Travel Location: Bangkok,Thailand

Travel About: food-&-wine,historic,tour,transportation,travel-tips

January/Enero 2, 2007 Bangkok

We started our first day in Bangkok anxious to go the its main attractions : Wat Phra Kaeo, Grand Palace, Wat Po, Wat Arun, and all of the Wats possible. However after a big brunch we didn’t bother to ask the people from the hotel for their suggestions. This meant that after walking one block we were already approached by a ‘very friendly’ local that gaves us all sorts of suggestions based on a true fact: 2nd of January is national holiday and most of the locals were attending the Buddhists temples to pray. To make a long story short we ended up in a tremendously cheap tuk-tuk that took us around some non-touristic temples making 3 unwanted stops at a tailor’s shop, a site where a local and a French guide by coincidence started talking about the great business of buying cheap gems in Thailand and selling them in the US or Europe, and finally gem factory. Obviously we didn’t buy a thing but our original plans weren’t followed. By the time the tuk-tuk took us to the Golden Mount, we spent so much time in the temple that when we got out he had left. The the tuk-tuk driver not only did not receive the commission from the tailor and the gem factory but also he didn’t get paid by the ride. After this initial unsuccessful ‘scam’ we managed to walk our way to the Grand Palace and Wat Prae Kaeo stopping first in the Democracy Monument, a Hindu temple and Wat Rachmanat under the midday sun. The Grand Palace and Wat Pra Kaeo proved to be wonderful. We finished our day by returning to Bangamplhu’s night markets to enjoy delicious Thai food.

*********************************

Iniciamos este día a eso de las 8:00 am con un desayuno buffet en el hotel B180 (us$5) por persona, por supuesto le saque el jugo a estos B180 comiendo tanto que a las 4:00 pm aun no tenia hambre, jejejeje. La intención este día era visitar Wat Phra Kaeo (El Buda de esmeraldas), El Gran Palacio Real, Wat Po (Buda Reclinado) y Wat Arun, al final del plan inicial solo pudimos visitar Wat Phra Kaeo (El Buda de esmeraldas) y El Gran Palacio Real en la tarde, durante el día estuvimos visitando otra serie de templos y tiendas a las que solo van los locales y los turistas incautos como nosotros. La historia: salimos del hotel decididos a cumplir con nuestro itinerario cuando una mujer tailandesa se nos acerca y nos pregunta que a donde íbamos, en cuestión de un minuto ya nos había convencido de visitar Wat Intharawihan (Buda de pie), el Buda de la Suerte, the Thai Factory y otra serie de monumentos y lugares que aparentemente eran gratis este dia del ano porque era dia de fiesta nacional, lo cual era cierto, y por este motivo estaba abierto gratis al publico en general. Al final hicimos el siguiente recorrido en un Tuk-tuk con emosion: Wat Intharawihan un pequeño templo en donde hay un buda de pie al que los locales van a hacer ofrendas, de ahí salimos a ver el dichoso Buda de la Suerte, en donde conocimos a unos locales que eran católicos pero estaban visitando los templos budistas ese día, de ahí el Tuk-tuk nos llevo a un almacén en donde hacen vestidos a la medida, y fue acá en donde ser Colombiano nos salvo de que nos tumbaran, cuando el señor del almacén supo que éramos de Colombia se pego una desanimada porque creía que en Colombia hacer un vestido salía mas barato que en Tailandia y ni siquiera insistió en vendernos algo. Conclusión en 20 segundos ya estabamos afuera del almacén y al parecer estos almacenes les dan plata a los de los Tuk-tuk por llevarlos allá a comprar cosas, en ese momento la cara de felicidad del conductor ya no era tal, jejeje. De ahí salimos a otro templo que estaba cerrado pero en donde había un tailandés que supuestamente vivía en California y el que se nos aproximo para contarnos que hoy precisamente había una gran promoción en un sitio en donde se venden zafiros y rubíes tailandeses y que comprar en ese día era el gran negocio porque uno tenia el 195% de impuesto y además era 20% mas barato y que el ya había pagado su viaje desde California comprando joyas en Tailandia y vendiéndolas por casi el doble en USA. Por supuesto nosotros sabíamos que era un lavado de cerebro y que nos querían era hacer comprar huevonadas, en eso se aproxima un supuesto turista francés que ya había hecho lo mismo, por supuesto todo era un montaje. Conclusión decidimos irnos del templo y por supuesto el man del Tuk-tuk nos llevo a la dichosa joyería, que realmente no tenia nada bueno. Como es de esperarse no compramos nada y de ahí finalmente nos llevo el Tuk-tuk a un sitio muy popular de peregrinaje que se llama Wat Saket (Montana Dorada), en este lugar nos demoramos tanto que cuando salimos el man del Tuk-tuK ya se había ido sin que le pagáramos los B40 que habíamos arreglado por el viaje. La Montana Dorada es un sitio de peregrinación muy famoso en Bangkok y en especial el 2 de Enero estaba lleno de locales haciendo ofrendas al Buda. Después de visitar este monumento emprendimos una caminata que nos llevo a un área en la cual están ubicados el Monumento a la Democracia; la Galeria de la Reina; Wat Rachanatda, un castillo y templo de estilo Burmes, con una escalera en espiral ubicada en el centro del castillo y desde la cual a medida que se va subiendo se ven Budas a lo largo de todos los puntos cardinales. Las escaleras terminan en una pequeña cúpula que contiene una piedra a la que los locales le llevan ofrendas. De ahí seguimos a Erawan Shrine un templo dedicado a Brama, el dios hindú de la creación y a Erawan su elefante. A este templo los lugareños van a hacer ofrendas para obtener buena suerte. El día de nuestra visita el templo estaba repleto de gente llevando ofrendas y pidiendo por un buen ano 2007. En este punto de la caminata a Carolina el calor ya le había sacado la piedra. Luego de caminar un buen rato y preguntarle a un policía de transito llegamos finalmente al Gran Palacio Real y a Wat Phra Kaeo (Templo con el Buda de Esmeraldas). Este lugar es realmente alucinante, tan bello que cualquier sensación de calor, hambre y cansancio fue eliminada al instante. A Bangkok no se puede ir sin visitar este templo, es como ir a Romo y no visitar el Coliseo Romano, claro que la belleza de los templos y palacios, los detalles de la decoración, los colores, la calidad de los murales y pinturas es realmente maravillosa. A la salida de este lugar se me ocurrió sugerirle a Carolina que regresarnos al hotel caminando, por supuesto la respuesta fue un rotundo no, con la que la mejor opción fue negociar el regreso al hotel en Tuk-tuk. Después de dejar los morrales en el hotel y refrescarnos un poco decidimos salir a caminar a los alrededores de Banglamphu en busca de un lugar para comer. El área esta llena de pequeños puestos de comida y almacenes en donde se consigue desde un alfiler, pasando por artesanías, ropa de marca, zapatos y equipo electrónico. Entramos a una calle llamada Thanon Khao San en donde encontramos un muy buen lugar para probar algo de la cocina tailandesa. Carolina pidio una sopa y yo Pat Thai con langostinos, de tomar un coco helado y una cerveza Singha (la mas tradicional de Tailandia). Después de esta comida de vuelta al hotel y ahí si a descansar hasta el otro día.

