singly and some in pairs, indulging in some mutual mud splattering, just an amazing experience. The sanctuary has rescued Elephants from all over Thailand, and it is great to see them having the freedom and care they deserve. I have had many clients request I book them excursions to go Elephant riding, but it is something I just won’t do. There is no great experience to be gained riding an Elephant, the Elephant certainly doesn’t enjoy it. At BLES we are able to walk with them, feed them, and just generally be around them, because they allow us to, and they want to interact with us. It’s a great feeling to have something that size, just creep up on you (yes Elephants can creep up on you unnoticed) and just move its trunk for some contact, and just as quickly turn around and dismiss you out of hand. We were so pleased to also see the young male Elephant Mee Chok coming along so very well. On our last visit he was very sick, with an infected tusk, but thanks to successful surgery, he is now recovering well and spends much of his time in the company of Tong Jai the imposing Bull Elephant, who soon puts him in his place if he gets too boisterous, we sat for hours just to watch their interactions, and to see what the little elephant was learning from his older, wiser friend. Anon, Tong Jai's Mahout, let us spend a little time with this immense elephant, observing him closely, watching him feed and gently curl his trunk between his huge tusks. Amazing to just be within a few feet of him. The days there are not just spent with the elephants, there is much work needed to keep them fed, and one afternoon we accompanied the other Mahouts to a nearby cornfield on the back of the sanctuaries' truck. We proceeded to clear a small section of the field and load it onto the truck, it was hot work in the afternoon sun, and the Mahouts cut down coconuts from a nearby tree so we could all have a drink after our hard work. The corn was only a snack for the elephants, and the truckload would be all eaten within the hour. On our final morning we accompanied Katherine with the elephants on the walk, and we managed to spend some time with all the elephants living at the sanctuary, watched them bathe in the mud pools and generally enjoy life being an elephant. In the evening one of the staff was leaving on a trip to Europe so the Mahouts decided to have a bit of a party and a send-off. So out came the decidedly dodgy local brew, and even though each of us couldn't’t understand a word of each other’s language, we had a great few hours, just relaxing and listening to the people whose lives are all about keeping these elephants safe. I don’t know what was in the local brew, but I thought I was fine until I tried to speak, I then discovered I was almost fluent in Thai, or so I thought! Then all too soon it was time to leave, we had an early start to catch our flight back to Bangkok, and Katherine was there to wave us off. Once again, we had an amazing experience, being in the Thai jungle, no phone, no internet, no TV, just us and the Elephants. Bliss@BLES

13 April 2016

The short one hour flight from Bangkok brings you to Krabi. Thai, BangkokAir and Air Asia are among several airlines with services to Krabi from both Thailand, and Malaysia. We were staying near Ao Nang, which is around one hours transfer from the airport. All arrangements went very smoothly and our driver was waiting for us as we exited the domestic arrival hall. Our hotel was the Centara Grand. The only way to reach the hotel (with luggage) is by boat, and we only had a short wait until the next available one to ferry us over. It is only a 15 minute journey, and you can quickly see why this hotel is special, reminding me of the film Close Encounters. The hotel is surrounded by limestone peaks on all sides, sheltering it and the beach from the early morning sun, and maximising those long sunny afternoons and early evenings. The hotel itself was quite compact, the rooms being in two or three storey buildings, easily reached by a short walk or golf type buggy. You’d be very picky not to enjoy the breakfast spread with everything from western style food to Asian and Japanese staples. There is also an egg station for freshly cooked requests. The beach itself was very safe, with a gentle shelf, and soft sand. At low tide you could almost walk to the nearby limestone rocks, the water barely deeper than knee level. There are many excursions to be had from Ao Nang. Most days we could see the armada of boats taking people to the local islands. As we had visited several on previous trips, this visit we decided to do some diving, and opted for a three dive package with onsite dive company Kontiki. We were very impressed with their organisation, equipment and professionalism. Diving isn’t an exact science, you take a dive never really knowing what to expect, so we were actually undersold the experience, as it turned out to be much better than expected. We experienced a deep wreck dive (this dive is only available to advanced open water divers), where we were surrounded by many types of fish at every turn, and all too quick it was time to return to the surface. The second dive was over Anemone Reef, and it was well named, decorated with beautiful types of anemones and coral. It was hear we saw our first sea horse, very elusive and shy, and we also saw lion fish and scorpion fish. At our decompression stop the view of the reef was incredible, we all commented on the boat that it was a very pleasant place to spend the final three minutes of the dive. We then had lunch, and prepared for our final dive, which was to be a drift dive off Shark Point. Named because of its shape, and not for its inhabitants, as we saw no sharks at all. Sad to see quite a bit of dead coral, we were told local fishermen had abused the area for years, and it is only now with education that it is regenerating, and there was still some stunning underwater scenery to behold. Again all too quickly the dive was over and we updated all our log books and shared stories on the two hour trip back to port. The isolation was one of the main reasons we chose the Centara, and you don’t have to take a boat to civilisation. There is a 15 minute walk over the hill to Ao Nang on the monkey trail. It is very well lit and well used by hotel guests, bringing you into one end of the beach where there are several bars, restaurants and spas. A short walk further on brings you to the main strip of the resort, which is around one mile long and has every type of restaurant you could want. Most serve a variety of Thai, Indian and Western food, at very reasonable prices. We tried to sample as many different types, but ended up eating Thai most nights, well it would be rude not to. The week we spent there passed over far too quickly, I guess it always does when you are on holiday enjoying yourself, though we did both agree that it would be nice to return at some point in the future.

05 January 2016

Over Christmas holidays 2015, we were fortunate enough to be able to spend the holidays on the beautiful island of Langkawi, then follow it with five days in Kuala Lumpur to welcome in the New Year. We stared at Berjaya Resort hotel on the south western coast of Langkawi. The hotel was only a short transfer from the airport, and after a quick check in we boarded one of the many shuttle buses to our chalet. The resort is quite widespread, made up of individual, semidetached and quad style chalets. As you walk through the resort you can often see monkeys and lizards roaming freely thorough the resort. Our chalet was one of a pair, and had a great view over the jungle below over to the Andaman Sea. It was a short walk to the Oriental Village, a purpose built resort centre, hosting the cable car terminus to allow access to the 705m summit of Gunung Machincang and the 125m skybridge. Queues can be long when buying tickets, so if possible purchase them online beforehand or if time is pressing you can purchase fast track tickets, which do put you to the front of any queues both going up and coming down the mountain. The views at the top are spectacular, and the walk over the skybridge also has to be experienced, with opportunities to be able to look through the glass floor portholes to the rainforest below. Other attractions at Oriental Village include a 6D Cenemotion attraction, a F1 Simulator, several shops and restaurants. If you want to get out and about al little more, its worth hiring a taxi for 4 hours, and tell him where you want to go. We had a very good driver, full of information and took us on a mini island tour. One word of note, the local speed limit is only 60km/h, so it takes a while to get anywhere, not to mention the crowded roads, so we ended up with a five hour trip but worth every penny of the £20 equivalent cost. Once Christmas Day and boxing day passed, the resort seemed to become quieter, although preparations were being made with the construction of a large marquee on the beach All too quickly the week was over and we were on our way on the 55 minute flight to Kuala Lumpur. We flew Air Asia into their dedicated terminal at KLIA2, funnily described as the only shopping mall in the world, with an airport attached. The journey into Kuala Lumpur city from the airport is a long one at 65km, and at rush hour seemed to be ever longer, finally after nearly a 90 minute trip we checked into the stunning Majestic Hotel, just over the road from the main Kuala Lumpur railway station. Our room, sorry Wonderful Junior suite was on the 14th floor with a view over the city. We did comment it was almost as large as our Hong Kong apartment, with a dining area, a couple of chez longues and a huge bed. We quickly unpacked and decided as our journey had taken longer than expected to eat in the hotel and explore the following day. The food was plentiful, good quality and excellent value for money coming in at around £36 including free flow wine or beer. We had previously travelled to Malaysia in the late 1990's just as the Petronas towers were completed but not yet open, and for reference check out the Sean Connery/Catherine Zeta Jones film, Entrapment. Much had change in the years since our visit, there is now a rapid transport system, and extensive over road walkways, some are air conditioned, enabling you to navigate safely between places of interest, hotel, shops and restaurants. Though our hotel was situated slightly out of the centre, it was only a 15 minute ride on the monorail, and as we found during our walk back from bringing in the New Year under the Twin Towers, only a 45 minute walk. Again pre planning would be a must for any visit up the towers, if you are unable to purchase tickets online for your preferred day or time, there are a limited number released on a first come, first served basis. If your intention is to visit the towers this way, be there early, as the office opens at 08:30. we joined the queue around 7:45 and comfortably obtained tickets, but by the time we enjoyed our visit and returned to ground level via the ubiquitous gift shop, all tickets were sold. The towers open out onto the KLCC mall with 5 levels of shops and restaurants to cater for every need and taste. On our meanderings we also came across a Debenhams, which then seemed to feature prominently every time we went into the city , well it was a shame not to, they did have a Blue Cross Sale on at the time. Merdeka Square was interesting to walk around on our way to Central Market, which is two floors of handicrafts, tourist shops, and restaurants, Well worth an hour of your time around the city. From which its only a short walk to Chinatown, with its daily market and cheap food stalls and restaurants. we thought we'd try one for dinner one night, see how it compared wit the real thing, and we were impressed, good quality, hot food at a fair price. After navigating through the hawkers selling watches and handbags it was only a short walk back to the hotel on the walkways, where it was good to kick back and relax after a heavy day sightseeing and shopping. New Years Eve we planned to be out all day, it was our last day of the trip, so we mopped up any shopping that needed doing, and decided to go to the pictures to see the new Star Wars film. The cinema was in Pavilion Mall , a 6 storey mall with its Centre piece being a huge Swarovski Christmas tree. We commented it was great to see locals, tourists of all nations getting into the spirit of the occasion, getting dressed in silly Santa costumes, and watching the children fascinated by all the glitz and costumes and toys. The film finished around 9:45, just enough time to grab a quick bite to eat, and make our way over to the towers . . In Kuala Lumpur thousands gathered in the park around the towers to see a concert and a sound and light show with accompanying fountains. At midnight, there was no forma countdown, the clock just changed to 00:00, and the fireworks started, everyone seemingly to forget to wish each other happy new year. it took us a couple of minutes to realize it was now 2016. The roads back to the hotel were crammed with cars and pedestrians all seemingly with hooters wish everyone a happy new year, and it wasn't long before the crowds thinned and we had made our way safely back to the hotel. We really enjoyed our stay at both the beach and the city and feel we found just the right balance for our Christmas break

