Sailing Again

Well Hello,

On the Monday Greg and Judy, people who we met in Exmouth through the Yacht Club lent us their car for the day, we were able to get our stores, petrol, and water for our continued journey. We then went for a drive around the other side (West side) so we could see what the water was doing? We drove to Tantabiddi and the Lighthouse and took some pictures.
On that evening we went around to Lauren’s Places for Dinner which was lovely. (Lauren is a friend of ours. Poor Dave still didn’t get to meet this model like husband of hers as he was in Perth doing training, but he meet his rival in the gorgeous P(the dog).(Some people are lovely and very generous)

We are now back sailing! Left Exmouth Tuesday sailed to Tantabiddi. We spent the night there then we sailed to Yardie Creek. We had a wonderful sail down, sailing conditions just right sitting on 7 – 8 knots most of the way. We saw a pod of about 100 Dolphin and Brian & Debbie saw a Humpback whale, it was delightful.

David caught a Spanish Mackerel 900mm – 1metre long, on

our journey down (eat your heart out Rachelle & Colin LOL Photo for Rachelle & Colin) Thanks TT your rod again. I tell you there was such excitement aboard, we didn’t know what to do next, anyway we worked it out. We shared our fish with Brian and Debbie and we had a lovely dinner. As we had caught up with Mark and Kristina (at Yardie) we all had the rest of the fish smoked on the beach for dinner mmmmmmm…… lovely on Thursday night.

It was a lovely day here at Yardie Creek on Thursday the weather was perfect, we went snorkelling which was beautiful, David took some underwater pictures (photo for Mail he likes fish).I am not very good in the water, but David convinced me to come with him and try as he stated you wont want to miss this. I had to jump off the boat with flippers on, and swim across to the coral patch where all the fish were. We snorkelled together and held hands until I got my confidence back, It was beautiful and very peaceful under the water. Then of course an hour later we got back to our little boat

and I had to climb in and luckily there aren’t any photos’. To those who may be disappointed I am quite accomplished at these tasks now (yeh no longer Mrs Coight).
The water is so clear and a beautiful colour. Today is Friday and we hear that the weather is going to be not so good again the next few days, so we are deciding what we will do? go or stay a few more days.
Hi Coby my dear friend. Heard from her today she is keeping the fort going (work). Hi to you all thinking of you. LOL How is my darlings going? Rachelle, Camille, untidy son Gareth. (The house better be tidy when we get home…) We are having trouble with the phone and internet getting reception at present.

Big kiss for Mali Nana and Pop have got you some presents……whoo hoo lucky Mali.

Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (dav shz). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (dav shz). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Sharon Williams (dav shz) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here

Paris to Athens

This morning, after we packed up, we set off for Greece (Athens).
We were picked up by our airport shuttle at 12midday and taken to CDG airport. Paris airport is huge, there are many terminals. We managed to find our way to the correct terminal and we were on our way!!
We arrived in Athens at around 7.15pm and were pleased that we had pre-booked a shuttle to take us to our accommodation. The Greek shuttle driver gave us some lovely commentry, about Athens, on the way to the Hotel and Steve tipped him accordingly.
We went into the Hotel to let them know we had arrived, only to find, that we were at the wrong Hotel!! Not happy Jan!! Our driver had departed and we had no idea of where we were.
The reception were very kind and organized a taxi for us to be taken to the correct Hotel and it was quite late when we finally arrived.
The Hotel - Athens Centre Square - is lovely and very central. We ordered a pizza for tea and sat on the rooftop overlooking the acropolis. It looks awesome lit up at night. It looked so close to us as well. We were mesmerized by the view and stayed up there, staring at it, until after 11pm.
Wonderful...
Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (Sue50). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (Sue50). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Sue and Steve (Sue50) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here

Salt Flats

So I sit writing this after two overnight bus rides in a row. One Saturday and the return Sunday. Saturday, just before leaving La Paz, I got a lecture from a verbose 21 year old British broad about going to the salt flats for one day was damaging the ecosystem. She was adamant that I should go for three days so the locals could see an economic benefit. My response to her did not make friends...especially considering her personal party activities don´t do too much to stimulate the local economy in a healthy, sustainable manner. I am all for making the world a better place but hypocrisy isn´t going to help too much. I am getting very tired of the idealist super young adults who know how the world works and have no problem telling you that you are ruining the ecosystem or don´t understand economic sustainability principles, or how KYND you have to be to your brothers and sisters. Maybe it is just time to get out of La Paz for good...maybe I am starting to turn into the old man who gets mad at the ice cream guy driving through the neighborhood, or maybe I am still the old soccer coach that players laughing means we aren´t working hard enough even when we are nine years old. Regardless, it is pretty comical to listen to the late 20/early 30´s English folks bag on the 19 year old English kids that are traveling the world for a year before they go back to start university studies.

So off we get on the so called luxury busline. Nice reclining capabilities, warm, food, etc...until about 2 am, when ice began forming on the inside of the window as we raced down a 550 kilometer road, of which 190 kilometers were unpaved. NIGHTMARE!!! And the justice is yet to be shown. Finally we get to Uyuni and wait around for about three hours to start the one day salt flat tour. Breakfast was great. Nothing like eggs, bacon, cheese, salsa, bread, Justin Timberlake´s "I want it that way" (at least I think that´s him). Christina Aguillera´s "Genie in a Bottle" and Cher´s pop hit, " Do you believe in Love." At that moment, I realized that Uyuni was tourist central. Michael Jackson was a vandalism favorite. So the salt flats were cool, made for some great pictures, and met a lot of

interesting characters out there. I have never seen anything like it. I am also glad I did not do the three day tour, which I am sure is spectacular but I have seen enough salt for a few weeks. But it was worthwhile to make a day and a half out of it.

I guess the highlight was the bus trip back, which was the exact luxury model we came in on. About ten minutes into the bus ride, dust started shooting through the cabin as if all the windows were open. A couple of older Israeli gentlemen started freaking out and screaming...of course it wasn´t working the way it is supposed to. (But note to self: opening the roof top escape holes doesn´t do much to help either.). So as they are McGrubering the escape routes, the bus folks started walking through the cabin to explain that we would be switching buses...in 6 hours. It was awesome. Everyone was tweaking out, folks were breathing with shirts over their mouths, I tied a winter hat around my face, and everyone tried to get some sleep. Then we get to switch buses six hours later, and they threw a group

off of our new bus and put them on the bus that was just leaking all of the dust through the cabin. Finally got some sleep and reflecting now, the first bus we had did not have heat and was leaking dust from 3 am until 6 am when we got there the first day. You have to love Bolivia. Great stuff.

So Peru is next in the coming days. Apparently the road blocks, protests, and unrest is still happening at the border crossing. There are 4 options. Fly to Peru (which costs $500 bucks, up $400 from ten days ago), 2-Go across the lake for ten hours and walk a few miles with your bag on once you cross Lake Titicaca. 3-Take a small camion and have rocks and sticks thrown at you and get the tires slashed. or 4. Go through Chile and a 24 hour bus ride to get to where you need. I want to visit the lake, as a Canuck said it was the nicest lake he has ever seen (as opposed to someone from Arizona saying it was gorgeous). I guess I will hitch a boat and cross the border as such. It

should be an interesting way to cross to say the least. I spoke with folks that have taken all of those options and that sounds like the safest and quickest...and most scenic. I got a total kick out of the guy who took the camion that was getting rocks and sticks thrown at him by 8 year olds was from Manchester and he said it wasn´t that bad...give me a break. He was a total rough neck who just needed a smoke and the clothes on his back. Getting stoned to death just to cross a border does not sound like fun.

I thought I was going to do a jungle trek but then I saw that Cuzco has some pretty wild white water rafting for multiple days. Then there is also the Colca Canyon in Arequipa. Now I just need to figure out the pathway to get all of that done in addition to the Salkantay trail to Machu Picchu. Not much time left and way too much stuff to do.
Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (avlfutbol). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (avlfutbol). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact James Fryar (avlfutbol) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here

May 20British Columbia to Yukon on our way to Alaska

May 20, 2011 Friday MacDonald Campground, Muncho Lake. Starting mileage at 7863. 46 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Got an early start at 8:30 this morning.

Our guidebook warned us in red letters to be aware of wood bison on the road for the next 170 km. All along the sides of the Alaskan Highway, trees and brush are cut back wherever they have room, for about 100-150 feet. The idea is that you can more easily spot animals coming onto the road. The thing is with this policy, is that it also allows grass to grow along the side of the road and the animals love to graze on it. We saw 15 wood bison along the road between Muncho Lake and Watson Lake where we planned to spend the night. They were scattered all along the way in small groups of two or three. In one place, a cow and her calf were grazing and Valerie was able to get a picture of the bull and Sharon of the cow and calf. We also noted sandy circles on the sides of the road where the bison had worn down the soil to make a dust

wallow.