Dia 3 Bangkok

Para nuestro tercer día en Bangkok teníamos bien claro que intentaríamos seguir al pie de la letra un itinerario predefinido. Salimos del hotel a eso de las 8:00 am e inmediatamente empezamos a caminar a lo largo de Thanon (Road) Phra Athit. Lo primero que encontramos fue un fuerte llamado Phra Sumen, seguido del parque Santichaiprakan. Desde este punto se puede ver el río Chao Phraya. Si se continúa caminando sobre esta calle en dirección sur oeste se puede llegar a los principales sitios turísticos de Bangkok muy fácilmente. A lo largo de Thanon Phra Athit, se pueden encontrar una serie de palacios en donde vivio la nobleza Thai y que ahora son utilizados por diferentes tipos de organizaciones. Algunos de estos palacios son el Ban Chao Phraya que es utilizado por las Naciones Unidas y Maiwan Palace el cual es ocupado por la FAO. Siguiendo la misma ruta se encuentran el Teatro Nacional, los campos reales de Sanam Luang y el Museo Nacional. Lo siguiente que encontramos fue la Universidad de Thammasat, un sitio muy importante para la historia reciente de Tailandia. Contiene un monumento que conmemora la masacre de estudiantes del 6 de octubre de 1976. La derecha Tailandesa que gobernaba en ese momento masacro a un grupo de estudiantes que estaban protestando por los derechos de los más pobres. Esto motivo a muchos a huir a las montanas y selvas de Tailandia para formar grupos guerrilleros de izquierda. Una muestra clara de cómo la violencia y la represión generan más violencia. Siguiendo la misma ruta esta Wat (Templo) Mahathat, un monasterio budista que alberga la Universidad Budista Mahachulalongkorn. Este monasterio fue construido para albergar hasta 1000 mojes. Allí tuvimos la oportunidad de entrar a un lugar que congregaba a muchos monjes, hombres vestidos de naranja y mujeres vestidas de blanco, orando alrededor de un buda. De aquí nos dirigimos a nuestro destino principal del día, Wat Pho (El Buda Reclinado) pero antes volvimos a pasar por las afueras de El Gran Palacio Real; Wat Phra Kaeo; la Universidad Silpakorn; Tha Chang Wong Luang, que en un tiempo fue las puertas del ciudad y ahora es un embarcadero para cruzar el rio, el mercado de los amuletos, el embarcadero real Tha Ratchaworadit y un mercado en donde los sentidos se deleitan con la cantidad de olores y colores de frutas, especias, pescado seco y puestos de comida típica tailandesa.