13 October 2015

The last weekend in September is Autumn Festival time in Asia. It is celebrated by a long holiday weekend. So once we knew of the dates we decided we'd book a weekend away in Taipei, it is only a 1 hour 45 minute flight from Hong Kong. We flew with Hong Kong Airlines business class on Friday evening, the service was excellent and very attentive, we were very pleased we had paid the small sum extra for the flight, even wishing it was slightly longer to enjoy the full flatbed seats and service. On arrival in Taipei our driver was waiting for us and took us to the kerb, where we waited for him to return with the car. The police are quite fastidious in moving on cars parked, therefore there can be some time between your driver meeting you and returning with the car. The run into town was quick and took a little over 40 minutes. We had decided to stay at the impressive Grand Hotel on the outskirts of Taipei, built in typical Chinese style. Massive red painted pillars, huge reception rooms and conference facilities. We were allocated a room on the 9th floor, which was the top floor of the hotel, under the VIP rooms, and a small concert hall. The room was large, very well appointed with tea and coffee facilities, flat screen TV and a large bathroom with separate shower and electric toilet with the welcome warmed seat, and now usual wash, spin and rinse facilities. Breakfast mainly served Chinese dishes, but there was an egg station, and a nice line in cold meats and cereals. The hotel provides a shuttle bus to nearby MRT stations for quick access to the centre of Taipei. We caught the bus and made our way to the Expo Centre where the bus stops. We purchased two Taipei Passes for two days use on the local bus and underground transport system. We spent time taking in the sights of Taipei, we visited the Taipei history Museum and the Taipei 101 Tower, where the viewing gallery gives a great view of the city, even through the gloom of the approaching typhoon. That evening we made our way down to the waterfront for the firework display scheduled to start at 8:30 pm. Crowds were already beginning to gather, the display started just as the rain stopped, so we were able to watch it without the need for a brolly. It lasted around 20 minutes and had been set off from barges in the river and along one of the bridges. We managed to get out of the park and reach the MRT station before much of the crowds. We managed to catch the hotel bus and made our way back to the Grand. We ate in the coffee shop that night, as many of the restaurants local to the display had closed early. The following day we were watching the progress of Typhoon Dujuan, it was estimated to reach Taipei sometime the following afternoon, so after breakfast we got out early to continue looking around the city. We went to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, where the guards perform an impressive changing of the Guard on the hour, every hour. Sadly views are now obstructed by the masses and their mobiles. I still can’t believe most people watch much of their experiences at a later time, they should be enjoyed for the moment. We made our way to the Red House, and paved shopping areas, all very interesting to visit and people watch. We then made our way to a temple we had been recommended to visit and after a short walk through the city we arrived at Longshan Temple, just as the heavens opened. The temple was most impressive, we arrived just as prayers were taking place, the volume and feeling of chanting was very intense. It gives me goose bumps just thinking of it. We respectfully made our way around the temple, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. As the weather was starting to close in, we decided to return early to the hotel, where again we ate dinner in the restaurant. As expected Typhoon Dejuan’s effects were starting to make their effects known, with strong winds and driving rain battering the hotel overnight. At the time our driver picked us up for our trip back to the airport the flight was scheduled to depart and was on-time. That afternoon, the typhoon closed in severely, the aircraft for our flight arrived over two hours late, which meant our schedule take off time was right when Taipei would experience the main weather effects of the typhoon. As expected, while we watched the weather close in, the airport became closed to all departing and arriving flights. We sat and watched a B-747 jumbo jet literally rock around its centre wheels, trying to lift off. Although very frustrating, we were pleased the flight was delayed but as expected, the flow of meaningful information was non-existent. The airport still maintaining the flight would leave on time, even though online flight monitoring software positioned the aircraft still in Hong Kong. The authorities have much to learn when it comes to keeping passengers aware of developments. So we had an unscheduled extra night in the centre of Taipei. We were bussed to a city centre hotel, where we had something to eat and a large glass of red. We were due to be picked up at 9 am the following morning, for the trip back to the airport. We woke to a lovely day, if a little breezy, and to the news that the typhoon was now making its way to the Chinese mainland. We arrived at the airport to find chaos, all flights from earlier the previous day were cancelled and seats had to be found for several thousand passengers. Hong Kong Airlines booked us on one of their other flights, and not our original rescheduled flight. So we arrived back in Hong Kong by 2 pm in the afternoon, which was earlier than expected. We will go back to Taipei if we get another chance. We hadn't managed a visit to the excellent Taipei National Museum, and several other points of interest that were closed because of the typhoon.

13 October 2015

We took the shortish yet interesting flight experience to Chiang Mai with HKExpress, one of Hong Kong's low cost airlines. I can't disagree it was low cost indeed, however they contacted us 24 hrs before the flight to say that it was to be delayed by three hours. So was that either very bad planning or did they have some kind of aviation type crystal ball where they could see into future aircraft movements. The main difference it made to our trip was, that instead of arriving mid evening, we now were scheduled to arrive after midnight, not ideal on such a short trip. I digress, our transfer was waiting for us at the airport, and we were soon on our way on the short trip to the hotel, Le Meridien, just outside the old town centre of Chiang Mai. Check in in was efficient, and our room, clean, spacious, well appointed, and quiet. It had been over 20 years since we first visited Chiang Mai, albeit very briefly on a tour of Northern Thailand, but we did remember it had a good feel to it, and we were looking forward to getting out and about to see how much had changed over the years After a leisurely breakfast, with real bacon too, we wandered outside the hotel to be met by a few tuk-tuk drivers offering their services. Tempting though it was we decided to take a walk through the streets to the old town. The weather was sunny, very hot, so we had to frequently stop for refreshment (always a good excuse for cake), with many of the coffee shops doing a nice line in real fruit smoothies, and air conditioned eateries, what's not to like. We were told that there are over 150 temples around Chiang Mai, and that morning I think we saw quite a few of them, unless you have a keen interest to visit any in particular, my advice would be just to get out and walk about, if you don't like the temple you are in, walk a little further and there will be another. It's quite scary how much ground you can cover while just on a wander, with no particular plan, and as we had planned to visit the night market , we wanted to make our way back to the hotel, and get some respite from the heat. The hotel pool was a welcome relief for an hour just as the sun was starting to go down over the nearby hills, a lovely way to spend an afternoon. What I omitted from saying was that the hotel was situated right on the corner of one of the main night market areas, so we didn't have to venture far to make our visit. It was full of the usual goods you'd expect to see in any Asian night market. Clothing, artwork, jewelry, and all the other things you think is a great idea to buy on holiday and realise when you get them home, you'll never use or wear, but it is good fun to look, enjoy some banter with the locals and hone up your bartering skills. As it happened we did buy some carved soap (as you do) for relatives back home..oh and a suitcase, and a few tshirts....so even we, as seasoned travellers, were still taken in by its charms. The following day was just as warm and humid as the first, so we decided to do as little walking as possible, listening to what services the tuk-tuk drivers were offering. What became quickly apparent was once you showed interest their bargain basement prices of yesterday had disappeared and we were now talking big money for a trip. So we decided to give those a miss and walked to a temple near the hotel which we had overlooked yesterday. When we came out a driver approached us and asked if we wanted a drive around, which of course we did, and he gave us a good price,, all of 100 baht, for one hour, which I am ashamed to say is around £2..and we haggled for that. He was very knowledgeable, said he had been a monk, and took us to some amazing temples, like the one made of silver which we would never have attempted to find if left to our own devices. After a tour of three temples and a short, fast city tour (there is no other speed setting on a tuktuk) we asked to be dropped in the old town, and made our own way back to the hotel. I had to make preparations to leave early, as my wife was staying for a work conference for another two days, where I feared for our bank balance, her being let loose in a night market, unsupervised. The ride back to the airport was quick and cool. One word of advice at Chiang Mai airport, all your luggage is screened at the door, so you have to queue to enter the building. Don't do the typically British thing of politely standing, waiting, hoping someone will let you in. If you see a way in, go for the gap, if you don't, someone else will. The flight departed as per schedule and in no time I was back in Hong Kong, quite sad the trip was short, but knowing it wasn't too far away if we wanted to make a return trip. On one final, personal note, anyone who has read previous blogs or knows anything of me, knows I am passionate about safe guarding wildlife, and sharks and elephants in particular. There are all sorts of excursions available to take from Chiang Mai, many of them include elephant experiences, the best one of these is www.elephantnaturepark.org. it promotes animal well being and husbandry, it does NOT promote elephant riding, and you should really consider not supporting the places that do. Just saying!