After a bit of driving, we stopped to look at the Laird Hot Springs. The campground at this provincial park was full due to a 3 day Canadian holiday weekend, but, you could get in for $5. per person as a day pass to enjoy the hot springs. When we told the lady at the entrance booth, that we didn’t want to get in the pools, but just look at them, she said we could go in free. When we pulled into the parking lot, there were the Roadtreks of the lead guard of our group.

We walked on a boardwalk over boggy ground to the springs. There were about 6 of our group in the water. There were three sections of the pools; warm, hot, and so hot that no one felt they could stand to get into that pool. The area was supposed to have many orchids and unusual plants because of the springs and warmth, but we think it was just too early in the season for things to have grown out yet. No birds, nor animals around, except some sea gulls and a pair of Canadian geese. We visited with folks for a

bit and then headed on up the road toward Watson Lake.

We had lunch at Allen’s lookout which offered a great view of the river valley below. We continued on down the road through more woods [more ugly trees] and across more very fast moving creeks. The road was wide and good here so Valerie could make good time.

At Contact Creek, we stopped and got gas. It was a bit cheaper as we had crossed into the Yukon Territory. The road goes back and forth along the border, in and out of British Columbia for 6 crossings before staying north into the Yukon. Contact Creek was where a group building the road from a point north met the troops building the road up from the south to complete the southern section of this road. Gas was $1.359 a liter and we took 73 liters. Mileage 7990.

Saw a small bear walking along the road, no place to stop and get a picture---why can’t the bears plan their walks closer to a wide pull-out??? Pulled into Watson Lake and found the RV place we had planned to stay at mainly because it was right across the street

from Wye Lake. Not at all as we had pictured it from the brochure we got in the mail---more a flat, tree-less, bush-less, gravel parking lot with red posts sticking up that mark the place you connect to. Will eat dinner and go for a walk around Wye Lake this evening, and hope to see some of the birds they said were living here.

Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (RamblingRosies). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (RamblingRosies). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Sharon Mock Whitaker and Valerie Mock at Shoshone Falls, Idaho (RamblingRosies) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here

Last few days in London

Alright, so first night got a little bonkers, but hey that will happen your first time in Europe. Over the next few days I got to really experience the greater London area which was extremely fun. One night, the second night I was here actually, we decided to go to a club one last time and this time it was a mixed bag of trying to get Michal to dance with a girl he saw first so naturally gets dibs and a very interesting run in with the one and only, Girraffasouraus. Starting with the girl, she was basically the only attractive girl at the club and the rest were mostly guys, one being around 65, and the others either having a girlfriend or creepin. The 65 year old actually tried dancing with the really attractive blonde but was shot down immediately. Give him credit, most 65 year olds would never try to keep up with a 20ish year old girl. By most, I am excluding Mr. Hefner of course and maybe Donald Trump who should probably really be worried about the birth certificate of his "wife" he gets involved with not Obama...jail baaait.
Anyways, in the end no man ever danced with this girl, even taking poor Michal's money when he bought her a drink and hardly let him have his 10 seconds of fame. I did try after Michal and she simply nudged away so that was that. Now for Girrafasouraus, she was about 6ft 3ish, a very hot mess, and extremely dumb. She stumbled her way over to the booth Michal and I were sitting at and started grabbing our faces and trying to communicate with us. Unfortunately, Michal and I have no experience in girrafasouraus tongue so we just simply nodded our head and smiled. I don't actually think I have ever in my life spoke with someone for over 15 minutes and completely had no clue what she was saying. It was some mix of drunk and british but you really just are guessing at that point. However, I will say she was extremely friendly and and did kiss us on the cheek...multiple times. You may be wondering why we didn't leave but I think we were just so dumbfounded that all we could do is stay and watch because I don't think we will ever encounter another one of those in the wild ever again. When we did leave the club we went into Piccadilly Circus, a time square like feel to it with the huge LED billboards in which we came across a man who loved playing the saxophone to 3 AM drunkards. He did a mean Bad Romance and Dynamite. I have a video of this but you will have to go on FB to see it. On our way back on the bus to get back home, there just had to be a few french people who got on the bus and how do you say "obnoxious" in french? They were belligerently drunk and we were on the second level of the bus, they were in the back. Every time they passed a girl on the streets they would pound on the window and shout "F*ck you Beeetch" over and over and over again. I guess I know where the expression "Pardon my French" comes from. Rough time back, but slept nicely for the four hours I had.
So moving on with life, the next day was much more relaxed and comfortable, although that was not exactly hard to beat. I explored the Convent Garden area which was interesting to say the least. Convent Garden is basically one huge square that was filled with street performers and tourist shops. There was a man singing Opera in the middle of an outside restaurant, very comedic magicians, local singers, and one very strange individual who came up with an act involving a ten foot ladder and knives(FB video). The square was flooded with people the entire day and was a very entertaining experience. One of the weirder things that I have seen since being in London was when I walked into an ice cream shop. The first flavor I saw was called "the baby goo goo" which was literally breast milk ice cream. Now, I was very tempted to get it but with everything being so expensive I just asked the girl working there to try a sample. To my surprise she actually was not allowed to get samples so I was not able to try baby goo goo. I experienced a local theatre show called Woman in Black. It was basically one large ghost story in this really old and unique London theatre. I absolutely loved the show and there were actual moments that I was scared through blood curdling screams that the speakers would blast through the speakers right behind you. Being genuinely scared as if I was 12 again watching The Ring for the first time was very fun. After the show it was around 10 so we hit up a local pub and had a couple beers. Unfortunately, in the Greater London area unless you are a club, you stop serving alcohol at 11:30 and close completely at midnight. Really the only thing I can complain about besides a pound being worth almost twice as much as a dollar.
Yesterday, things started very early, having to get up at 6:30 in the morning to go to mass at 8 in the morning at one of the most famous and beautiful cathedrals: St. Paul's. This place was flat out amazing and had all kinds of intricate paintings and sculptures inside, it is really too bad they don't allow pictures inside. Mass was interesting, we ended up coming in late so I did not see the whole service but it was a good time. After mass we started walking towards London Bridge. To this point we really had not seen any touristy stuff so yesterday was the day to really knock all of it out. On our way towards the bridge we ran into old town London right off the Thames River. We passed and bought tickets to go see a Shakespearean performance at The Globe for tonight which should be amazing! London Bridge was phenomenal and a definite must see in person to really appreciate it. We crossed the bridge and bought tickets for the Tower of London. As we came up to the booth to buy our tickets this man approached Michal and asked him if he could buy his pre booked ticket because he was not going to be able to attend for the day, the man was very polite and Michal bought the ticket thinking he was doing the man a great favor. Not exactly the case, well, he was doing the man a great favor just not for the same reason. As we were entering the tower my ticket was punched but as Michal was about to get his punched the lady stopped and took his ticket and said he could not enter. Why exactly? Apparently this man has been put on the hot list at this place and taking advantage of tourists who buy his tickets. As a local, he can buy a ticket to this place for merely a pound and then resell them for 20 pounds to tourists knowing that they would not be able to enter. Michal also just nearly missed getting whacked in the face by a hovering pigeon, which at that point with the way his day was going I was surprised the bird missed. For whatever reason in London, pigeons seriously think they are in charge because you have to get out of the way for them not the other way around. There have been countless times where I had to duck down in order to not get whacked by them. Such dicks. We ended up talking to the supervisor to straight en it out and we were still able to get in without much harm done. The Tower of London was very cool, getting to see King Henry VIII's armor and the Royal Jewels was well worth it.
Now, after walking all over London and waking up at an ungodly(well it was for mass so I guess godly) hour, we were exhausted. Not to mention the only thing I had to eat was a measly protein bar for breakfast. We knew exactly where we wanted to go because on our way through London there was a Pub that looked really authentic so we stopped by. Fish n Chips anyone? Well apparently they were the best in London you would think because we ended up waiting over an hour for it to come out. I had recognized the problem, we were in the restaurant portion of the pub and if we would have seen the "Grab N Go" portion of the Pub we would have gotten the same exact meal within minutes and we could have paid less by getting a smaller portion not offered at the restaurant. Basically I ended up the a big ass thing of Fish N Chips that I paid nearly $20 for and being that hungry you think it would have been fantastic but after waiting so long it pretty much took what would have been good fish n chips to average. Oh well though, we laughed about it and made jokes through out the hour waiting because that is really all you can do. Now, the second to last thing on the agenda for the day was to get a pitcher of Pimms because it is supposed to be amazing and you have to have it right on the board walk. When I ordered it, asked the bartender "This pitcher of Pimms will get us drunk right?" From what we had heard it was supposed to really hit you good but the bartender actually said "No, get the English Garden, it has Gin in it" Don't have to tell me twice, I was sold. After an extremely long and somewhat frustrating day it was exactly what we needed. The pitcher had Gin, Elderflower, Cucumbers, Oranges, and Lemonade mixed in. Finally our day was what we expected because it was very tasty. South bank was a very awesome place to enjoy it too because it was outside, overlooking the river as the sun was setting. A very cool atmosphere. The night was nearly complete. The last thing we really wanted to do was visit the Camden neighborhood. When we got there we found a very authentic english bar filled with people our age and the best part: On sundays they have live jazz bands playing so we got to hear some local jazz bands that were very good. We had to call the night early though(earlier than the bars that close in London even) and went back to the Hostel and were in bed by midnight.
Now, off to get ready for the last night in London and what better to end your stay in London than going to The Globe to witness William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. I will be in Paris tomorrow to start my 3 study abroad through France, Italy, and Belgium. Cheers!
Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (Addison). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (Addison). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Addison Brown (Addison) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here