Wat Po es un complejo de templos que albergó la primera Universidad en Tailandia en 1832, sin embargo lo mas destacado de este lugar es el Buda Reclinado. Una figura de 45 metros de largo que muestra al príncipe Sidarta entrando al Nirvana. Después de visitar Wat Po, cruzamos el río en ferry. En este momento me di cuenta porque el trafico en Bangkok es tan caótico, pues tal parece que el curso de conducción de carros se aprueba después de pasar la prueba de manejada de ferry. Inclusive en el río el tráfico es un caos. Este cruce nos costo B3, mas o menos US$0.08. De aca nos dirigimos a Wat Arum o El templo del Amanecer, compuesto por una serie de torres de estilo Ayutthayan, es el templo más distintivo de Bangkok. Después de visitar Wat Arum cruzamos nuevamente el rio pero esta vez para tomar el bote expreso que recorre todo el Rio Chao Praya, con destino a el Barrio Chino y El Buda de Oro.

El Barrio Chino es una combinación de todos los barrios chinos que he visto en Londres, Melbourne, Sydney, pero además agregándole San Victorino y la carrera decima en la peor época de invasión del espacio publico, con un poco del mercado, el paseo de Bolívar y el San Andresito de Barranquilla, por aquello del calor, los olores a cano y los carritos de comida vendiendo arroz de lisa, claro que en Bangkok la variedad es mucho mayor, arroz frito, noodles, pescado seco, jugos de fruta, etc. La experiencia recorriendo el Barrio Chino fue fascinante. Para destacar el Kuan Yin Shrine. Finalmente llegamos al Buda de Oro, que esta localizado en un templo muy modesto, pero que da su importancia a que es la figura de un Buda en oro macizo más grande del mundo, de trss metros de alto y media tonelada de peso. Impresiona que no hay ningún tipo de sistema de seguridad que lo proteja. Después de visitar el Buda de Oro, decidimos aventurarnos a tomar un bus que nos llevara de regreso al hotel. A 250 metros del golden buda esta la estacion de Hualamphong en donde tomamos el bus numero 53 que nos llevo de regreso a Banglamphu. Recorrer la ciudad de Bangkok en transporte publico fue una de las mejores experiencias que hasta ahora hemos tenido del viaje. Nada de guerra del centavo y tampoco nada de Transmilenio o servicio primera clase. Un sistema bien básico pero organizado y en el que se tiene la oportunidad de experimentar la ciudad y su gente siempre amable y servicial. El recorrido en bus nos permitió tomar muy buenas fotos de la vida de la ciudad, siempre vibrante, llena de olores, colores y sonidos intensos.

Al final del día fuimos a cenar a Siam Oriental Inn, a probar algo mas de la comida tailandesa, totalmente exhaustos pero felices por todo lo vivido ese dia.

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Travel Location: New-York-City,United-States

Travel About: big-city,tour

As I had a ‘Transfer’ arranged to pick me up at Rio de Janerio today, I needed to get a message to the ‘Transfer” in Rio de Janeiro to pick me up 24 hours later. So, I got in touch with Kate Murphy who arranged my trip to get Ushi Grant who arranged my travel in South America (both in Australia) to organise it. Murf reckoned that I lost the boarding pass on purpose as she knew that I wanted to stay in New York anyway.

I was going to make the most of my stay anyway. My mobile phone battery went flat in London(charger was in Rio, I hoped) but luckily the battery in my camera was still OK.

A personal guided tour

The Ramada Plaza was offering individual tours from the Hotel which were a little on the expensive side ($200 for 3 to 4 hours) but hey, I didn’t know whether I would be back again. I wanted to see the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and the World Trade Centre site (Ground Zero) and I got to see a lot more, Times Square, Wall Street, especially the NYPD cars and those unique New York yellow school buses and of course the yellow cabs.