16 September 2015

To break our journey home from Sydney, we planned a 2 night stay in Singapore. arriving early evening, quite refreshed from the long flight, we thought we'd take the airport shuttle to our hotel the Marina Mandarin. However we were told that the wait time was over 90 minutes, so we made our way to the taxi rank. We joined a short queue, and were quickly on our way into town. Upon check in at the hotel we were notified we had been upgraded to one of the deluxe rooms on the higher floors. The hotel room was huge , with all modern amenities, from our very small balcony, we could see the Marina and the Merlion. Also below us nearby the rehearsals were taking place for the 50 year celebrations of Singapores independence. After breakfast our first day we took a walk around the Marina, all having been constructed since our last visit in 1986. Very impressive vista looking back over to the city. We walked around the river to Clarke Quay, which was very quiet through the day, almost deserted in fact. Last time we visited, we had the ubiquitous Singapore Sling at Raffles, not being big gin drinkers, we passed on the experience this time. We could see the impressive gardens by the bay from our hotel, so decided to walk around the marina, past the Science Museum to the front of the Marina. There is a strange optical illusion here as you at ground level, or you seem to be, then when you enter the Mall, you realise you are on the top floor looking down over the shops and restaurants. Even better, you can take the escalator to the roof garden walkway, all way around the top, giving an unusual view of events going on below. Continue walking around the roof until you reach the walkway connecting the mall to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, where you can walk straight through the hotel with easy access to the gardens on the other side. The light show takes place around 19:45 every evening, giving enough time to watch them, then retrace your steps back to Marina for the sound and light show. Similar to many Asian capital cities, the amount of high end shopping on offer is quite staggering, easily competing against Rodeo Drives claim as the most exclusive retail therapy in the world. A walk down Orchard Road brings you to several malls, restaurants, a few cinemas and an IMAX. There is also the newly opened cable car which runs between Singapore, Sentosa and Mount Faber giving an unusual experience while travelling over the water to Sentosa. We took the underground to Chinatown, and walked the streets, stopping for some fried rice and a beer at one of the street food vendors, we also stocked up on some cheap souvenirs. From there we had a trip up to Little India in the north of the city, again just to walk the streets, take in the atmosphere, and sample the excellent Indian food on offer. As our flight wasn't until 2 am , we decided to get tickets to go to the IMAX theatre, the film was worth seeing on the vast screen (the new Mission Impossible for the curious), after which we got a snack and made our way to the airport for the Scoot flight to Hong Kong. Before leaving, the organising committee of the 50th celebrations had a full dress rehearsal of the firework display, which was great to see. I have no doubt we'll visit Singapore again, as it is only 3:45 hours flying time from Hong Kong.

16 September 2015

We arrived at a deserted Sydney airport after the 4 hour flight from Fiji. Immigration procedures were simple and quickly negotiated, all electronic. We then were inspected by the border control agency who looked through our luggage and passed us for entry in Australia. I had pre booked an airport pickup, who were waiting for us at the exit to the arrivals hall. We were quickly on our way to the centre, via a small detour due to the market being set up on The Rocks, which did give us an opportunity to view the iconic bridge at night, from an unusual angle. We've been lucky enough to visit Sydney before, so we knew our way around. We stayed in the Holiday Inn on the Rocks, very well placed hotel for everything the area has to offer, and only a 5 minute walk from the piers on the wharf, and a mere 15 minutes from the Opera House. On our first morning, we woke to a bright blue sky and a warm day, we had a walk around the market and made a few souvenir purchases, which we didn't have to carry round, just nipping up to the room to drop off. We had decided to purchase a book of tickets to allow entry to some of the unusual museums Sydney has to offer. so we duly visited the Justice & Police Museum , Sydney Museum and Susannah Place Museum, which reminded us very much of Beamish In the North East of England. On the first evening we took a dinner cruise out from the harbour, along to Darling Harbour under the Tyne....sorry Harbour Bridge. The ship then makes its way past the Opera house for 45 minutes or so, before turning around and making its way back to the Central Piers. Food was good, wine too, just a very pleasant way to spend an evening. We really seemed to 'get' Sydney this time around, we decided to do the hop On/Off bus and ended up in Bond Beachi, where we took a walk along the cliff front to Bronte beach. We were rewarded on our return when a few pods of dolphins could be seen just off the shore making their way along the coast. After lunch we made our way back into the city , we left the tour at the north end of the city at the train station, and made our way back down to the Rocks, just meandering along the streets. We booked onto the first Sydney Opera House - Behind the Scenes, tour of the day, pleased we did as there were only 5 of us on the tour, compared to the normal 20+, so we managed to have a very enjoyable tour. As we walked back around the Piers we caught a ferry just about to leave to Manly. Its a short ferry ride of around 45 minutes, and from the port its a straight walk through the town to the beach, where having Fish and Chips is the thing to do, just like seaside towns all over the world. so that's what we did, eating out of paper on the sea front, on a clear blue, warm Australian Day. Generally the food we had was top quality, we ate mostly around the Rocks, where this also a Chefs School, we tried to get a table to find it was booked several weeks in advance, it did look very interesting. Sydney also attracts many of the worlds greatest shows and concerts, while we were there Les Miserables was playing, we managed to get tickets for our last night in Sydney. The following morning we made our way to the airport for our flight to Singapore. Taking all things into consideration we decided to use Scoot Airlines, which is the low cost arm of Singapore Airlines. We booked seats in ScootBiz, while sounding grand, in real terms only marginally more expensive than economy class on one of the many full service airlines that fly the route. The flight was on the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which I later found out was on an aircraft only 1 week old....it still had that new car smell about it. There wasn't back of the seat entertainment, or free drinks, but there was full size leather seats, with a generous 38 inch seat pitch, which meant I could stretch out quite enough on the 8 hour flight to Singapore. So its an option worth thinking about if you have the choice, and you are tall and value space.