J90 en Colombie

Aujourd’hui je ne vais pas aller dans le labo car j’ai d’autres choses à faire avec l’entreprise française. Jeudi, nous avons aussi une grosse réunion et je dois préparer un travail. Nous sommes venues à pied mais moi je repars avec les transporteurs qui viennent à l'entreprise et Sandra en moto. Avec Sandra nous allons à San Nicolas faire quelques courses. J’en profite pour m’acheter de nouvelles tennis car les miennes commençaient sérieusement à faire la tête ! En même temps je les ai achetées quand j’étais en première !!! Autrement dit ça date. Ce soir nous allons avec Juan-José et Sandra boire de l’aguardiente et manger du chorizo. Il fait une temps de chien donc un petit réconfort sera le bienvenue :) . Nous passons une agréable soirée à rire et à décompresser de notre semaine.
Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (Emilie50). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (Emilie50). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Emilie Lecouillard (Emilie50) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here

Kep old villas pepper crab and beer

Another wonderful day in Kep.

Breakfast at the Veranda is great, back into my SE Asia favourite - omlettes.

Organised a Tuk tuk driver through the hotel to do a tour of Kep and in particular all the old villas. Kep used to be the playground for the well off with rows upon rows of villas This all changed with the Khmer Rouge and there are now hundreds? of villas in total disrepair with everything except solid concrete removed. There are conflicting stories as to whether the Khmer Rouge destroyed the villas or they were stripped by the locals who sold the materials in Vietnam.

Needless to say it is a photography heaven. so a couple of hours later we were dropped back at the Crab Market for a wonderful lunch of Kep crab with green pepper. yum!!! Not to mention a big bottle of Angkor beer (640ml) for $2 a bottle. who wouldn't be happy. Besides the food the Crab Market is just a great place to sit and watch Cambodian life in action with the crab ladies wading out to their necks at times to recover and reset their crab traps.

After lunch it was back to the hotel - decided to walk - wouldn't bother again so much easier in a tuk tuk (or is it - more later).

An afternoon by the pool then it was back to the crab Market for drinks and dinner. After a couple of drinks we couldn't be bothered moving for food so ordered where we were despite a limited menu - bad choice. The food was ordinary.

Decided to get a tuk tuk back up the hill after the afternoon's effort. Negotiated our price set off but only made it half way up before the tuk tuk died. Paid a reduced rate then walked up the hill anyway. Will have to improve our negotiation skills to include no payment if they can't make it to the front door.

Will add some photos when I can be bothered.
Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (slopenbeach). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (slopenbeach). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Scott Harvey (slopenbeach) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here

Siena

We just LOVE Tuscany. Have spent the last two days walking up hill and down dale from little village to little village. All beautiful. All different. Have walked miles and miles and it has been very hot! Had a picnic today overlooking 360 degrees of beautiful Tuscan scenery - breathtaking! Arrived in Siena about 5 pm and have just had a realo trulo pasta meal in what seemed to be a realo trulo Italian kitchen - no menu, no wine list - grumpy old man with apron made out of a teatowel - but the 7Euro meal, including wine from a decanter plonked on the table, was to die for.

Ad and I can't get over how trim the Italian women are. We decided it was their intake of olive oil so have upped ours. No luck. I had the trots for the day - Ad the opposite!

We have the day in Siena tomorrow and shortly head off to the Chinque Terre. We are both really looking forward to this and anticipate it will be highlight of our Italian sojurn.

That's it for now. Thanks for your messages.

Cheers and love. Ad and Liz

Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (Lizzie and Ad). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (Lizzie and Ad). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Elizabeth Calder (Lizzie and Ad) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here

"Hot Town Summer in the City"

The pilot announced we would enter the glide path in four minutes. Soon, coastal villages could be seen, glowing in the darkness. As we descended he told us it was 9:30pm, and the temp on the ground was 91ºF / 34ºC ( which actually doesn't correlate; 34 is 93, but who's counting: hot is hot).

This is my first encounter with Merida's famous summer season (April & May) before the cooling rains of June arrive. The heat was a bit of relief, really, after such a long cold winter in Buffalo, which had rudely hung on into spring. But sleeping was a bit challenged by minor inconveniences. My room was right on the sidewalk, with a streetlight above it. I wanted to sleep al nudo. (The locals sleep in hammocks to minimize bed sweating; but that wasn't an option.) So I had to trick out the curtain to enable privacy while still allowing breeze to enter. And I propped open the door to let it flow thru the room, while still retaining decency. There was a/c, but I certainly was not going to use it. The heat felt good.

The traffic was not going to be dealt with so readily. At times it sounded as though vehicles were racing past at 60mph / 100kph. The street is narrow, and Centro Historico is choc-a-bloc with housing built wall-to-wall. I had to tune it out, which was soon done. I awoke to the gentle cooing of mourning doves, refreshed.

A walk to the food court at Santiago plaza rewarded me with a tasty breakfast: torta de pollo — pulled chicken on a bun with salad and chilled tea.

Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (HatCat). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (HatCat). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Eric Chaffee (HatCat) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here

Day 31 Perugia

OK I arrived in Perugia early this afternoon at half 12ish. I left my bag at the station as I knew that the hostel would be shut. I went for a nice walk around the town after getting the minimetro service up the hill then walking from teh minimetro station to the town without realising that there were escalators to get you to the top. Ah well.

Perugia is a very nice small town. Even though it is the capital of Umbria it is still has a very provincial feel about it. I spent a couple of hours wondering around and fell in love with the town. I then stopped at a pattiserie for a croissant filled with proscuto ham and a soft cheese and a flaky croissant for a few euros. I then went for another wonder before going to fetch my bag and finding the hostel. There were no problems finding the hostel, all very straight forward. I went out again for a little before returning to the hostel and chatting to two yale graduates who were going on to study law at yale and new york respectively.

Tomorrow I'm going to go to Asissi. It sounds like a wonderful place.
Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (JamieOConnor). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (JamieOConnor). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Jamie O (JamieOConnor) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here

Visiting the gentle giants Legaspi Donsol

Our trip to Donsol began with a 25 hour bus ride! We took another freezing cold night bus from Banaue to Manila (10hours) which arrived at 6am. We originally planned on spending the day in Manila and then taking another long bus ride to Legaspi (the main town near Donsol) the following day. However, because we were so tired from our first journey we didn't feel up to exploring the chaos of Manila and so decided to power through and take a local bus to Legaspi (13hours). The bus journey was great but VERY long, we left at 8am and got to Legaspi at 9.30pm so if you add that to our night bus we were traveling for over 25 hours! On the bus we were crammed into our seats (with 7 people squashed across one row), had chickens in boxes beneath our feet and again had children throwing up around us! It was really nice though to travel by day and see the country and it's people, the landscape is stunning and so underdeveloped, mountains and jungle are still the norm with tiny rural villages in between. Another great part of local bus rides is the sellers that jump on with all sorts of yummy (and not so yummy) treats to try! Although we won't be traveling 25 hours again in a hurry, the experience was good fun! 

Legaspi itself isn't the greatest of places and our experience was worsened by our hotel; as we arrived late, everywhere was full apart from our very shabby, cockroach ridden and smelly hotel so we had no choice but to stay in it (or pay a lot of money for an upmarket one)! The only good thing (and it's a pretty awesome thing) about Legaspi was Mount Mayon- an active volcano. It really is impressive- perfectly formed and absolutely huge! We could have sat and watched it's smoke plumes for ever, we were really mesmerized by it! Really amazing! 

After a good look at Mt Mayon we caught a bus to Donsol pretty promptly and had 4 of the best days of the whole trip, we absolutely fell in love with the place, it's people, and it's "Butanding!" 

We were really lucky as we were there for the towns fiesta period so every night the town was alive and everyone was in a festive mood! Our first day was jam packed: we went swimming

with whale sharks in the morning, went to a local cockerel fight in the afternoon, and then spent the evening at the local basketball tournament! 