You know, New York has so much that is only New York and no where else. It is buzz to see movies that are based in New York after you have been there.

With my personal guide in an air conditioned Toyoto Prado four wheel drive LandCruiser, we set off to see the World Trade Centre site. On the way we crossed the Brooklyn Bridge and I got see one of those many New York yellow cabs. When we got there, all you see is a World Trade Centre awning and a hole in the ground which of course is fenced off.

This was one of New Yorks icons. It was hard to imagine that this was the site of the 110 floor Twin Towers. They were the worlds tallest buildings between January 1972 to May 1973. On 29 June 2005, a month before I got there, they had decided to build a new 108 floor tower on this site and call it the Freedom Tower.

Then we went to get a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty which is the American symbol of freedom. On the way. I saw the Wall Street sign.

I also saw the 7000 pound bronze sculpture of the charging bull on lower Broadway which was originally secretly dropped off in December of 1989 in front off the New York Stock Exchange as a response to the rebound of the 1987 stock market crash. Have seen this bull in a few movies since.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to catch a ferry to get a closer look at the Statue of Liberty, so had to be satisfied with seeing it from a distance. We then went to see the Empire State Building. It was built in 1931, a year before our Sydney Harbour Bridge which is one of Australias unique symbols.

On the way I saw the Manhattan Bridge. There was a lot of skyscrapers in Manhattan to go past before we got to the Empire State Building which was the tallest skyscraper in the world for 41 years.

The North Tower of the World Trade Centre became taller in 1972, and soon after the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois. However, after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Empire State Building has again became the tallest building in New York.

Unfortunately again, I didn’t have time to stand in line to wait to see those breath taking views from the top of the Empire State Building. We then went to check out Times Square, where the theatres there have a hugh number of billboards which are lighted and have animated advertisements.

It reminds you of Las Vegas on a small scale. I then saw the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel (47 Stories) which was originally built at the present site of the Empire State Building and rebuilt at its present location in 301 Park Avenue, Manhattan. This hotel is famous for creating the Waldorf salad which is salad that has apples, walnuts and celery with a mayonnaise dressing.

The Rockeleller Center which is an art deco marvel was the next attraction which was built during the Great Depression. The centre covers 11 acres with 19 commerical buildings on it.

We then saw Central Park which was opened in 1859 and was the first artificially landscaped park in the United States. It provides 843 acres of paths, lakes and open spaces and gives New Yorkers a chance to escape the concrete jungle.

I then saw the Roosevelt Island Tramway which spans the East River and connects Roosevelt Island to Manhattan. Roosevelt Island is a narrow island in the East River of New York City and lies between Manhattan Island to its west and the borough of Queens on Long Island to its east.

It was then time to head back to the Hotel. On the way I saw a couple of those New York yellow school buses and the Jamaica Hospital Medical Centre.

24 Hours was not enough time to see New York but I enjoyed what I was able to see time permitting. In the short time I was in New York, it was well worth the money spent to have the personal guided tour. I’ll be back.

Next Flight: American Airlines – AA 951(New York 2220 Sao Paulo 0840) Duration 11:57

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Travel Location: Rio-de-Janeiro,Brazil

Travel About: architecture,art-&-museum,tour

Flew into Rio and decided after 10 months of roughing it we could spoil ourselves for the last four days of our trip so checked into a very nice hotel on the beach in Ipanema.

Spent a fair bit of time watching pay TV in our room and ordering room service partly due to the fact it started pissing down rain the first day we got to Rio and didn’t stop for about a day and a half.

Managed to catch the final of the Cricket World Cup and cheered on with a few other Aussies in the pub as Gilly dismantled the Sri Lankan attack….although we did catch Jo a couple of times having a bit each way and cheering for Sri Lanka as well.

For our penultimate day in Rio (and South America for that matter) we thought we better round the trip off with some touristy things which we have been so notoriously bad at so far. Booked a tour to see Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf Mountain (or bread mountain as we had been calling it). Both were great, The hill of Christ the Redeemer at 700m high gives a truly great view of all of Rio which can only be truly appreciated from on high with the huge bay, hundreds of ritzy high rises, Favela’s sprawling over the surrounding slopes and of course the iconic bread moun…Sugar Loaf Mountain. The statue itself at 38m aint bad either, too bad there is a constant stream of tourists all trying to take the same photos up there as well.

Next stop was two different cable car rides up to the top of Sugar Loaf which affords a similar view as before except of course now we had a view of the iconic Christ the Redeemer instead, stayed up there for sunset which, due to the slightly overcast weather, was not that spectacular but imagine on a good day it would be pretty bloody nice.