19 August 2015

We flew from Auckland to Nadi with Air New Zealand in their very comfortable Premier Class seats. The 3 hour flight was very comfortable, and we arrived in Nadi spot on time. After a quick immigration process, we were collected by the hotel shuttle for the night. We decided to take a taxi to Port Denauru for the evening to have dinner and a look around. Ample choices of bars and restaurants serving every type of cuisine, and fish dishes featured prevalently. Check-in to the cruise was efficient and relaxed at the same time, we waited around the port area for our tender to take us to the ship moored offshore. We boarded the ship, which doubled as the glass bottom boat, and mass transport tender, after a short trip we were welcomed aboard the ship for lunch. The ship was the MV Reef Endeavour, capacity was 130, and on this trip we had around 65 fellow passengers, so there was never any fear of being crowded. We chose this cruise to see the Yasawa islands, but also to notch up some dives in a new and interesting part of the world. There is a resident dive leader on board, we contacted him, and as we had limited flight weight allowance, we were issued with mask, snorkel and fins for the whole trip, free of charge, as was every other passenger who required them. We signed up for a package of 10 dives, at sites to be decided, but the prospect of seeing abundant coral reefs, shoal fish, sharks and rays was too good to miss. Meals on the ship take varying forms, a split between buffet style, and a-la- carte type with waiter service and dedicated seating. Tables sat 6 or 8 and the staff always ensured the passengers mixed with each other, before long we were acquainted with everyone. Life on board was very relaxed, most days consisted of a tender to a nearby island beach for relaxation and swimming, or snorkelling from the boat, followed by a tour of the reef on the glass bottom boat. All timed so that if you really wanted to, you could manage all three. We had our first dive on our first morning, we joined our dive master and two other passengers to visit 'The Supermarket' a well known shark spotting reef in Fiji. On our dive briefing we expected to make a shallow dive, and then go deeper to go shark hunting. It didn't quite turn out like that, on submersion we quickly realised that we didn't have to go dive deeper to see sharks, they were all around us. White Tip Reef Sharks and Grey Reef Sharks cruised the reef not far away, but more wary of us, than us of them, they kept away, except for one brave Grey who snuck up on our dive leader, but a rapid arm wave sent it away. The coral was alive and bright, and there was so much fish activity, you didn't know where to look next. A great first dive, topped off with the sighting of a juvenile humpback whale on the way back to the ship. Happy divers! During the cruise we visited several small islands, and the communities that live on them. We spent time at a boarding school, where the children come form miles around, over the hills to spend sunday-thursday nights at the school. The children were very friendly, selecting a couple of passengers each to proudly show off their school and dorms. We spent time with 8-9 year olds, who could speak perfect english, and had great hopes of becoming teachers and doctors when they leave school. Really struck home how lucky we all are by comparison. We quickly settled into life on board, the food was good, especially the fish dishes offered. The drinks were reasonable, and (free) tea and coffee were available 24 x 7 in the lounges. Most days the ship docked all day and would weigh anchor and sail to the next destination during the night, seas were calm and you barely knew you were moving. As part of the cruise we visited Qalito Island where Castaway was filmed and Nacula Island, where Blue Lagoon (the Brooke Shields version) was filmed. Most of the clients were Australian or New Zealanders, we were the token Brits and there was one Chinese family on this trip. The 7 night cruise is actually a 3 night and a 4 night bolted together. The main change day is after the 3 night cruise, so we made our way back to Port Denauru to dock, restock supplies and pick up new passengers. The crew perform a few songs of farewell before passengers disembark, quite emotional. If you are taking the 7 night cruise, the company lay on 3 options of daytrips around Fiji, all complementary. We chose to visit the Botanical gardens and Orchid Farm for a couple of hours, and all too quickly we were back on the ship, eating again. The next few days had a familiar feel, get up check weather, is the dive going ahead, dive, and relax. On the various dives, we experienced the most amazing coral, fish life, and to top it all, swam with three large Manta Rays, which was my personal highlight. At breakfast one day, we were talking to a couple from Melbourne, the usual subjects were being discussed, inevitably we got around to travel and all the places visited. Then the lady says, "we have a lovely Travel Agent, you probably won't have heard of them, she's a Travel Counsellor, I nearly sprayed my tea over the table, as I produced my card....snap I said. Which just goes to show you never know who you are sitting with or speaking to at anytime. The entertainment on board is all ran by the crew, they do their best to involve all passengers in the festivities. On our cruise, Manasa played guitar and sang most evenings, and around the pool, he also doubled up as chief tour guide when visiting the islands. We also watched the captain continue his triathlon training by swimming from ship to shore whenever possible. All too soon the 7 days were over, we had experienced great diving, met some lovely people, both ships crew and passengers. Our flight was later in the afternoon, so after we disembarked , grabbed some lunch (you surely cant be hungry was heard a few times) and had a look around the ports shops, buying 'souvenirs' as my wife would say. Apparently now when you clothes shop on holiday it isn't clothes shopping, but souvenir shopping...madness. Gentlemen be warned ! If you are travelling to the Pacific Island region, I couldn't recommend more to take this cruise, it isn't grand, it isn't posh, which it makes it the best way to visit Fiji and all it has to offer.

19 August 2015

We had been promised a tale of two islands when talking to friends when we were planning our visit to New Zealand, and its only after having spent any length of time on one island, and crossing over to the other you realise how diverse they are. We took the ferry over from Wellington to Picton, a short journey of just under 3 hours, in nice, relatively flat calm seas (thankfully, not being the worlds best sailor). As time was short we had decided to drive straight to Nelson having got off the ferry. Darkness was falling as we set off in what seemed to be a convoy of every car having been on the ship. Soon though, normal service was resumed, and we seemed to be the only car on the road. After a couple of hours we hit the outskirts of Nelson, and began the search for the hotel, once found , as it was late, we just headed to the hotel restaurant for food. The hotel itself, was in Monaco, just outside Nelson, and had the resemblance of a cobble street style Ye Olde English Village. We were allocated a studio room , with massive lounge/diner and separate bedroom, Very comfortable. After a good nights kip we decided to go to the Museum of Wearable Art & Classic Cars, which I have to say satisfied both our needs of clothes and cars under one roof. Have a look and you'll see what I mean : http://www.wowcars.co.nz/ We also visited the gallery of the jeweller who made the original ring for the LOTR film franchise. Nelson was small to walk around, safe, full of cafes bards shops and restaurants of every type and price. We stayed out all day choosing to put a full day in just being a tourist. After getting up early we started our long drive down the western coast of the South Island, we encountered some amazing, dramatic scenery, and the word "Wow" was banned unless in exceptional circumstances. We stopped for a walk at Punakaiki, or pancake rocks, which actually do what they say on the tin, i.e. look like pancakes. We had accommodation booked that evening in Franz Josef, with a view to try and get to walk/hike/fly to the glacier. At this point we were beginning to notice how much colder things were becoming. Daft really when you take into account a) it is winter, and b) we are in the mountains. So wrapped up to the nines we walked the one road through Franz Josef, realised it was too cold, found a restaurant with an open fire and settled in for the evening. Next day the planned heli-hike we had arranged was cancelled, as the winds at altitude were too strong. So we decided to leave early, and walk to the glacier, which we did and very pleasant it was too. We had been advised that the weather and wind were likely to change, and as we were driving through Fox Glacier, there may be a chance we could pick up a flight from there. Thankfully when we arrived early afternoon, the weather had changed, and we only had to wait around an hour for a flight to the top of the glacier, which was amazing, the colours, the clear air, the snow, and we were the only two paying passengers in the helicopter, so unlimited views all-round. On landing we jumped back in the car and made our way down to our next stop at Wanaka , through beautiful landscapes and open plains, where the word Wow wasn't mentioned once, it had been replaced by 'fantastic' , 'have you seen that' and my personal favourite 'doesn't that look like.......' Again after a long afternoons drive, we arrived at the hotel just back from the Lake front at Wanaka. Quickly checked in, reapplied, sweaters, fleeces hats and gloves and disappeared into the night air. We had a meal in a brewery bar on the front, where the nice chap serving us, couldn't really decide which of his beers were like English bitters, so brought me 3 sample glasses to try. I gave the nod to one very tasty brew, which I have a feeling now may be getting marketed as some kind of English ale. We would normally spend time walking and hiking on holiday, but my wife had recently had an operation, so this trip we had to take it easy . However we had discovered a walk around the lake, long and flat, and that's what it was. A long stretch of the legs , the sun was shining, there was little wind..perfect walking conditions. On our arrival back in Wanaka, we had decided to go to the Cinema having seen it was one of THE things to do, and the reports weren't wrong. The Cinema Paradiso was a filmtastic experience. Visitors are encouraged to take food and drink into the theatre, and the seats are a mixture of dentist chairs, settees and old First Class airline seats. Well worth a visit, the food served in the café was very tasty too. The following day we visited Puzzle World, which was an interesting educational way to spend a few hours, mainly because we couldn't make our way out of the maze - doh ! We were now on our way to the final stop on our journey, we had been advised to stop at the Cardrona Hotel for food, the place was packed - even though miles from anywhere. The rear garden was open, the sun was shining it was freezing cold, but the soup was piping hot (small footnote the Music playing on the in house system was also to our tastes) Refreshed, onwards to 3 nights in Queenstown. It says "Staggering beauty and heart-pumping thrills await in the resort town of Queenstown", and that's certainly true. Our hotel the Novotel was right on the lake front, and a short walk either around the lakefront, or through the pleasant lanes to the town centre. For the next 3 days we tried to enjoy everything Queenstown could offer. We took the Queenstown Gondola, to the top of Bob's Peak and a great view of Lake Wakatipu. The small town of Arrowtown is worth a visit too. My wife realised a lifetimes ambition to jump out of a plane, she managed to keep her cool and complete a 15000 free fall tandem parachute jump, and promptly wanted to do it again. On our final day we woke up to temperatures of Minus 6 degrees, packed our bags and took the short drive to the airport for our flight to Auckland where we planned to spend the following 2 nights. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in New Zealand, and thought we managed to make the best use of the 3 weeks we spent there, of course...we can always return.