The whale sharks (known here as 'butanding') where incredible, words can't describe the feeling you get as you jump off the boat and look down to find yourself right above the head of a 10 metre giant! They are so beautiful, so graceful and so chilled out, just swimming below or next to you as if we wern't even there. We were extremely lucky as it is coming to the end of their season but we managed to see 4 different individuals and swam with them 8 times. The first 2 swims however were slightly crazy, way too many people around one shark, most of which couldn't swim, and we spent most of our time trying to get them off our shoulders as they held on to us to stay afloat, we couldn't believe it! Why the hell would you go swimming with sharks if you can't blooming swim, and why let so many people around one shark (we complained to the office after in great detail about how they wern't keeping to the

guidelines)! After that however we had 4 brilliant swims with just a few of us around the sharks. We swam for ages with one, admiring every detail from it's head to it's tail, all the way along it's spotted back. And then our last swim was just mind blowing, we jumped in to find ourselves just inches away from it's face as it just calmly swam right past us, looking us straight in the eye! Just amazing! We will definitely be returning to do this again and would recommend it to everyone (as long as you can swim of course).

That afternoon our tricycle driver offered to take us to a local cockerel fight as we'd been asking a bit about it. It was mental. Just crazy! A big arena especially for it, full of men going absolutely bonkers, bets being thrown around everywhere and everyone just shouting and screaming at the cocks! It is one of the main traditions in the Philippines and really popular with the locals, they take huge pride in looking after and raising a good strong cockerel! 

The fights however were savage, it was brilliant to see such an event as it's a

massive part of their culture but at parts Lucy couldn't watch. They strap huge blades onto the cocks ankles and get them really fired up and then the fight begins and it doesn't end until one of them is dead. The worst part however is that towards the end one of the cocks is pretty much dead but until they are completely dead they are still left in the ring, wings broken unable to move. The poor thing just lays there defenseless as all the men in the ring are jumping around it screaming! It was worth going to though as we've never seen anything like it before and it was definitely an insight into Filipino culture. 

Later that evening we then went to the towns provincial basketball tournament. It was part of the build up to their fiesta and the local governers and Mayors had put together a team to play the locals! It was great fun
and there was such a huge community spirit, the whole town was there to watch! We were the only westerners there which was brilliant as we felt privileged to be a part of something so local! Then the mayor asked Lucy

to go up for a photo at the tip off and let us sit near to the commentator who was hilarious! The governers were all very
keen to speak to us which was great,
they made us feel so welcome! 

The next day we decided to go diving! We had been deliberating for ages as to whether or not we could afford it but after seeing a video at the dive shop of a 5m manta ray from the day before there was no stopping us! We wanted to dive the manta bowl- an area known for it's large abundance of mantas as they come here to be cleaned by smaller fish species, the shop however made us dive a macro sight first as the manta bowl is meant to be a hard dive with strong currents so they wanted to make sure we were competent. The macro dive, off st. Miguel island was really stunning, one of our favourite dives so far. The
coral was just beautiful, and so diverse and colourful. And the macro life was gorgeous too- lots of tiny puffer fish and box fish, nudibranches, tiny fish, morey eels, star fish and much more. We

also went into a cave which was pretty cool! The manta bowl however was a huge disappointment, the visibility was really bad and we couldn't see anything! The only thing we did see were stingrays which were cool but they wern't mantas! It was a shame but we can't expect perfect dives every time and it's now given us something to search for, our main goal for the rest of the trip is to see one! 

That evening it was the class of 2011s graduation and every year on graduation night, all of the past school years have reunions and congregate at the local 'beer plaza' for a big party! People travel from all over the place to come back for the reunion and the town is just buzzing! Our guest house owner was part of the class of 1987 and she was hosting their reunion party and invited us along! It was
brilliant, we ate with them all (trying
out some great local dishes) and then
went with them to the plaza to party! It was such great fun, we met a group of Filipinos from the class of 2003 (closer to our age) and spent the night

drinking and dancing with them! We even had the mayors grandson buying us beer! Haha! 

Our time in Donsol has been one that we will never forget, such a great place, such great people and such amazingly great memories that will be with us forever! 

Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (Lucy and Rikki). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (Lucy and Rikki). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Lucy and Rikki (Lucy and Rikki) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here

Photo.net travel section

by Nikos | December 15th, 2004

Photo.net is probably one of the best-known and authoritative online resources for photography in general. What is perhaps a little less known, is it’s excellent travel photography section featuring a must-read travel tips page for photographers and numerous destination-specific guides that cover anything from equipment and photo-ops to local labs and facilities. Worth checking out before you go.

View the original article here

Random Meat and Double Vowels

Well, it's been a few days now since I last wrote and i can say i have finally got some kilometers under the belt (and in my legs). Yay! But not today. Four days of riding, a little bit of rain and already I'm calling a rest day. Not bad eh?

But first, the nightmare that was trying to get out of Tallinn. As you know, not the most adept at map reading but... to say I was lost was an understatement. In my defence though I will add that the bike paths do not follow the roads as such and so I managed to get completely off track. I think I found the right road after some 10km of cycling aimlessly in circles. But once out, well what a relief. I had hoped to make it to Haapsalu which was some 100km away. I think I could have made it if not for the unfortunate beginning. Still, it was a pretty good effort to get to just near Linnamae (a little town 12km or so from Haapsalu). I found (read surprised) the owners of a farmstay and had the most wonderful night's sleep (aided somewhat by 1/2 litre of Saarama beer which does kick quite a punch as far as beer is concerned).

I was bound for Hiiumuu island the next day but, as luck would have it, I didn't time my arrival too well and just missed out on the 10;30 ferry so had to wait until 14:30 for the 1,5 hour crossing. But I was blessed with lovely weather and provided with a perfect opportunity to sit back and do nothing.

I really enjoyed riding on Hiiumuu island and in fact, so far at least, I get a really positive vibe from this country and people. The riding has been spectacular on brilliant smooth roads with lovely hard shoulders so no one (me) gets in the way. I have been told that it's not necessarily so further in the west of the country. Oh dear.

That evening I was heading towards Kärdla but, as the guesthouse was fully booked and I didn't fancy riding another 11km to where I was told was some nice camping I headed towards Tubala instead. I seem to be taking many cabin/farmstay owners by surprise because it seemed my arrival was something of a shock. What, you want to camp? Why, it might rain. It might get cold. Better you stay in the cabin. Yeah, ok whatever. I'm tired. Showers seem to be something of a novelty when you camp in the cabins it seems. I showered in their own bathroom. That was kind of weird going through the house, towel in hand whilst dinner was being prepared. Still, I think I've done weirder.

The next day started early as there was no tent drying involved. The road, although normally very quiet, was even more so. Normally you can hear cars and trucks approaching from quite a while away and but I really did have it all to myself for quite a long time. It was a beautiful way to start the day. Just with birdsong and the sound of my not-so-oily chain going around. The stillness really is other wordly here. And the trees. There's lot of them. Beautiful forests of birches and pines (gives new meaning to the term Baltic pine), bogs (!!), and the most gorgeous abundance of wildflowers. Add to that no wind, flat smooth roads, cool crisp air with sunny skies and you have the making of a perfect cycling holiday.

I was riding the secondary road number 81 to Käina and then around on an even smaller road to Kasseri and Sääretirp. Now there was a lovely place to camp! Out by sea, no one around but the birds. But it was onwards. I had another ferry to catch, and as there are only two every day on the weekends I really did not want to miss it. I think I was overly paranoid because I got to Söru with a couple of hours yet to kill. But it was a decent ride that day, with an early start so when I got to Saaramaa island I just wanted to find somewhere to sleep. And I found the perfect place in Kongi Farmstay. It had a windmill which I got to spend the night in. It was undeniably cozy and that was just with me in it. Add another bunk and well, really you would have had to take turns to move. It made for a squeeze and that was just with me (plus all my stuff!), There was also a bird watching tower which was wonderful. There was only enough room for the comfortable, cowhide covered stool but it was so wonderful being up there and watching the birds in Triigi Laht. It was yet another wonderful way to spend the time. There were lots of terns, swans and herons and in the tower a little book to record the sightings. I wish I'd brought my binoculars.

The following day (yesterday) I was Kuressaare bound and where I am at the moment. Again, another wonderful day's cycling with the skies even bluer and the sun even stronger (I ended up with a not-so-wonderful red nose at the end of yesterday and am already getting that weathered look ie freckles and straw-like hair).