That night went to a fancy restaurant for our final dinner in South America (any excuse to eat like pigs basically). The place was fantastic – a fancy all you can eat place where the waiters walked around with every different type of meat you could imagine (except maybe for cat, rat or dog which they were out of at the time) and providing the little disk they give you at the start is green side up they will keep piling meat on your plate, needless to say mine was on green for nearly the entire time. Jo was actually starting to get a bit shitty about not getting any meat until I explained the highly complicated red/green disk system and a quick flip of the disk to the green side solved the problem.

Well our last day was devastatingly sad and deliriously happy all rolled into one. Sad to be leaving a continent that has been the source of so many new friends, amazing sights and crazy experiences that we will never forget. Being fully aware we probably wont get the chance to do something like this again we can only hope the rest of our lives can be so full of amazingly good times (and a few tough ones to add perspective).

On the flip side we were happy to be heading back to a country that’s native tongue is English, you can walk the streets without fear of being pick pocketed, you can wander the city at night with little fear of being mugged and has sufficient plumbing to allow you to put your toilet paper in the dunny.

Finally would like to thank all the people we’ve met along the way who have literally made the trip and if any of you are actually still reading this….you’re mad and we hope to catch up with you again one day.

Craig and Jo

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Travel Location: Brighton,United-Kingdom

Travel About: food-&-wine,big-city,nightlife,tour

After I wrote my last entry, I met up with Carl (from New York City) and we headed to the International Students reception at Falmer Bar in Falmer House. Free drinks and food were served! My kind of night. I hadn’t eaten much all day so the drinks went to my head REALLY fast. Drinking is SUCH a social lubricant! I made some good friends that night–Carl, Greg, and two students from Wesleyan University. All of them live in Holland House except Greg. Supposedly, Holland House is THE place to be. Not to mention the fact that the floor I’m on is THE place to be within Holland House. The kitchen, which is right across from my room is the hang out place too, so I’m sure I’ll be spending many a night listening to laughing, talking, and music till all hours of the night. The English people on my floor are ridiculously nice–somehow, they all knew my name before I met them too. When I walk down the hall to my room, guys keep calling out my name and I’m like “umm…do I know you?” It’s a good time, though. I’ve met a guy named Kirk, who is a drama/film and video concentrator, a guy named Rich studying biochemistry, and a 27 year old first year named Dean. Also, I met someone named Ema last night. All of these people are British and extremely nice. It seems to be that British students are way nicer than many of the international students.

Anyways, after I left the reception, I went back to Holland House thinking that I would just go to bed since I was exhausted. However, everyone else had other plans for me. We ended up going out to the pubs that night. We walked around the lanes, which is a pedestrian cobble street area where a lot of pubs, restaurants, night clubs, shops and bars are located. We had such a huge group of people that me, Juliet (a 29 year old from USC), and Chris decided to break off and make our way around by ourselves. I’m so glad we did this because we found this great dive bar called The Victory where the atmosphere was great. The music was modern, the style of the pub was very English, and the bartenders were very cool. We decided that this was OUR bar. . However, once we hit up that bar we figured we’d go looking for the rest of the group, and we ended up finding them at a pub right around the corner from where we live called The Biscuit Factory. It was more so a bar than a pub in that it played loud, pumping music and it was big on mixed drinks rather than beer. However, it was a great place. On the way to the bars, though, we were stopped by this random, beat up woman asking Chris, “do you have 43 p, please?”. We weren’t sure if she was propositioning him or she just really needed that specific of an amount of money. I’ve noticed that in Brighton the women are rather white trash/slutty looking, and here they call these women “chavs” (sp?). Think Britney Spears, and you’ll see what I mean. I finished the night off at Holland House with some leftover KFC, a wonderful shower, and a few phone calls to home.

When I walk down the hall to my room, guys keep calling out my name and I’m like “umm…do I know you?”

