Caucasus 2025
The flight from Australia was more exhausting than I anticipated. The good thing was there were only two of us in the row, but that slight lack of discomfort did not mean I actually got more than a one-hour snooze. I lumbered around Abu Dhabi airport in the three-hour gap between flights. The next leg…
The Stan Finale
Kyrgyzstan Arriving at Bishkek airport was a bit of a pain, mainly because we let ourselves get into a bargaining session with local taxi drivers. One said he was willing to match the Yandex price. We were shown to a car with another driver so it seemed that the guy we had been talking to…
Uzbekistan
This was the country we were going to spend the most time in. Given its famous historic sites – such as Khiva, Samarkand and Bukhara. There was more of course – looking at the ships stranded from the destruction of the Aral Sea, the Savitsky gallery in Nukus and seeing what Tashkent, the capital, was…
Turkmenistan
A visit to Turkmenistan is always going to be loaded with restrictions. Those restrictions in a country with an ironclad dictatorship mean that interactions with locals are going to be minimal. Any local person having an “unauthorised” conversation with a foreigner will inevitably attract unwanted attention from the authorities. As a tourist in a bubble,…
More travels in the French southwest
The autumn has threatened, at times, to take over recently. The Mistral blew quite cold for a while but then retreated. After a bout of drizzly rain, calm weather and the sun has returned. It is glorious now – sunny and a perfect temperature. I still swim every morning but it is a stretch. The…
Back in France
Now a very long time since I wrote anything. We are in Claviers in the south of France. The weather is still great but the Mistral is making its presence known. It is still a lovely scene when you get out of bed and walk onto the patio every morning. It’s quiet now. We had…
Kolkata and beyond
From the south we headed to Kolkata. I first arrived in that city when I came to India in 1976. It was called Calcutta then and was entirely different place. As I’ve said before, India and the world were different places then. I remember suffering a bit from culture shock despite having been travelling in…
Fond of Pondy
Fast forward to India again. From Kandy we had headed south. First to the Udawalawe National Park for a safari amongst the elephants, monkey and birds. It was nice but again it was a bit of a shit fight with the other armada of vehicles. Eventually these seemed to disperse and we were left to…
I love Kandy
Well not really. It’s not quite the green and pleasant place I had wanted it to be. It’s one of those places I remember seeing on the world map in my bedroom as a kid and wondering what it might be like. Over the years I probably built a picture in my mind of lush…
Heading east then south
I’m sitting in a hotel room in Chennai on the eve of a flight to Sri Lanka. The journey since last writing has taken us from Kerala to the state of Tamil Nadu. The last leg of the Kerala journey was up into the hills. We stayed at a place called Munnar. It was blissfully…
Kerala continued
From Kochi we have headed south. Kerala is a beautiful place, all lush and green. It was lovely to journey through the small roads with the coconut palms and glowing green foliage. Not entirely different from other parts of India but it feels quite a bit more tropical anyway. Certainly the heat and humidity is…
On the road south
The first stop past Goa was Bangalore or Bengaluru which is now its correct name. It comes from the local Kannada language Benda-kaal-uru. It means essentially “place of the boiled beans”. There is a legend behind it but that is open to some debate. Follow that link if you want to delve deeper. It was…
Goan Goan Gone
I write this on the last day we spend in Goa. It’s been great. We have made friends that will last, we have seen more of this great country, swum day after day in the warm and pleasant Arabian Sea, watched more gorgeous sunsets than I can remember and partied with some fabulous people. It’s…
A typical day
A typical day in Goa kicks off around 8am. Sometimes it’s a bit earlier. I do manage to get to the gym every second day and when an Aussie friend was here, we would swim between the lifeguard stations which is probably around 800m. But otherwise it’s a routine of getting up to a strong…
Urban cows in India
From my kitchen window I have seen this calf come into the world and take its first steps. I have walked past it on my way to the beach or the supermarket and watched as it wobbled on its brand new legs. This soon turned to sadness as the poor thing had a rope fixed…
Into the final month
Final month in Goa that is. It’s getting near the time I should describe a typical day here. After all there is no work involved and it is an interesting experiment in how to keep occupied when living this way. But more of that with the next post. The trip to Hyderabad was a nice…
Northern adventure
Goa was fun at Christmas despite being a bit tacky. A piss up at the Hard Rock café in Calangute was the ticket for us and friends. A large of gathering of largely English expats spent time hoovering up more alcohol than food. There were only a few isolated scenes of public disgrace. Then back…
And so the days pass
Time goes on. Things change but also remain the same. The good changes are that Max arrived. We went up to Mumbai and stayed a couple of days after he arrived before taking the train to Goa. I’d heard that the train journey was quite scenic but it seemed nothing too spectacular. I did have…
Settling in a bit
Now over two weeks in India. The good news is we found an apartment to live in for the next few months. After searching for a bit, we settled on it as it was the one that suited our needs best. It’s about five minutes stroll to the beach which is fine. There is a…
First world problems in the third world
Coming up to one week in Goa and it hasn’t all been as easy as we might have thought. Goa, if you didn’t already know, is one of India’s smaller states and up until 1961 was ruled by the Portuguese. The Indians are to be commended for kicking out the Portuguese who were always takers…
Now is the hour
So now the time finally arrives. Three and a half months living in Britain starts to make it seem like home again. Comfortably ensconced in a quiet suburban four-bedroom house with spacious garden, it is now time to go where we were always going in the first place. Naturally upping stakes and moving on brings…
Iceland
A lovely few days spent in Iceland with more than a few photos to mull over. The beauty of the place is undeniable with its bizarre volcanic landscape contrasted with stunning snow-capped peaks. It seems very prone to rainy weather, which we certainly encountered. But we got some absolutely beautiful sunshiny days as well and…
Europe in a dash
Of course the aim of this one year trip was to spend most of our time in India. Due to my injurious delay we ended up in the UK in the summer school holidays which rendered nearly all travel prohibitively expensive. So, when the month ticked over it was time to be off to visit…
England and Scotland continued
The thin veneer of heat that passes for summer in Britain is retreating. Of course, this has been one of the greatest summers ever. Only the great summer of 1976 bears comparison and constant reference is made to this in the media and the street (by those old enough to remember). I can’t make this…
England
Fitting back into England has been a bit like putting on an old glove. On the surface it’s easy but there is a definite lack of connection. Maybe that’s because the ties to Australia are stronger than they used to be. There are times however when it has such a strong familiarity about it I…
Wandering and wondering 