19 August 2015

Leaving the oppressive heat of Hong Kong, it was a pleasure to arrive in Auckland on a crisp winter morning. Felt immediately at home, collected the car and began the drive north. We decided not to take the toll road, and turn off to drive a way up the coast, not that there was much traffic, we wanted to see some scenery on our travels. We made a lunch stop at Orewa, pretty little seaside town, good food and coffee to bolster the soul and off we went. We had rooms booked at Paihia for two nights and I wanted to arrive in plenty of time to relax and have a look around. The drive up was effortless, the roads are good quality, and more importantly deserted by both UK and Hong Kong standards. We arrived at the Scenic Hotel Paihia just as the sun was going down, check in was quick and efficient. As we were on the start of a road trip, we only unpacked the essentials and had a quick change to go out exploring. The sea front was very welcoming, and quiet, we walked around 1000 meters to the town centre, where there were a few shops, bars and restaurants. The following day we had an early start to drive to Cape Reinga at the very top of north island. It was a long drive, approximately 4hrs up and 4hrs back, the Cape itself was stunningly beautiful, and again deserted. On the way back to Paihia we detoured off to see the famous 90 mile beach, which runs most of the way down the western peninsular of the very top of North Island. Miles and miles of hard wet sand to drive on, we saw a few locals making their way down the coast, but there are no sign posts( or if there are we didn't notice) to guide you to exits back to the main roads, so we just drove down to where the road ended and the sand began. Next day we planned to drive to a night stop near Hobbiton, but first we visited the Treaty Grounds in Paihia, very interesting place, the site of the signing of the first treaty between the UK and New Zealand. There is a new visitors centre under construction which will be open by March 2016 (possibly earlier) From there we retraced our steps, or tyre tracks, back south, stopping for refreshment at Warkworth, named after a village close to our home in Northumberland. We then drove further south, through Auckland to Cambridge, where we decided to stay for the night. We arrived around 6pm, to find a very quiet little market town. We found a basic but clean motel to stay for the night. The following day we made our way to Hobbiton. if you plan on visiting, the only way to do so is by guided tour, you cant just turn up and walk around yourself. Groups are kept together and strict times are adhered to, and you do get a free drink at the Green Dragon pub, which you have to drink really quickly before having to move on. We enjoyed seeing the tree and the lake and all the Hobbit houses, but had the feeling of it all being a little rushed, but none the less a great experience for LOTR fans. We then drove to meet friends at Mount Maunganui, walked around the mount and had a quick look around Tauranga. We then drove south to Rotorua and the lakeside, we visited the hot springs at 7pm , it was surreal sitting in the open air, in water around 30 degrees watching the night sky. Next morning we had a walk around the Maori village at Whakrewarena, to see how the Maori live work and cook. You are guided around the village by one of the residents, and is well worth a couple of hours of your time. We then headed on further south to meet up with friends again. This time we stayed on a farm , miles from any civilization, ( which isn't too hard in NZ) visited a winery for lunch, and had a walk around the art deco town of Napier, makes all the difference to be travelling around with locals who take you places you probably wouldn't think of visiting if on your own. After a couple of nights of great homely NZ hospitality we drove our last leg on north island down to Wellington, where we stayed for two nights. On one of our nights it was the Super Rugby Final between the Otago Highlanders and the Wellington Hurricanes, we watched the game with locals and had a great night. (The Highlanders won) We also visited the Te Papa Museum of New Zealand, which is a must see if you are in the area. Several floors of permanent and seasonal displays. I particularly enjoyed the Air New Zealand 75th Anniversary walk through exhibition. Next day we drove to catch our ferry to Picton on South Island to continue our trip............

22 June 2015

It is very easy to make the trip to Macao from Hong Kong. The area can be separated into two, Macao town and Cotai. Ferries run every 15 minutes from the Sheung Wan terminal on Hong Kong Island, and a less frequent timetable from Tsim Tsa Tsui. We walked up bought tickets (current price $162 HKD) and were aboard the fast-cat within 10 minutes, it is worth noting that before boarding you proceed to the little counter at the boarding gate to get seats allocated. On arrival in Macao, immigration procedures are simple and quick. As we were staying overnight in the Hard Rock Hotel we left the terminal building, under the road to the bus lanes. Boarding was quick and easy and the drive over to Cotai. First thing to notice is that Cotai is one large building site at the moment, but don't let that put you off any visit. Checkin was efficient and soon we were in our room on the 25th floor with a view over Cotai and the airport and the rest of the City of Dreams complex. We had tickets for the evening performance of the House of Dancing Water show, which was an extravagant mix of swimming, diving, acrobatics and motor cycle stunts. If you are considering a visit to Macau try get to see this show. There is an alternative on offer at The Venetian of Beauty and The Beast. Forthcoming attractions include two gigs by Bon Jovi in September 2015. Following morning we checked out, and ventured over to the massive Venetian complex, based on Las Vegas , the hotel is vast as is the shopping malls and lanes beneath it, under a cloud painted blue sky ceiling. The shops catered for every taste and price from very exclusive brands to the more well known high street stores like H&M, UniQlo and several brands of sportswear including Nike, Adidas, and a featured Manchester United shop too. Foodies are catered for by a vast food court, offering mostly Asian fayre, we had been advised to give Portofinos in the Four Seasons a try. We did and it was worth it, with an extensive menu available and an 'all you can eat' pasta, pizza and basta menu. We chose the fixed menu and grazed for a couple of hours. After lunch we took the shuttle back to the ferry terminal and dropped our bags at the left luggage and took a short taxi ride to the centre of Macau. It is also worth taking in a visit to the A-Ma statue to the south of Cotai, easily reached by taxi or local bus, which drop you at the car park, and a shuttle bus takes you up the hill to the temple and statue beyond. On the way down take the short walk back along the road to the Panda Paviion, where one giant Panda is on view, along with some monkeys and visit the ubiquitous gift/coffee shop. Entrance is only 10 MOP (or 10 HKD). There is also the Macao Tower which is a large complex of shops, cinema and restaurants and an observation deck, where you can either walk around the tower on the outside of the building, or bungee from the top. The centre of Macao reminds me of a typical Portuguese style town, for the main, small, tightly packed pedestrianised streets. There were crowds of people in the square on a Saturday, I would advise a midweek visit as crowds are less. We then took a public bus back to the ferry terminal, cost was 3.40 MOP. Good news is everywhere takes HKD though change may be given in MOP. There is parity exchange rate agreement between Macao and Hong Kong It may be worth picking a ferry time to return and pre-book seats, especially at a weekend. We found when arriving at the terminal all ferries were full and would have to wait nearly 2 hours for seats. Thankfully as ferries run to two terminals in Hong Kong we were able to purchase tickets for a ferry to Tsim Tsa Tsui, with only a wait of 15 minutes. the cost of ferry tickets to TST is a little higher than those to Sheung Wan. Boarding was quick, ferry again was full, and the movement of the fast-cat entering open sea, meant we were soon dozing our way back to Hong Kong. On arrival, immigration is quick and easy, though you do have to complete an immigration card. Whichever route you decide to take, back to Hong Kong you are deposited in the centre of large shopping malls, with entrances to the Underground system and handy taxi ranks. If you'd like to know more about Macao, Hong Kong, or indeed anywhere in Asia, do get in touch with me.

03 June 2015

Having met many people who'd either lived or visited Seoul, we wanted to see if it lived up to their recommendations. We planned to spend 3 nights being tourists. We flew Executive Class with Air India Boeing 787 - Dreamliner, though it was a short-ish flight, the 180 degree full flat bed seats were very comfortable, and gave us the space to stretch out, making it worth the extra cost. On arrival at Incheon Airport over 50 km form Seoul, we decided to take the airport limo bus to our hotel. The buses generally run at 25-30 minute intervals, and are very comfortable, they cost around £10 p.p, cheaper than a taxi, but more expensive than the underground. The bus dropped us almost at the door of our hotel, the IP Boutique Hotel, Itaewon whose location had been recommended to us. The hotel was indeed quirky, the reception was decorated with old fashioned swings and a rather scary bronze of Minnie Mouse. It all added to the charm. We were allocated a room on the top floor away from the front of the hotel, which did face the road. There has been a large military presence of all nationalities in the area, and this is reflected in the cosmopolitan feel to the place. Bars shops and restaurants are plentiful along the whole length of the street. We also noticed very interesting architecture on our walks. Second day we had pre-booked a tour to the DMZ on the border of North Korea. It takes around 1 hour to drive to the DMZ and have passports checked before being allowed through the barbed wire to the three locations you are able to access. Highlight of which is Tunnel 3, where you walk around 750 metres down and back to where the North Koreans were discovered trying to be dynamiting their way into the South. There's is much to see, especially Dorasan Railway Station, built and ready to link Seoul and Pyongyang, strangely active and yet deserted. The bus dropped us back in Itaewon late afternoon, where we again wandered the streets. A good way to see any city is the hop on/off bus tours. As there was a pick up point just yards from the hotel, we decided to get out early and catch one of the first buses on the route, sadly so had everyone else, and as it was a holiday weekend to celebrate Buddhas birthday, the routes were amended to accommodate all the tourists. We managed to get off and see all the sights we wanted to see, and were surprised to see hundreds of ceramic pandas in one park courtesy of the WWF awareness campaign. After a lengthy tour we found our way back to Itaewon and the international food street just behind the main street. This was very busy with locals and tourists all vying for tables at their chosen restaurants. We decided to take the underground back to the airport, the service was fast reliable, and very cheap, only the equivalent of £2.50 for the 75 minute journey. We left Korea knowing we'd like to return, as 2 full days was never going to be enough. If you plan to visit the Far East and want a change from Bangkok or Hong Kong & Singapore, I can recommend Seoul, I know you'll be pleasantly surprised....we were!