Yesterday, I slept in FINALLY. I slept until about 1pm, after having gone to bed at 5am. Delightful! When I woke up, I rung up my Aunt Celia and Uncle Ray to find out if they wanted to get some lunch. We headed to George Street to a tavern where I got fish and chips (of course!). It was nice seeing them since I hadn’t gotten a chance to see them since I’ve arrived. After lunch, I sat around my room reading and putting away some more things. Then, Chris knocked on my door to see what I was up to since there was a scheduled dinner going on around 7pm for the international students. We headed out later on that evening to meet up with everyone and ended up at an AMAZING Thai restaurant. Really expensive, but honestly, the best Thai I’ve ever had. I had this amazing coconut rice and chicken stir fry meal that just blew my mind. Juliet and I shared it, so you’d think it would have been less expensive but for my half of the meal it came out to be TEN DOLLARS. Ridiculous! I won’t be splurging like that again. During dinner, though, I met another student named Ryan who lives in California, and he was a really down to earth, chill guy. It turns out he lives on my floor too like right down the hall from me. We all ended up going out to the bars later that night too. Ryan got sick, though, because he’s not used to this type of food all the time, so he ended up heading home after his first beer at The Biscuit Factory. So, Juliet, Chris, and I headed to the Farm Tavern where it was really packed, so then we decided to go the Victory bar again. It was a good time, and I found out a place to get pierced from the bartender, so that’s a good thing too. He was a cool guy (the bartender), he had his lip pierced too, so we had that in common. Plus, he’s British, so you can’t go wrong there! Ha!

After having a sufficiently amazing time, we headed back to Holland House where I hung out with some of the British students and international students in the kitchen on the third floor for a few minutes. I then realized how exhausted I was, so I went to my room, made myself a PB&J, ate some pretzels, called some people, and crashed around 1am.

I got to sleep in again today, since I had nothing until 2pm. At 1, Chris and I headed to campus to meet up with the Brighton/Hove coach tour that would be taking us around. The tour was GREAT. We were able to see gorgeous views of the South Downs (rolling green hills/countryside) as well as views of the Channel and the cliffs. Also, we travelled through an area known as Rottingdean where there are pubs that are 500 years old, and where Rudyard Kipling lived as well as a charming medieval church and a small, quaint village. I am DEFINITELY heading there very soon. I also plan to walk the South Downs on a nice day with a picnic with Chris and Juliet. The tour was nice because it gave you some great ideas for things to do that we might not have otherwise known. Also, we were shown where all the good night clubs are down by the beach underneath the streets as well was where NOT to go (such as West Street on a Friday or Saturday night). Our last stop on the tour was the Royal Pavilion where Queen Victoria lived for awhile as well as King George III and his family. The Royal Pavilion looks like the Taj Mahal in the middle of Brighton. It’s almost ridiculous looking because it is so ornately decorated and the architecture reflects that of Chinese and Indian inspirations. Fascinating! Because I’m so interested in history, I really enjoyed walking through the rooms and seeing all the beautiful furniture and decorations. The audio commentary really gave me a look into how the place was built, why it was built, and what it was like living there.

After taking the tour of the Royal Pavilion, Chris, Bryann (a girl from Sioux Falls), Jen (a girl from Seattle), Chris, Juliet, Greg, and I headed to the Lanes to see if we could find a good place to eat. We ran into some other people from Holland House as well as Leanne (the girl from Amsterdam) who said that they had found a good place to eat called Font. The place had a really great atmosphere–it had couches to sit on, a football game going on on a big screen TV, a bar, and two levels of seating. The prices were extremely reasonable too, and the food was delicious, but HEAVY. To walk off all the food, we all decided to walk our way to Brighton Pier and take in the carnival atmosphere and the Brighton scene. I have to say that I LOVE living so close to the channel because despite the cold wind, walking around the pier is beautiful and eerie at the same time.

Tonight will be pretty low key. Classes begin tomorrow, so I will not be going out even though Kirk asked me to go bowling. I also am planning on getting my laptop set up sometime tonight if Chris can get it working. I’ll write more soon! Safe travels, everyone!

Tips for nightlife in Brighton: Fridays and Saturdays are BAD for going out; Wednesdays at The HoneyBar/Club are excellent, Mondays are good at The Beach Club by the pier, and Thursdays are good at Font; Avoid West Street because it can get way too crowded and fights break out a lot. These are all tips from the bartender at Font who is originally from Whales but has lived here for years. Oh, and a good place to get pierced around here is called Punctured in the North Lanes.

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Travel Location: Chiloe,Chile

Travel About: big-city,hiking,tour

Leaving Santiago we travelled South to the Pacific Coast town of Pichelmu. There´s not much to this place from a tourist perspective, but the big attraction is the surfing. The largest wave surfed in the world last year, over 10 metres high, was located here at the point break of Los Lobos. Having only dipped my toe at surfing a couple of times previously I decided to chicken out on this one and went in instead at the beach break at Pichelmu which was more like 10cms high! Nice to go in and get wet though. The water here is quite chilly thanks to the Humboldt current flowing north from the Antarctic, making a 5mm wetsuit necessary. We also walked the 5kms along the coast to see Los Lobos, a dramatic headland with its very distinctive cliff face, sea stacks and massive breakers, no wonder, the next landfall from here is Oz !