The scenery is markedly different to what I experienced in Hiiumuu. More wide open spaces, agriculture is quite predominant here too. Windmills here too as on Hiiumuu (can't keep track of how many photos I now have of windmills) and churches. It makes me wonder about the population of this island in days of old. The churches are almost cathedral like in scale, especially the one I saw in Kaarma,

I also spent a fair bit of yesterday getting lost. Surprise, surprise. So I decided, that as I'm still cycling during my lost time I need to be keeping tabs on it. Hence today I bought, and got fitted, a speedometer. I also asked the good man at the bike shop to look at my rear brakes because yes, one side was rubbing on the rim (!!), oil my chain because yes, it was noisy (!!) and pump up my tyres because, yes they were flat. The bike shop only charged me for the speedometer and not for any other labour. Even when I offered. The Estonians are a pretty reserved bunch, but I've found if you ask for help, they are they for you. And polite. Ever so polite. Now, if only I could understand what they're saying...

Today I spent the day with a Dutch man who is also cycling (fancy a Dutch man cycling) and staying at this hostel. So we spent some time cycling around, some time walking around, some time eating and some time doing stuff like trying to find methylated spirits for my camp cooker. We shall soon find out if what I bought is what it should be... just need to make sure I have an extinguisher nearby in case it turns nasty.

Random meat. I've had a fair bit. But not always because I mean to. The other day I bought what I thought was a beetroot salad composed of, what I thought was a ridiculously high ratio of mayonnaise to beetroot only to find that they had also shoved bit of ham in there as well. Ugh. Think I'll just stick to the processed meat from now on.

Anyway, tomorrow it's onwards again. I hope to make it to just near Kuivastu and then take the ferry back to the mainland the following day. All going well I will be in Pärnu in 3 days time. Weatherwise there may be a few showers and the wind is going to pick up too. We shall see. I do feel a lot better physically for having rested today (but mentally a bit guilty).

Thanks too to everyone who's messaged or emailed me. I will try to respond next time I get on the internet. Hopefully will get to post some photos too.
Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (Bernii). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (Bernii). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Bernii Wood (Bernii) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here

Istanbul

Arrived in Istanbul late this afternoon, population 15 million and the only city straddling 2 continents. Old capital of the Eastern Roman Empire (as Constantinople) until 1453 then the Ottaman Empire, now a city of mosques. Had a walk to Taksim square to stretch the legs and look at the shops near the hotel. Views from the hotel over the Golden Horn towards Sultanamhet.
Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (GaryandGai). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (GaryandGai). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Gary & Gai (GaryandGai) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here

Strike Two

I have been wanting to do the trek through the Cinque Terre for years ... ever since I saw Valerie Pringle Has Left the Building and she effortlessly goes from little village to little village without a hair out of place. Ahem ... great editing!

I had originally wanted to do this excursion on the 23rd. When I was looking at the train situation, I was getting better options for today so I changed my plans. I wasn't super in the mood to be doing it a day earlier but better trains, better day. I rarely change my plans ... it's almost like a superstition and I should have listened to that little voice inside my head. Even why I got up this morning, it took me a while to get excited about heading out there. But on the train, the excitement grew and I was totally into doing this. The weather was out of this world (very hot and very sunny).

The Cinque Terre are essentially five small villages that are perched upon these cliffs and have essentially remained unchanged for centuries. There are hiking paths that link the villages; the blue line being the most popular. There

are also trains and boats that go along from village to village. (this would be an important fact in this whole story!) The Cinque Terre is a considered a national park and it is home to vineyards and wine production. And to give you an idea of the size of the villages ... the largest one is Riomaggiore and it's population is approximately 1,800.

So I took the train to Riomaggiore, bought my Cinque Terre card and headed out on the Via dell'Amore which links Riomaggiore to Manarola (population 850). Manarola is apparently the village with the most grapevines which you can see lining the sides of cliffs.

The walk on Via dell'Amore is easy and takes about 30 minutes. Nothing strenuous about it at all. The views are mindblowingly gorgeous. So I make it Manarola to discover that the path that links Manarola and the next village (Corniglia) is closed. Fine ... I will hop on the train when I am ready to move on. Mmmm ... problem is ... there's a strike and there are no trains running today. But how did I get here ... that was a train, right???

So no trains and

no path to Corniglia. Well ... there are alternate paths. I tried to find the alternate path and blew out a lung doing so. And truly without exageration ... it would have been the equivalent of me climbing the hill in Mont Tremblant and going back down the other side to reach the next village. Honestly ... I am not exagerating. I asked someone when I was just trying to find the start to the path and he basically said that it was very long and strenuous. You need to be a serious hiker to be doing that and that my friends I am not. I think that they estimate the time it takes to do the alternate route at around 2.5 hours (and one you are on it there is no stopping ... just turning back I guess).

Okay so the option is boats ... there are boats. But here's the thing ... as soon as I found out that there was a strike ... all I kept thinking about was how I was going to get back to Pisa. I was a good hour and half away. The girl at the counter at one point said something

... well you can try to find car. Mmm sure ...easy to do.

I wish I could be one of these people that just can put those things aside and still enjoy the day but I'm not. I am by myself ... I have a lot of time to think and very little distraction that may be travelling partner might bring!! It might also be because I am by myself and therefore the only one who can get me back to my hotel is me. There is no relying on anyone at this point. I wasn't scared ... I knew that there was a solution. And I have said it before ... you can always find someone who is willing to help you. And when push comes to shove ... I can be damn resourceful. So did I enjoy my day ... to be very honest, it was really hard for me to really get into it. And I was mad with myself because I was in probably one of the most beautiful places on earth (paradise ...absolute paradise) and I could not shake the question of how I was going to get back to Pisa.

So I

took the boat to Vernazza (the boat doesn't stop in Corniglia so I only got to see if from afar!). When you approach, there are rocks jutting out and they have this tiny little beach. The water is this incredible colour ... I wouldn't even know how to describe it. I stopped for lunch at one of the little cafes and enjoyed some gnocchi ... but again question still gnawing.

I poked around Vernazza and then found the trail that would take me from Vernazza to Monterosso. I started up the trail and about 15-20 minutes in I was starting to doubt my ability to actually do this the whole way. First, I saw a group of teenage boys coming from Monterosso and they looked like they were about to die. They are supposed to be full of energy and life and they are struggling with this. Do I really think that I (who technically could have been their mom) can do this??? Then I met another couple who said ... I hope you have a lot of water with you. Mmmm ... I will keep going for another little bit and see. So then I met another couple

who were about my parents age. I said to the woman that I was starting to have doubts about my ability to actually make it all the way. She answered "if I knew then what I know now ... I would have turned back". Well ... so I answered something to the effect that I would be taking the advice of the wise and turn back. Her husband looked at me and said "if we were so wise we wouldn't have walked all the way ... we would have taken the boat!". Sold ... I am turning back.

Okay so my dream of trekking through the Cinque Terre was a little less than realistic. Hence why I say good editing on the part of the Valerie Pringle show ... she just looked like she breezed through that thing. Mmmmm .... I'm guessing that she took the train. So my Cinque Terre was really just a Tre Terre because I only got to see three of the villages.

So now I had to find a way home .... think think think. So I hoped on a boat that would take me to La Spezia. This little town is often

the starting point for tour groups and the train station I know has tons of connections for regional and intercity trains. When there is a strike, there are still some trains that run. But there are also tons and tons of cancellations. And if there were no trains, I figured I would have a chance at finding a hotel room if it came to that. Oh God I prayed that it would not get to that.

Getting to La Spezia necessitated a boat change in Porto Venere. Such a cute town ... it is the Italian version of Marseille with fishing boats along the water. There is a church high atop a cliffside. It just seemed like loveliness and I wished that I would have actually been able to stay longer (although at that point I was not really into being a tourist ... I had a job to do ... Pisa or bust!!)

I finally reached La Spezia. Okay ... now train station ... where on earth is that. By that time it is past 6 pm and there does not seem to be alot going on in La Spezia apart from the throngs of tourists hoping

back on their tour buses to get back to their hotels (lucky bastards!). The Tourist Information desk was definitely closed at that time. So where to go when you need someone who speaks a reasonable amount of English and knows a lot of stuff about being a lost tourist ... a hotel. So I meandered aimlessly until I found a pedestrian street that was lined with boutiques and I came upon the Hotel Genova. I explained my predicament and told him that either I wanted a train and if I could not find a train then I wanted a room. So the lovely gentleman went on the internet, made a couple of calls and was able to give me some train information. I believe that I said "oh my God I love you" to which he turned beet red. He also wrote all of the information down and gave me a map which he highlighted so I could walk to the train station.

I got to the train station and waited and waited. Periodically there were announcements which always ended with the staff being very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. I had myself a little picnic of

McNuggets and fries on platform number three. I had a nice chat with an Italian couple about my Kobo eReader. During that time I also learned my numbers in Italian ... didn't realize that waiting for a train could also be educational. So there were repeated announcements about train "uno-otto-uno-cinque" that was supposed to be arriving on "binario tre". And then like a mirage, it appeared and finally I was on my way back to Pisa Centrale. So by around 9:45 pm I was safely tucked into my hotel ... I cracked open a bottle of the bubbly wine from the mini bar ... I don't care that it is ridiculously expensive I made it back in one piece and with my sanity somewhat intact!! I don't anticipate doing much of anything tomorrow!!

Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (carfour). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (carfour). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Caroline (carfour) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here

Sign of a good tourist attraction ... it should give you a case of the giggles

This morning I said goodbye to Florence. The owner gave me a big hug and kiss on the cheek and said "when you come back to Florence, baby?" She has taken to calling me baby since about the first five minutes after meeting her. Come back ... I certainly hope so one day but I think that I will try to get through the rest of this trip first. Then I'll start thinking about the next one!!

I of course took the train to Pisa and it is an easy one-hour ride. My hotel is just a short walk from there and I found it with no problems. My room was not ready when I arrived so the girl very innocently asked "can you go for walk and come back?" and then she whips out this map of Pisa and proceeds to highlight the route to the Leaning Tower (or as it is known here ... the Torre Pendente).

I have said it before but tourist attractions that are this popular scare me but I just could not resist making a beeline to go and see it. First, there were large crowds but because it is on such large

grounds you do not get the feel that you are being swarmed by tourists. The second thing is the sheer entertainment value of watching the tourists doing the classic poses of making it look like they are either pushing or holding up the tower. It is absolutely priceless. It reminded me of tai chi classes that I have seen in parks in South East Asia. And that was the difference also from all of the other large tourist attractions that I have been too and that attract enormous groups ... it was the levity around it. People were having fun and just laughing and goofing around. I don't ever remember seeing that before ... other places they just look miserable and just focused on jockeying for position to get their photo taken in front of whatever.

The tower itself is actually smaller than I would have imagined but it is actually quite beautiful. It was recently restored so it is a pristine white colour. What got me in reading some of the things about it was the fact that it took them to about the third level to realize that it was leaning. Really??? When you look at it,

it is so obvious from the first level that it is hard to believe that they even continued construction (although construction was stopped and started a number of times over many many many years). I think that I read that the architect is also not known ... really ... would you admit to it???

I was on the fence as to whether I wanted to climb it or not. Not because I didn't want to climb ... I love me a good set of stairs!! It had more do to with the fact that my guidebook had said to pre-book the tickets a good two weeks in advance. I had decided to just see if it was do-able at the last minute. If it was meant to happen, I would get my chance. I had the same experience in NYC for The Top of the Rock and we sailed right in with no wait time. So hopefully luck was on my side ...

So I walked over to the ticket office and there were two families ahead of me. Over the wickets, there is a monitor that lists out the possible times to climb the tower and how

many places are left (they only let 40 people in at the same time). Well ... next available time was at 2 pm and there was one place left. The people in front of me were hemming and hawing about what time to pick. Move over people ... I'm alone ... just one ... solo ... me pick me ... I can go at 2!!! Okay so it was still an hour and a half waiting time but damn it, I am climbing the thing!! For once being a solo traveller is paying off!

The wait gave me time to visit the Cathedral and Baptistery and just mill about the grounds. The weather has definitely gotten much hotter in the last week or so. It was steaming hot and you definitely had to search for that one little spot of shade. And my incessant drinking of Orange Fanta continues.

So at around 1:50, I made my way to the coatcheck to drop off my purse. They do not allow you to bring bags, just your camera. I then made my way by the tower. I have climbed a lot of stuff at this point but I was really

excited about this one. What I was not anticipating is that I would get a serious case of the giggles doing it.

So here's the thing ... when you are climbing the stairs you are essentially circling around the tower itself. What I was not expecting (although it's really logical) is that you physically feel the tilt so you don't end up actually climb the stairs right in the middle. It kind of throws your balance off course and you tend to stammer from one side to the other. If you have ever been on a cruise ship in high seas and have not been able to walk a straight line .... it's that same feeling. You almost feel like you are drunk. And that was what made me laugh hysterically for some reason. It really doesn't take much on any given day ... but I'm sorry this was priceless. You can also see from where the stairs are used up that people have definitely stammered from one side to the other when climbing this thing.

Once you reach the top, it feels a little daunting. You have great views but again it tilts and it tilts quite

a bit. So when you are looking over the railing in the direction of how it leans ... mmmm ... not usually scared of heights but I was holding on to that railing. And then it was time to go back down. I am so glad that I decided to climb it because I do have to say that it was a highlight for me. That was just outright fun.

So I walked around a little bit and visited the other sights that my ticket gave me access to. I then made it back to the hotel. Because it was Saturday, my dad was at home in the afternoon so we got to chat for quite a bit. I spun the computer around so that he could see my view. I was trying to point out the "fountain" which was a trompe l'oeil and thefore not real and he said "oh yeah the Porsche". Ummm no dad ... look at the fountain ... not real, painted but looks real. The Europeans sure love their trompe l'oeil!!

May 23

After a very long day yesterday at the Cinque Terre, I definitely needed a day to wind down. So

I wandered around Pisa aimlessly. I did circle back to the Leaning Tower (I had to see it one last time). I ended up spending a good part of the day on the terrace at the hotel reading my book (I am on my fourth one) and heading back out for a bit to grab some supper and gelato. Lazy day really ... sometimes you just need one of those.
Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (carfour). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (carfour). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Caroline (carfour) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here

Vending Machines of Seoul, South Korea

Here I am in an impromptu battle with a local South Korean man over who can win the most prizesThis is what I love about travelling, you never know when you’re going to make a new friend, English speaking or not.  I visited Seoul, South Korea a couple years ago, and became addicted to these vending machine games.  They’re basically the same as we have in the US, with the claw you drop and try to catch things, but they’re dirt cheap, and the prizes are all gold lighters and chewing gums.

An audience gathers as we continue destroying the machines30 minutes and $20 into my attempt at scoring the best prizes in the machine, a gypsy taxi pulls up and parks illegally.  Out hops a Korean guy with some cash.  He puts it in the machine and starts going at it, occasionally glancing over to me.  A few minutes later he wins a giant bat mobile toy and gives me a smile.  Then he realizes how many prizes I’ve won, the top of my machine is covered in them.  He comes over and starts watching me, goes back, wins some more, and comes back to show me his new prizes.  This went on for another 20 minutes, both of us competing to see who could get the best winnings.  It got to the point where people walking by took notice and stopped for a look.  We had prizes covering the tops of the machines and laid out on the floor around us.  At the end of the day, without being able to speak any logical words to each other, we were both quite happy with our success and the exchange of culture.

My new Korean friend and I posing with our winnings2 days later on my flight to Beijing, all my gold lighter winnings were confiscated at customs…

The highlights of my loot - mainly gold animal figurines which double as lighters when you push on their talesThis article was posted by Mike on Saturday, May 21st, 2011 at 9:29 AM

View the original article here

The Abyss

by Nikos | November 16th, 2003

The photo used for the blog’s header is a composite panorama (4-5 photos stitched together) from a place called The Abyss in southern Venezuela. This is where the tepui mountain formations of Venezuela suddenly stop, and you can see the entire Amazonia spread ahead of you as far as the eye can see. The vastness of the rainforest is why they named it so.

When we went there, the entire view was blocked by clouds. After 30 minutes or so the clouds started to part and dissolve, and within minutes the wonder was revealed. I took the opportunity to make this photo of my friends, engulfed into the magnificence of the view.

To me, this photo represents what travel photography is all about. It’s about a unique place, it’s about discovery, it’s about having a great time in the absence of gadgets or artificial entertainments, just by going there, just by being there.

View the original article here

We Love Al Fresco – Surfers Paradise

You’ve been traveling the East Coast of Australia.  You’ve arrived in Surfers Paradise, the most touristy city of all.  The streets are lined with kebab joints, stale pizza slices, McDonalds, and take away Chinese.  Where do you go for food?  From the heart of town, cruise down Gold Coast Highway towards the Q1 tower.  On the left hand side you’ll arrive at my favorite restaurant in Surfers Paradise, Al Fresco.

Al Fresco is a family run Italian Restaurant.  You’ll meet the proprietors Tony and Silvana every night; I used to live a block away and every time I walked by I’d see them running around serving and entertaining customers.  It’s the type of place where the walls are covered in photos of people enjoying their food, including many celebrities, both local and international.  Depending on the weather there is indoor and outdoor seating.  You can rely on  Tony and Silvana to take great care of you, and the food is great.  If you want to drink, they are a licensed establishment, or you can bring your own wine for a small cork-age fee.  There is a bottle shop next door just in case…

Address: 2991 Gold Coast HWY, Surfers Paradise QLD, 4217

Phone: +61 5538 0395

Mobile: +61 412 451 231

Dine-In or Takeaway

Open: 7 nights a week Until Late

Serving: Pizza, Pasta, Steak, Seafood

This article was posted by Mike on Friday, May 13th, 2011 at 6:51 PM

View the original article here

Down & Dirty – Leaving Western Style Toilets Behind

A warning, this article is going to be about poop and pee, if you don’t care to read about that, click here.  Otherwise, lets get to know each other a little bit…

One of the great things about travelling, and most important skills you develop from it, is stepping outside your comfort zone.  You better be able to do this, especially when venturing off the beaten path.  When you get into parts of Asia, Eastern Europe, The Middle East, and Africa, you’re going to discover a whole new appreciation for what you know as the toilet.  For what they call a toilet, is often times no more than a hole in the ground to us.