03 June 2015

After having had such a great experience on my FAM trip in September 2013, my wife had been constantly reminding me that I had promised to take her to California to as she puts it "do all the things I experienced". So, not that I resisted much, we found ourselves at Easter winging our way across the Pacific to LAX, to cross the International Date Line, and to arrive in LA half an hour before we left Hong Kong. Los Angeles airport was a much better experience than my last visit, procedures only taking 30 minutes. We also had to report a missing bag, which for those of you who know us, this news would come as no surprise. Really simple, easy to follow procedure for car pickup. I had booked an SUV, and were met with a choice of a Nissan or Jeep, we plumped for the Nissan as it had more boot space, and Jane intended to overdose on the shopping. We headed north to Topanga Canyon, just north of Los Angeles. We stayed in Topanga Canyon B&B, a family run establishment recommended to me by one of my business clients. It consisted of 2 large houses with rooms in each. We had picked the Fred and Ginger room, but in reality any room would have been ideal. The breakfast consisted of a tasty bacon, French toast, fruit toast and pots of coffee. The first day we just had a drive, we had a rough idea of where we wanted to go, a large circle ending up back in Topanga, driving up through the canyon and down onto the Pacific Coast Highway (though not as romantic as I imagined, being mostly a 4 or 6 (in places) lane highway. It was good to see all the places I'd only seen on TV shows, like Malibu, Santa Monica and Venice Beaches. We parked up at Venice, and walked the beach boardwalk, and hired cycles to venture a little further. Next morning we said our goodbyes and thanks to our hosts and drove the short distance along Ventura to Studio City, where we were to spend the following 3 nights. We arrived at Sportsmens Lodge just outside studio city, decided to go straight to Universal Studios. We hadn't done the park thing in a while, and being the second biggest Minion fan on the planet, we had to go to the Studios. We also managed to get tickets for a 'one night only' showing of a new Led Zeppelin film. so the afternoon and evening was spent looking around and enjoying the rides, and all Universal had to offer. Longest we waited was around 20 minutes, but an afternoon was enough to take in most of the attractions . Next day we took the hotel shuttle back to Universal, to link up with the hop on/off bus, even worth the extra few dollars for a 48hr pass. Final day we had decided was to be a park day, so back Universal, this time with a plan, to do the lower level rides first, which was a great idea, almost walking straight onto The Mummy and Transformer rides, and a short wait on Jurassic Park. We also took the studio tour, best bit for me was the 'crashed' aircraft from The Tom Cruise version from "War of the Worlds". and the 3D King Kong ride. I had to queue for Minion Mayhem (not again I can hear Jane say) and we stayed until we had exhausted all the rides. That was it for the LA area, our next stop was to drive to San Diego for 6 nights. We stopped of at Huntington Beach to take a paddleboard lesson , during which I'm happy to say neither of us fell in. We then drove the rest of the PCH until we had to join the interstate to San Diego. For the first 2 nights we stayed at The Del Coronado, a beautiful wooden built colonial hotel with heaps of history. One of the other reasons to visit California was 'retail therapy' so we drove to the Mexican Border, for a mammoth endurance test of shopping at the Mall of the Americas. The time was a new personal best of around 9hrs, but we got what we came for, and thankfully we had a weight allowance of 2 bags each for the flights home. Next day, before checking out, we spent a very pleasant morning walking the beach, and lazing by the pool. I think the locals thought it cold, but at a temperature around the mid 70's it wasn't cool to us. We drove on down to Mission Bay to our final hotel, the Dana. I remember being well impressed with this hotel on my FAM trip. Our first morning was taken up driving speedboats around San Diego Harbour, which is incredible. We then drove to the centre of San Diego for the evening for a wander around Gaslamp, and we had planned a visit to the House of Blues to see a band. Next morning we drove to the Old Town San Diego, and again boarded the hop on/off bus. We had planned to visit the Midway museum, and this was probably the only thing we'd change, do not do the Midway museum as part of the hop on/off buses. You need at least 3 hours to fully appreciate the ship, which leaves little time to see the rest of what the bus tour offers. Thankfully the centre of town is relatively small, especially for a US city. so we sat on the bus for the rest of the sites and got off in Little Italy and walked back through the streets to Gaslamp, which had a totally different feel in daylight. We caught the local tram back up to Old Town to collect the car and drive back the short distance to the hotel. Last day, Jane had wanted to try jumping off a cliff, and who was I to stop her.We had to drive out to Miramar (or Fightertown from Top Gun) to the Flying Leathernecks museum, which was a free attraction and well worth a couple of hours of anyone's time. We then drove to La Jolla Gliderport, where Jane would have herself strapped to a strange man, and as I said, jump off a cliff. Fortunately they came back safely around 25 minutes later, and even if you dont want to go flying, the gliderport is a great place to hang out, have a drink and some lunch, and watch everyone else jump off the said cliff. Last afternoon was spent by the pool at the Dana relaxing and gearing ourselves up for the journey home (hopefully with suitcases in tow) Nothing to report on the flight home, the cases came with us all the way home, and in an instant Wednesday morning, became Thursday night. There was so much more we could have done, just Balboa Park, Aquatica and Sea World at San Diego, could have taken at least a day each, it always gives us a good excuse to come back.

27 August 2014

We had the great experience and pleasure of visiting an Elephant Centre in the north called BLES, www.blesele.org. We have been following the work of Katherine Connor for a while, and are really inspired and admire her so much for what she has achieved. We contacted her via her website, and made arrangements to stay at the sanctuary. We flew into Sukhothai, the ancient capital, and checked into the Heritage Resort Hotel. The hotel arranges transfers from the airport, which has to be the most picturesque airport I have ever visited. The hotel was brand new, comfortable and was well air conditioned. After breakfast we met Fa, our guide who drove us to BLES. When we arrived Katherine was there to greet us, along with her Mum, her children, several dogs a few cats, a vet and of course the elephants. We quickly made our introductions and settled into out lodges, before heading straight out on a trek with the Gossip Girls as they are known. It was truly amazing to be allowed by these animals to interact with them, both as curious as each other. Over the next few hours we just sat in the jungle observing them, watching them eat and socialize. It sounds boring, anything but, it’s all we did for four days. You live to Thai time, so up at dawn, breakfast and then out for a walk with the girls. They never disappointed with their personalities, I am sure they wanted to be where we were on purpose just so we had to move. They allowed us to get so close to them, it was an amazing experience we will never forget, but will repeat. As a travel agent I try make people dreams come true, but try to stay away from causes and foster personal opinions. In this case I will make an exception. Please remember when you tour the world, and you may see or get the opportunity to see Elephants, and the cute things they do like play football, or see a baby elephant on the beach, no matter how hard it is to resist, please do. The Elephants don't love it as you'd be convinced to believe, and though the baby elephants are incredibly cute, in my opinion the only place a baby elephant should be is next to its mother. BLES and Katherine are just about to give a home to another Elephant currently in Phuket. Please have a look the website www.blesele.org and educate yourself on the plight of the Asian Elephant and give what support you can.

27 August 2014

My wife and I flew down to Koh Samui for a week. Although we had previously visited many parts of Thailand, it was our first visit to Koh Samui. We stayed in a bungalow at the Peace Hotel on Bophut Beach, some 20 minute transfer from the airport. While we there Thailand celebrated Songkran, the traditional Thailand New Year, normally celebrated between 13 and 15 April. Basically the place goes water mad. If out and about be prepared for a soaking, with adults and children alike lining the roads with everything from huge water drums, to some severe looking water guns. We thoroughly enjoyed our week there, we toured the island taking in the sights and sounds and smells, and were very lucky not to get drenched. The hotel itself was very comfortable we had a Deluxe Sea Breeze Bungalow, which had two queen beds, a sitting area and huge bathroom, and was a short walk to the beach. I'd also recommend the Beachfront Bungalows which were just that, right at the beach head, with a private terrace and loungers. The quality of the food at the hotel was excellent, we were on half board, and had lovely food either for lunch or dinner. Also to note is during the day, food sellers go up and down the shoreline in boats selling barbecued prawns and chicken and fruit, if we couldn’t be bothered to move we just went to them, and lovely fresh seafood and pineapple for lunch. We had a great visit to Koh Samui, and would recommend it.