Heading south from Pichelmu we passed through Pucon, where we were hoping to climb Volcan Villarica, an active volcano which can be climbed as a guided day trip. As we moved south the influence of German settlers became more and more apparent in the architecture and placenames. This fertile area was very under populated, so the Chilean authorities initiated a programme with the German Government to promote settlement by German immigrants in the mid 1800´s (as the environment is very similar to Germany and would be familiar to them). The weather in Pucon was very wet and windy so we continued south to Chiloe Island, where we spent the next few days relaxing and absorbing the relaxed atmosphere of this unique place. Much of Chile had reminded us of Europe, with very western architecture, culture and lifestyle, Chiloe however felt like it had been left behind (the Spanish and German influence here were minimal), maintaining a more traditional, seafaring way of life. We stayed in Castro, the capital, from where we visited a number of small fishing villages dotted around the coast. Houses are all timber built, roofed with corrugated iron and painted in vivid colours. The landscape (and weather!) reminded me of West Cork, very green with low rolling hills and a rugged coastline. The culture here is rich with legends and myths of goblins and witches, most of which don´t make good bedtime reading! The people are warm and friendly and it was nice to experience the buzz of a not too over-commercialised Christmas. We spent Christmas eve with a few German travellers who were staying at our hospidaje (guesthouse). The owner kindly handed over her kitchen for the evening for us to cook a slap up meal which we washed down with some nice Chilean red!

We retraced our steps, heading north from Chiloe, stopping to spend a relaxed Christmas day in Puerto Varas before continuing back to Pucon. The weather had improved by now and the forecast looked settled so we booked our places to climb Villarica the next day. Pucon´s setting, nestled between the Volcano and the large tree bordered Lago Villarica lake is beautiful. Its setting also makes it an ideal base for adventure sports enthusiasts. Everything is on offer in this region from skiing in the winter to mountaineering, white water rafting and mountain biking in the summer. The day of the climb dawned cold with clear blue skies, but there was an ominous looking halo cloud hanging over the summit. The guides felt conditions, though not ideal, were good enough to give it a go. Considering the poor weather for the preceeding weeks and the shakey forecast for the next day, we decided to go for it. A 30 minute minibus ride brought us to the chairlift station which we boarded, bringing us to the snowline. We geared up, strapping on our crampons and helmets before getting a tutorial in the basics of how to walk with crampons and stop a slide with an ice-axe arrest. The climb was slower than we would have liked, joining the snake of other groups heading up the mountain but the panorama opening up before us made it very enjoyable. As we reached 2200m we noticed clouds on the horizon which moved in very quickly, not unusual in Patagonia. By the time we were at 2400m it had closed in completely and we received a radio message from others who were 200m higher telling us they had turned back, as conditions were dangerously icy and the wind had intensified. We also made the decision to turn back, which was disappointing, but at the same time easy to accept as it was the only sensible one. Our weather window had passed and it rained heavily the next day (see, Ireland isn´t the only place where it rains!) so we jumped on a coach, headed across the border to San Martin de Los Andes, Argentina.

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Travel Location: Da-Lat,Vietnam

Travel About: cultural-immersion,adventure,tour

The journey to Da Lat wasn’t great. The bus broke down after the rear had filled up with smoke, we couldn’t go faster than 40 km/hour, and we knew we’d paid far too much for the tickets. But the scenery was good, and we were excited about taking a tour with the Easy Riders.

We’d been told about the Easy Riders in Bolivia. They’re a group of tour guides with motorbikes who take you around the country for however long you want, at the pace you want, stopping when you want. We’d been lucky enough to bump into two of them in HCMC, Mr Wing & Mr Thai,and we’d immediately got on well with them.

When we got into Da Lat we discovered that most people with a motorbike will tell you that they’re an Easy Rider. It get’s quite annoying. The real, original Easy Riders have blue and red jackets, cards and a comments book. And they’re excellent. Some of the other guys looked a bit dodgy and only spoke a little English. After meeting up with Mr Wing & Mr Thai we decided to go for it and hire them for a five day trip through the central highlands to Hoi An, even though it blew the budget at $50 each per day.

That has been the best $500 we’ve spent.

Turns out that Mr Wing & Mr Thai have been Easy Riders for some nine years, and Mr Wing was probably the first moto guide to take a tourist between from city to city when Viet Nam first opened up to tourists in ’96 and people were still getting ambushed by bandits in the countryside (he’s a bit of a celebrity in Da Lat). These guys were brilliant guides, partly because they were older and had lived through Viet Nam’s recent history (Mr Wing fought in the war), partly because of their experience and excellent English,but mainly because they were really good company. Okay, the bikes were only 100cc Honda Wings, but we ruled the roads for 5 days. Unless we had to go up a steep hill, when Chesta would slow Mr Wing down a fair bit.