I’m a fan of potty humor, a big fan actually.  I think farts are probably one of the funniest things in the world.  I think the word “boner” is hilarious.  Some of you may call me immature for this, thats fine, but I’m doing my best to grow up slow.  That being said, I’m also very comfortable using the restroom almost anywhere.  I have friends who refuse to use any toilet other than their own, this is not me.  Unfortunately, or fortunately, I’ve experienced the worst of the worst.  It’s never fun at the time, but afterwards you have to be able to laugh about it.  When your friend is summoned and has to squat over the nastiest, stinkiest, fly covered hole around, thats funny.  And when you have to do the walk of shame, your friends are surely going to laugh at you.  For some reason human beings love to laugh at other peoples pain (to an extent).  Take Americas Funniest home videos for example: all that show delivers is people getting kicked in the balls, crashing their bicycles, and getting puked on by babies, but this is whats funny to us.  The same principal applies to travelling in regions without what we consider normal toilets.

So, the next time you’re on the road and have to use the toilet, think of the humor in it, laugh about it, and keep going.

When heading out for the day in areas you suspect may not use western toilets, toss a roll of toilet paper or pack of Kleenex in your day bag.  A travel size package of Kleenex is always a good thing to keep in your bag, no matter where you’re travelling.

This article was posted by Mike on Wednesday, May 25th, 2011 at 1:47 AM

View the original article here

Sihanoukville

SO... I'm alive after contracting the T -Virus (Travelers Diarrhea) and bed-ridden for 3 days!!! I Arrived in Sihanoukville on Thursday evening and met up with a few people after being funneled to the GST guesthouse in the resort by the Remok drivers, good rooms for 5$ per night so I was not complaining. The general consensus so far in this part of Asia is that the travelers accommodation is not your typical hostel/dorm room types as you would expect but guest houses and cheap hotels offering private rooms and facilities which is fab.

Friday

The next day was when all the fun began in more ways than one, I spent the morning lazing on the beach and had a great beach BBQ in the evening watching fireworks and chilling out with 25cent beers. What more could you ask for? But SHNV has it! A great way to end the day was to head to some of the more established bars in town. I went back to the guesthouse for a shower and that was when the end of my great day became the beginning of 3 days in agony!!
I immediately grabbed the bottled of water I

had been drinking out of all day only to find on closer inspection a tiny burn mark and melted plastic!! It was tap water!! there are some pretty complex ways the Cambodians manage to get around the security seal on the bottled water out here and it looked like I was victim to one of them, I should have been suspicious when the bottle was overly full.

With out going into to all the detail, It was very painful with stomach cramps so intense that they creased me up every time into a tight ball. My room was 25 degrees but I was shivering cold and the dreams I had were out of this world!! My mind kept thinking that this had been done on purpose, it was very freaky!!

I paid a Remok driver to get me some medication and he brought back some great stuff which within 24 hours had me feeling great!! just wish I had done that earlier rather than trying to brave it out.

So back in the room! from my mild epidemic in the travelers world I hit the beach today and yet again had another lazy day this time however

rather than the poxy room feeling sorry for myself I swapped that for a sun lounger and Mojito followed by a full day reading my new book conveniently called "The Backpacker"

It's a shame that my health has put me back during my stay but Sihanoukville it is an amazing place and in 5 years time will be completely different at the rate Cambodian tourism is booming, so best to see it now whilst you can before the Amercians open up a naval base here and tourism hits off big time.

Just one more day on the beach tomorrow and then taking the overnight bus out of Cambodia and into Vietnam and Ho Chi Min City.

My time in Cambodia has been great and every tale, rumour and horror story I heard about this country was totally untrue. The Cambodians are honest (not at the boarder), friendly and extremely caring. You meet many poor people but they never curse if you don't pay up unlike in Thailand. But what has to be said that this country has the most amount of smiley people I've ever seen in my life which is hard to contemplate considering what they have.

So see you in Saigon
Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (thompch). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (thompch). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Chris Thompson (thompch) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here

J88 en Colombie

Aujourd’hui je continue de formuler à l’entreprise, j’ai fait un tonic après rasage et une mousse antibactérienne. Nous allons voir comment cela va se conserver dans le temps… Au moins, je me dis que j’aurais des produits à présenter pour la prochaine réunion et j’apprends. Ce soi, pas de salle de sport car je dois aller faire des courses avec Maria. Nous partons sur la moto. Le retour fut folklorique car nous avons beaucoup acheté. Résultat, difficile avec les courses et les deux nenettes de rentrer à la maison et obligée de demander de l’aide à la voisine pour qu’elle nous aide à descendre de la moto !! La prochaine fois, si nous faisons autant de course, nous irons en bus car, je dois avouer que même si nous n’allions pas vite et que nous avions toutes les protections requise ce n’était pas super prudent ! Mais bon on a beaucoup rit. Nous mangeons ensemble avec Maria puis au dodo car les journées sont longues et je commence à sentir la fatigue. :)
Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (Emilie50). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (Emilie50). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Emilie Lecouillard (Emilie50) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here

Monday 23 May 2011

A leisurely start to the day in familiar surroundings, the Cafe de Paris in Rue de Buci, on the pavement opposite the flower shop with its trompe l'oeuil of hanging fruit and vegetables and a toucan perched at the tip of each wooden strut that supports the end wall.

Lunch in Beaubourg with Fanou, her grandson Adrien and his copine Helene. Adrien has finished his exams and will be looking for a post in a bank, specialising in wealth management. Helene is studying Human Resources and has a particular interest in labour relations. Fanou spoke enthusiastically of the new Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris ("une merveille") and how it evoked for her a youthful fascination with Hemingway and Fitzgerald. In an unguarded moment, Jane confessed to surreptitious excursions with Marion in Tascon on borrowed velos. 38 years on, this was received with conspicuous alarm by Fanou, who imagined them on moonless nights on precarious paths among the inlets. Almost as surprising was an incautious remark revealing that Jane has experience of camping, though not recently.

The afternoon has passed easily in a pavement cafe in St Germain with orange presse and the hotel couttyard with tea.

Our flight leaves CDG at 2320. We might even find that Air France is showing Minuit a Paris.

Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (David and Jane). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (David and Jane). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact David and Jane (David and Jane) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here

Kep Rabbit Island

Today we headed off to Rabbit Island for a day at the beach. We were picked up by Boun Thorn our tuk-tuk driver from yesterday for the ten minute ride around to the boat dock. So we could be flexible with our time we opted for the private tour ($25 for the two of us) as opposed to the group tour which would have been $18.

The boats are an open dow type powered by the very strange looking but effective petrol engine with the propeller at the end of a very long shaft. The tide was out so the first challenge was to get Kim on to the boat with out losing her over the side. That done we headed for the island about 15 minutes away. Arriving at the island was a bit of a disappointment – instead of the lovely beach with food shacks that we expected there was one small hut on a beach? That was little more than a swamp. But wait, we were told to follow one man (via gestures)up a track into the jungle, obviously the beach was on the other side of the island. After a ten minute easy walk we arrived at the beach that was a bit more like we thought it would be, although I think we are spoilt for beaches this one was fairly narrow with coarse dark sand and lots of rubbish.

There was however beach chairs to relax on, the water was warm and the food good. Managed to chill out for the day without any problems at all.

At 3.00 we headed back to the other side for the return boat journey. The wind had picked up during the day so as we left the shelter of the island copped the first of many waves over the side. This wasn’t too bad at first as the water was warm but as we headed further out we were getting drenched regularly. Whist the drenchings weren’t too bad the movement of the boat was a little scary. As we were side on to the waves the boat was rocking fairly violently with at times only a couple of centimeters of freeboard. It was about this time that Kim started praying, crying and yelling at me to do something about it. There not being a real lot I could do (I was not going to let go of the side of the boat) I basically told her to hang on and don’t worry, whilst at the same time trying to work out if I could reach for a life jacket without letting go of the boat.

About 15 minutes of this and we were back on dry land, dripping wet. Boun was there to meet us and take us back to the Veranda. After a swim we headed again to the Crab Market for dinner. Chose much better tonight and had a great dinner and a few drinks. It was very quiet with very few tourists – obviously it is the quiet season and the number of people around at the weekend were probably ex-pats from PP.

Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (slopenbeach). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (slopenbeach). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Scott Harvey (slopenbeach) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here

Day 35 San Diego Los Angeles

It was the last day of the Transcontinental South trip so Kylie, Zoe and I rode in the front row together one last time.
After having breakfast at a Waffle House, where we spoilt ourselves on the last of the food kitty, we soon reached Los Angeles, where Todd took us on a quick tour of Beverly Hills, Sunset Boulevard and Bel Air, where we were asked if we knew the famous TV show set here.
Everyone replied ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel Air’, and then someone asked how the theme song went. Then nearly all of us started reciting the lyrics almost perfectly - “Now this is a story, all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down. And I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there, I’ll tell you how I became a Prince of a town called Bel Air”. Admit it, you’re singing along to it now, trying to remember the rest of it!
I then handed my mp3 player to the DJ to play the full version of the song for everyone to sing along to.

Our first stop was Hollywood. In fact Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the start of the Walk of

Fame and also the Hollywood sign itself in the distance. This was awesome seeing all the pavement slaps that have famous stars hand or foot prints and signatures on them, and then to find some of the most famous people to have stars on the Walk of Fame. I certainly feel honoured to see all these names below my feet!
And seeing the Hollywood sign was enough for me. That's the only part of LA that interests me, and I've dreamed of being an actor!
Zoe ws only interested in finding one person here – Grace Kelly, and we quickly found his signature slab outside the theatre. We then headed out along Hollywood Boulevard to try and find his star.
I don’t actually know how long the stars go on for, and we only had a short time before Todd had to pick us up, as he couldn't hang around without getting a ticket.
After going 4 or 5 blocks in one direction, we headed back to the Theatre and headed the other way, before crossing the road and heading back down, and as we passed every star I was quickly taking snaps of the names I do recognise. This was really the definition of point and shoot whilst on the move!

I then got a call to say that the others were all waiting for us, as we had overrun by 15 minutes or so. When we finally got back to the van, we got a bit of stick, to which Zoe got a little defensive about, but it soon blew over.
We were now heading to Santa Monica for a look around and dinner. I soon fell asleep, and awoke again 45 minutes later, only to discover we were stuck in heavy traffic and had only made a few miles. We should have already been at Santa Monica, but LA traffic was so bad, we were nowhere near.

When we finally arrived, the 4 of us head off together one last time, taking in the pier first, before heading to the nearby shops and having a look around. There were many shops but nothing of real interest for us, although we did find a Aussie shop that sells both Australian and British products.

We soon headed back to the front of the pier where our restaurant was waiting – Bubba Gump.
After another wonderful dinner,

we headed to the Hacienda Gateway hotel to the tunes of Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ and Green Day’s ‘Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).
Becca commented to me that it felt like one of those school leaving disco’s where the same sort of music was always played. I didn’t mind it, as it seemed to bring everyone together one last time as we all sang along.

After parking up, Todd told us that everything had to be taken out of the van and trailer as he would be taking it to the LA branch of Trek for a check up, and also may get a different van or trailer for the second leg. So everything got unloaded, and many of us struggled to gather all our many items together and drag, carry or wheel them through the small parking lot, across the road, and into the hotel lobby.
When we all finally made it and with all our stuff, we lined up to check in, finding out that we had assigned rooms for ‘finishers’ and ‘carry-overs’. Mark and I were in together.
Todd, Jess, Becca, Kylie, Zoe and I later headed to Graham and Neal’s room for a little

party, where we all sat around and joke and reminisce about the Tour so far.
No one really said goodbye as we would see each other again tomorrow.

When I got back to my room, a very drunk Mark finally woke up, and after I told him where I had come from, decided to join the rest and just walked out of the room. He didn’t take his door pass so I knew he would have to knock to get back in.
After getting ready for bed, I listened to some music with one earpiece out waiting for Mark’s knock, but over an hour later he still hadn’t returned and I went to bed.

Though the day was the last official day of the Transcontinental South part of the Tour, there was a free day the next day. This would be where all the goodbyes would be said.
Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (AdamBest20). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (AdamBest20). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Trailblazer (AdamBest20) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here

Dear Auntie Louise and Uncle Bert

Yesterday we went to the JJ Market aka Weekend Market aka World Market aka Chatuchak. It was nice, it was interesting, it was basically a Thai-style Minnesota State Fair. So...eh, it was alright. Once you've walked the fair for 8 hours and seen a porkchop, a Snickers, and spaghetti-and-meatballs on a stick...well, two hours is plenty of time at a market selling hats, silk, and knock-off Ralph Lauren t-shirts. I've been to the Dili Haat, I've bought silk before. Plus it was blistering hot. I sweated through my knee-pants and they started saggin badly. It was not a pretty picture; thus, no pictures from the Weekend Market.
My biggest adventure so far has been in the eating department. Can't really stick to Jillian here. Everything is fried, oiled, and greased 1000x over before it gets to your plate. Unlike in India where I was on the rice, nan, and dal diet, I'm on a rice, noodle, and fruit diet I think. I'm adding cuttlefish too, so squeeky and chewy. Yesterday, we came across a small lady sitting on the sidewalk with a boiling pot of curry over coals and a basket of greens and cooked noodles on eitherside of her. She plopped a handful of noodles in a ceramic bowl and ladled the broth over them. I added fresh dill and bok choy; and, it was perfect. Sitting on a tiny stool near the lady, I watched Kahoua devour her bowl in 3-5 seconds, Sarah sweating profusely from the chilis, and Kyle overtaking his tiny seat, knees to his nose. We paid the lady twenty baht and walked away as she washed the bowls in a stainless steel bucket of plain water. A memorable quote from India came to my head at that moment: "That looks clean."
Also, I've enjoyed a few new fruits, dragon fruit and the flesh from a coconut today, and I'm still in love with guava and papaya--my favorites from India. I've been able to buy fresh fruits a few blocks down from my apartment and I'm trying to scope out the new ones that arrive each day. A few things I want to try but haven't yet had the courage: stinky fruit (aka durian...I know, I know "Don't eat it," Auntie Lou said. But Auntie Lou, I think I must do it to really become an honorary Asian haha), and a tapioca-jelly drink (You drink it with a straw. It looks like mass of green and pink noodles in buttermilk which makes me question why Kahoua slurps it down like its a chocolate malt.)
Today we visited our schools and the faculty we'll be researching with. I'm at Mahidol with Kyle, Justin, Nadine, Alisa, and Michelle while Kahoua and Sarah are at Chula. I'm working with Kyle in a microbiology lab under Dr. Padungsri. http://www.sc.mahidol.ac.th/scmi/padungsri.htm Its a small lab, much smaller than Dr. Seelke's where I worked at UWS. I was disappointed that it wasn't "state of the art facilities" like I had somehow assumed it would be, but I think it will be fine. We tried to prepare the gel for an SDS gel electrophoresis, but screwed up and have to do it again tomorrow. So...at least I know they'll be some work to do even if its minimal. The best part about the job so far is working with Dr. Padungsri's student assistents A and Tukata (not sure of the real spelling for either name.) Neither speak English very well, and we've made a deal with them that we will help them with our language if they help us with theirs. So far I've used "Hello" and "Thank you" in Thai and nothing else, but I think that both of those are helping me to make friends with the door man at Starry Place where I live. I'm trying to use your advice, Auntie Lou, and trying to be a smart traveler. Being smart also means getting some sleep and thats what I'll do now. Its only 8:30 but the heat really takes it out of me.

Until we meet again,
Amy
Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (Letters from an Honorary Asian). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (Letters from an Honorary Asian). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Amy Kemen (Letters from an Honorary Asian) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here

Day 36 Marseille

Finally. I'm actually blogging about what I did today, instead of what I did a week and a half ago.

I wanted to get a feel for the city today, so I decided to walk to the port via the old town and the cathedral and then see the 3 castles that guard the port. Also I wanted to have a look at the jardin du pharo (the Pharoe's Garden). Before heading back to the hostel via the new town. The old town was run down and not very interesting. The port was OK the closer you got to the centre-ville. Away from there it was all under construction, or so it seemed. One of the castles had scaffholding all around it, another was just a squat concrete block on a hill, and I couldn't see the third one. The gardens were formal gardens for the Pharoe's Castle. I ate lunch sitting on a bench voerlooking the sea which was nice. I then headed back to the hostel via the new town which I liked much more.

Still all things considered I'm not particularly impressed with Marseille. Oh well.

I also witnessed another bag snatch earlier. Someone grabbed a bag from a cafe. I think it was sitting on the floor when they grabbed it, though I'm not certain. Interesting isn't it that in the previous 9 countries I saw no crime. However, in 2 days I've seen 2 thefts in France.

Tomorrow I'm catching a train to Barcelona at 6am. So an early night and a good nights sleep would be useful
Copyright Notice: All Rights ReservedThe text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (JamieOConnor). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (JamieOConnor). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Jamie O (JamieOConnor) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

View the original article here