24 March 2014

It’s over 25 years since our last visit to Bali, so we thought it time to revisit and tour a little more extensively. Our tour was labelled Bali Adventure, and it didn’t disappoint. After travelling for roughly 24 hours, we were glad to check in at our hotel and get out for a quick look around Sanur. The hotels on the strip are backed by a road with a great selection of bars, restaurants and shops. We spent our one day there walking around and getting to know the area. The following morning, our driver and guide arrived to take us on our adventure. We went to Lovina on the north coast, stopping first at Tanah Lot temple, continuing to Twin Lakes arriving in Lovina late afternoon. We stayed in the 5* Lovina Hotel which was right on the beach, and a lovely place to spend a couple of nights. We had an early start to see the dolphins of Lovina, got back to the hotel for some breakfast and then drove to see the Gitgit Waterfalls and the Pura Beji Temple. The following day we drove to Kintamani, staying on the lakeside under the shadow of Mount Batur. The highlight of the trip was getting up at 3am to climb Mount Batur for the sunrise. The climb itself takes around two hours and is timed almost to perfection to arrive at the summit at sunrise. At the top you can witness the volcano crater and see where an eruption caused the destruction of the original village. After returning to the hotel, we hired bikes and cycled to the Hot Springs Spa on the lakeside about 45 minutes away. Thankfully the hotel owner offered to come pick us up, and brought his two sons to drive the bikes home. The food was simple, but very tasty, even to the point of us going to the lake and selecting our own fish for supper. We then continued our journey through the centre of Bali and noticed many children marching through villages. We were told that as Bali was celebrating its independence, there were marching competitions which were taken very seriously. We passed platoons of kids, all dressed in costumes, marching and chanting as they went. We spent the next two nights in Amed, in a beachside hotel, the beach here is black volcanic sand. Amed is the ideal place to catch ferries to Gili Island. We then drove to Ubud, which was our favourite with lots going on, very cosmopolitan, great food and shops to walk around, and probably the best blackcurrant smoothie anywhere served at Nomad Restaurant. We stayed in a villa here, which comprised upstairs and downstairs accommodation in the villa itself, and a bungalow in the grounds, which we occupied. It had a butler service and a pool. It was a little way outside the centre, but the villa supplied transport to ferry guests back and forth. It was a very nice way to spend four days. We spent one morning white water rafting which was interesting, but mostly we just hung out by the pool or went browsing around the shops and restaurants in Ubud. Lastly we made our way to Seminyak. The journey from Ubud was very interesting as we passed through several villages on the way. Our hotel in Seminyak was right on the lovely yellow sand beach. There was a very big surf, which was fun when it came to paddling. There was a large selection of bars and restaurants both along the beach and along the road into the resort. We spent four nights here, and it was a great restful end to the holiday. Bali had changed enormously since our last visit, it is more popular as a destination, particularly for Australians. The cost of living is much lower than the UK and you can eat very well, at reasonable prices. Also a final word about the weather; we visited at the height of our summer. It was warm in Bali but there was little or no humidity, which made for very comfortable sightseeing, and it got relatively cooler at night. I would certainly recommend Bali to anyone who was thinking of visiting South East Asia, it provides a viable alternative to Thailand and Malaysia, with lots to keep any visitor busy and interested.

24 March 2014

We decided to take a cruise to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. We had cruised part of the Caribbean previously and enjoyed it and thought we could try see a few more islands. After a long trip to San Juan via Amsterdam and Panama, we checked into the Sheraton Hotel near the cruise terminal in San Juan. It’s about a $15 taxi ride to the ships from the hotel and well worth it. We had booked a Concierge Class cabin on Celebrity Summit, one of Celebrity’s smaller ships, but recently refurbished. The line was short at check-in and the formalities over in a matter of minutes, though before boarding we took advantage of stocking up on some wine at the duty free shop. Once on board we found our cabin easily, dropped our bags, and set off exploring the ship. Just before sailing time it’s a hive of activity, particularly around the excursion desks and the speciality restaurants. We had already decided we would try eating at the various restaurants on offer other than the main dining room, but would leave reservations until later in the week. We were able to enjoy anytime dining on the ship which meant we could turn up at any time, either request a table for two, or if we were feeling adventurous, share with others. The first night we had a table to ourselves and had a very nice evening. The menu on the ship changes daily and you'd be hard pushed not to find something you'd like to try. On the menu is a selection of favourites like steak, chicken or salmon at every sitting, so if you don’t want to have to think about it, you can order something you'd know you'd like. The cruise provided a happy balance between a couple of longer sea days and shorter days visiting the islands, from the very quiet St Criox U.S.V.I to the bustling Granada or St Thomas. We managed a shore dive in St Croix, which took place in heavy rain, so we didn’t miss much of the island. We took the Celebrity shore excursions around St Kitts and Grenada, and a snorkelling boat trip in Roseau. In St Thomas we disembarked and walked into town from the pier. On returning to the ship, the crew are waiting with towels and drinks so you can cool off a little before boarding. We found the ship itself to be just about the right size. Being one of the older ships in the fleet, it was never crowded, and you could always find a sun bed, or a more isolated spot on deck. We decided to go to the wine connoisseur dinner where you are presented with several courses, each accompanied by a wine, and we thought it was good value. The food, wine and company were excellent. We ate breakfast everywhere from the main dining room to the rooftop cafe and the buffet restaurant. We never had trouble finding tables or having to make those hard decisions between a healthy yoghurt or bacon sarnie (bacon sarnie wins every time). On our penultimate evening on the cruise we decided to try Q-Sine, where you order from an iPad menu and each dish is imaginatively served. Even the cupcake desserts came with their own icing bags and decorations, a great idea for kids and adults alike. All too quickly the cruise was over. For us it was just about the right amount of time to spend on a ship. The cabin was clean and we had great, attentive staff looking after us. I found it strange to be able to lie in bed tune into ESPN and watch Newcastle United play live on my TV in the stateroom, and we won too! After docking in San Juan, we had arranged a further three nights at the Hilton Condado Villas. The hotel was nice with good facilities, and its own little beach area. Although it was a little way from San Juan Old Town, you could get a taxi and make the $20 trip in 10 minutes. We totally enjoyed our 10 nights away in the Caribbean, and would recommend Celebrity to anyone thinking of a cruise.

07 January 2013

It’s over 20 years since our first visit to Shanghai and we were keen to see how much had changed. We flew to Shanghai via Paris with Air France; on arrival we took the opportunity to take the Maglev fast train to the centre. It took little over six minutes to travel the 30 kilometres (that’s an average speed of over 200 mph) at a cost of 80 RMB return (about £8). Alternatively you could take Metro Line 2 direct to Nanjing Road at a cost of 7 RMB (75p), but it does take much longer. We stayed at the Renaiassance Yu Garden just outside the centre of Shanghai, making it easy to walk down to the Bund through Yuyuan Gardens. There are three routes on the hop on / hop off Big Bus tour. The red route takes you around the centre of Shanghai, the blue across to Pudong and the green takes you out to the north of the city. We reserved our named day tickets before we left the UK and were surprised to find that when we joined the tour the tickets were valid for 48 hours. You also receive admission for a river cruise and entrance to the observation deck of the Jinmao Tower in Pudong. Taking the individual entrance fees into account, the bus tour works out at a few pounds each. The bus tour gives you a good idea of the layout of the city and a chance to get your bearings, and even though the metro is extensive, the bus does get you closer than the metro to some of the sights. Visiting the observation deck at Jinmao tower is a must, as is the glass bottomed observation deck of the Oriental Pearl Tower. When coming down from the Pearl Tower, visit the Shanghai Museum in the base of the tower, and you can buy a package ticket to allow access to both. A short Metro ride on Line 10 takes you to Xintiandi; an area of upmarket shops and restaurants, worth a visit to walk around the surrounding streets and look at the more traditional businesses as opposed to western franchises. Nanjing Road is a 2 kilometre long street of shops and restaurants, all pedestrianised, lined with several malls and individual shops and eateries. You could spend days wandering and still not see everything. On our first night we ate in a side cafe serving Chinese food, we had a fantastic meal choosing from pictures on a menu with loose (very loose) translations. Dishes like Vegetarian Chicken had us confused, but the food was delicious, freshly cooked, and cheap. Three large portions of main dishes, rice and vegetables and two large beers cost just over £13 for the two of us. Eating in more established recognisable places will cost the same as it does in the west. We enjoyed Simply Thai restaurant where we ate very good food with drinks for about £35. Drinks tend to be expensive, expect to pay about £5 for a beer and more in a brewery bar. Normal coffee like Starbucks is roughly the same price as the UK. I have never seen such a transformation in a place in a short time. Shanghai is a very modern, fast paced and safe city. If you are considering Las Vegas or Hong Kong for a short break, there is no reason not to add Shanghai to your list.

19 March 2013

I recently spent four days on the road in Morocco, taking in all the sights, sounds and smells of this interesting country. We flew to Marrakech via Casablanca, so it took over 6 hours to finally get there, however there are direct flights available from London and provincial UK airports. As we arrived after midnight and the airports were quiet, customs and immigration procedures were completed quickly and the transfer time was only about 15 minutes. We spent our first two nights in the centre of Marrakech at the Riad Aladdin, almost touching the city walls. From the outside the hotel was remarkably unimpressive, but the hidden charm of these properties becomes apparent once you entered and saw the inner courtyards. There were 20 rooms based around the courtyard with stairs leading to a roof terrace and gardens. Breakfast was continental style with a fair choice of flatbreads and cakes supplemented with jam and honey. The Aladdin was a short walk from the main sights of Marrakech and a perfect place from where to explore the city. The Bahia Palace was a 10 minute walk and, after a tour of the palace, we took a whistle stop tour of the city stopping to have a tour of Riad El Fenn (owned by Richard Branson) and the Palais Sebban. Both are superb examples of the range of Riads on offer to travellers, the Palais Sebban even had a shower sculpted to imitate a castle! The temperature was generally warm throughout our stay, but I would recommend sight-seeing in the mornings before the sun gets too hot. On the second of our two nights we had dinner on the roof terrace at the Aladdin and were able to look out over all the roof tops of the city. The following day, we drove south to Imlil in the Atlas Mountains. On the way we visited Kasbah Tamadot, Sir Richard Branson’s Moroccan Retreat, which was breathtakingly beautiful, luxurious and exclusive. It has a large pool, and several of the Berber Tents have private plunge pools. Perfect for a luxury romantic getaway! From there we continued up into the mountains to our accommodation for the night, the Douar Samra in Tamatert. Again on paths hewn from earth and stone we reached the door to the Riad, but once inside you are greeted by the wonderful traditions of Morocco. Our hosts welcomed us with mint tea as we lounged around on scatter cushions. We then had a 4 hour walk around the Atlas, starting off sedately, but with a last little pull up the hill to the Riad. We were served several courses for dinner including a beef and vegetable tagine and, afterwards, we all went out onto the roof terrace to sit and take in the stars. The next stop of our trip was Essaouira, a 4 hour drive away, where we stopped for lunch at a fish restaurant to sample the excellent seafood on offer. We stayed at the Riad Al Madina, located just inside the Medina near the many shops, bars restaurants and only a short walk from the beach. The following morning we made our way back to Marrakech for our final night and stayed at the 5* Kenzi Farah Hotel. The hotel is only a short taxi ride from the Djemma-el-Fna Square and we made the journey after dinner to experience the best of Marrakech at night. One tale of note is that the bars surrounding the square do not serve alcohol. Having experienced a small taste of what Morocco has to offer the traveller, I came home having experience and wonderful trip. It definitely moved it up the list of places I need to visit!

03 October 2011

We had decided to try and make the most of our visit to Loas by travelling from north to south taking in as much as we could. We started with three nights at the Salang Prabang a small hotel on the Mekong side of Luang Prabang, the ‘Jewel of Indochina’,and a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site, where tour buses and large vehicles are banned from the centre. On our first morning we set our alarm very early to watch the Buddhist monks walking through the town collecting food, later after breakfast we toured the city and several of the Buddhist temples situated around the area. Luang Prabang has several restaurants serving plentiful cheap Laos and Western food and of course Laos beer, which seems to form part of the staple diet of everyone (I can particularly recommend the Dark Beer). The second day we had signed up for a cookery lesson at the Tamnak Lao Restaurant. Both my wife and I were a bit nervous about doing this, not quite knowing what to expect, but Chefs Leng and Phia put us at ease with a chat about what the day had in store. We first went to the market to buy supplies, fresh meat, vegetables, herbs and spices. In all we were shown how to prepare 7 dishes, we had to attempt 5, cooking for ourselves, and as they say the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so for lunch we ate the first 2 dishes we had prepared, and very nice they were too. After lunch we cooked our final 3 selections, which we had for our meal later in the afternoon. The whole day was great fun and suffices to say we didn’t eat again until breakfast the next day. The following day we took a relaxing 3 hour boat ride down the Mekong to the Kamu Lodge Eco Hotel, the weather was glorious and we arrived just in time for lunch, after lunch we checked into our tents and a local guide walked us around the Kamu local village. The following morning we had to do the journey in reverse, thankfully with the flow of the river, the journey back only took 2 hours. Before we flew to Vientiane, we took a tuk-tuk to the Tad Lau waterfalls where both locals and tourists were enjoying a swim in the cool water. We packed a city tour of Vientiane on our only full day, but one day wasn't enough. Before we left we attended a Baci ceremony. Its purpose is to call escaped spirits back to the body, a tradition that is very important for Lao people before major events such as weddings, births, travel or when welcoming friends. We arrived in Pakse to heavy rain and low cloud, we travelled up to the Bolaven Plateau for one night, by the time we arrived the weather cleared, and we spent the afternoon watching the hotel elephants bathing in the river then bedding down for the night in the nearby jungle. We then travelled down to the 4000 Islands area of Loas for a couple of nights. We took a boat ride down to the area where you can see the rare Irrawaddy Dolphins (technically you go to Cambodia to see them); we then cycled back to the village for lunch before taking the boat back to the hotel. Our final day in Loas was spent travelling to see some waterfalls on the Mekong then we crossed the border to Ubon Ratchathani for our flight to Bangkok, and onwards to Phuket where were staying at Mom-Tris Villa Royale hotel. It was the second year in succession we had stayed there. It is a lovely hotel, with excellent customer service and renowned restaurants. Unfortunately the weather hadn't read the script and for 6 days we hit the end of a tropical storm, finally at lunchtime on the last day, the sun broke out. The new Dubai - Newcastle route really works out well for transfers to the Far East and Australia. We left Phuket at 22:30, and arrived in Newcastle at 12:00, all the flights were either early or on-time, and just to finish the holiday in style we were upgraded on our homeward flight. I cannot recommend a visit to Loas highly enough, I am confident you'll take the places and people to your hearts.

05 October 2011

For as long as I can remember I have been interested in Sharks, particularly the Great White, this started with reading a book entitled "Shadows in the Sea" when I was about 10. So when I celebrated my 50th birthday, my wife had arranged for me to fly to Cape Town, source a dive company of my choice, and get into the water to view one of these sharks close up. We flew Emirates via Dubai, only problem being the 8.5 hour layover in Dubai, thankfully Emirates supply a room for waits of over 8 hours on certain flights, it’s worth checking. With no jet lag we arrived in Cape Town, late afternoon on February 14th. We stayed at the three star Ritz Hotel which has the only revolving restaurant in Cape Town on the 21st floor, giving a great view of the harbour, and the new football stadium. After a couple of days I was supposed to go out to Gansbaai, where most of the Shark Dive companies leave port, but we had a late phone call postponing it as the weather wasn't great for diving. Instead we took a day trip over to Robben Island which was a fascinating tour. On the way out of the hotel we happened to bump into the driver of an Explore tour we had taken the year before, and I swear he walks up to me and says "Hi Graham, how's Newcastle doing?". I was gobsmacked that he could remember me after a 12 month gap. Later that day we got the phone call confirming that the dive would take place the next day. We were picked up early from the hotel and after a few more stops we drove the 3 hours or so to the small port at Gansbaai. The group consisted of the two of us, a lad from Oz and two families from the U.A.E.and a couple of Argentinians. We had some lunch on arrival, and then we were lectured on some safety features, like don’t stick your arms and legs out of the cage (as if!). At this point the families were asking when they would see the penguins, dolphins and whales, somewhere along the way they mistakenly had the impression they were going on a whale watching trip, were they in for a surprise. The dive master knew that along with the Ozzie, the three of us were all divers and said he'd make sure we'd get maximum time in the cage. After a very choppy ride out we arrived about half a mile from the north shore of the bay, the crew used a little chum to hopefully stir up some interest. We were all playing at being spotters, we waited, and waited, and we were starting to think that we'd come all that way just to leave seeing nothing. Then a shadow appeared under the boat and an eight foot Great White appeared from nowhere, like they do. Now at this point there was no-one in the cage, my wife hadn't decided if she would do a dive, but at this point wasn't given an option, the dive master said "go on I’ll give you a hand", and before she knew where she was she was in the cage , the shark on the other side. Michael the Ozzie and I quickly joined her and we were treated to some amazing swim bys, from the beautiful shark. After about 20 minutes another 2 sharks had appeared , we then got out, and gave the others a turn in the cage. I went to the front of the boat to do some more shark spotting, then a larger shadow appeared from beneath the boat, I really wanted to say "you're going to need a bigger boat" but as I had been threatened with getting thrown overboard, decided against it. This shark was about 15 feet long, and seemed to intimidate the smaller ones as they swam away, we got back in the cage to watch this thing swim right up to the cage and look in at us, watching it, watching us. It stuck around for about another 15 minutes, and when it realised it wasn't going to get any food, sank into the depths, and swam away. It really isn't necessary to have diving experience, if you get the chance to do something like this, take it. It’s an experience I will never forget.