We saw silk worms, walked round a silk factory, ate some wonderful food, met people from some of the 70 or so different ethnic tribes in Viet Nam, wandered round ancient villages, rode a massive bull elephant, visited waterfalls, learnt about the war, walked some of the Ho Chi Minh trail, ate incredible food, walked over some ropey old bridges, visited the Happy Buddha (which is the point we realised why random people were coming up and rubbing Chesta’s belly – for good luck), learnt how to grow rice (we’ll never look at a bag of rice the same way again), learnt how to make rice wine, drank rice wine (Happy Water), visited orphanages (tough), ate amazing food, watched rice paper being made, saw how some of the areas sprayed with Agent Orange are still treeless, and loads more. Best of all was the reaction from locals as we motored through villages well away from the tourist trail. Everyone waved, shouted hello, smiled and stared. The kids especially – we’d take pictures and show them, and they’d be fascinated by it all (as were the parents to be fair). It was fantastic to have these two great geeza’s acting as our interpreters and guides for the five days, we saw and learnt about so much of Viet Nam that we would never have been able to without them. It was a real shame saying goodbye to them in Hoi An, we felt like we were saying goodbye to friends. We’ll definitely come back just to spend another week on the road with them.

If you’re interested you can contact them on wingstours@hotmail.com or thainguyenhuong2003@yahoo.com .

The reason why we wanted to get to Hoi An was to pick up some suits and things to send back to England. Hoi An is the City of a Thousand Tailors, and these fellas can knock out a decent fitted suit for about 25 quid. We thought as we’re getting hitched when we get back home we should probably take advantage. We ended up staying there for a week. We got some nice stuff, but it would have been better if we’d had some definite ideas about what we wanted before we got there. The shop owners are good at telling you that it all looks lovely, and you should buy another. It’s easy to leave with some right old bollocks, although our fitted leather flip flops are rather nice. Whilst we were there we met up with a couple of aussie’s who’d done a similar Easy Rider tour (& loved it), called Caliph and Iva. They were very nice and a great laugh, and we didn’t get anything done whilst they were there because we were all too pissed.

After a week in Hoi An we were running out of time on our visa’s. We’d have liked to see some more of the sites around Hoi An and Hue, but reasoned that they’re not going anywhere so will have to wait. We bussed it to Danang, a charmless city port with a Laos consulate, where we sorted out our Laos visa’s and walked around in the rain. Once the visa’s approved we bought a nonstop sleeper bus ticket across the border. Then had to change bus three times and get a hotel. Bastards.

Out of all the countries that we’ve visited so far Viet Nam has been the friendliest. We only visited the South and central regions, but the people that we met were amazing (bar the tosser who sold us the final bus ticket). We were sad to leave and will definitely return. Laos has a hard act to follow.

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Travel Location: Singapore

Travel About: wildlife-viewing,tour,bird-watching

Arrived in Singapore 30 degrees plus with high humidity. Had a great time with our friends David & Colleen. Did the Night Safari, the Jurong Bird Park and the City Tour today. We had a great breakfast experience walking over to a huge shopping mall early on Sunday morning. Later in the day we had a catch up with David and Colleen before going to the Night Safari. This was a trip on electified trams around the park to see numerous nocturnal animals that I did not even know existed. No photos taken as it was dark and moving and no flashes allowed. Next day we packed a huge amount in, firstly going out the the Jurong Bird Park. This was awesome and a great lesson learnt to go on a guided tour. We got there at just the right time for a feeding of the most amazing birds you have ever seen. They ate maggots right out of our hand and flicked them into your hair and face. Fantastic!!

Couple of photos attached. One of a parrot that is my favourite. After that, we had asked the tour guy if there was anywhere to eat and he had said yes. So we went off in search of it. Got off the bus and went next door to an amazing eating hall. There were literally thousands of people there and it was just packed. Real old style colonial building with long fans beating away the heat from above and every kind of Asian food you could imagine, including Pig’s Organ Soup, Cuttle Fish Porridge!! All so amazingly cheap. Kathy bought more than she could eat for just over $2. Took a photo of them °Where’s Wally” attached.

Then on to the City Tour which was not as good as the Bird Park, but still worth while. It was great to learn about Singapore; they are a nation of people I admire. They have NO natural resources, but have created what appears to be a great society with relative wealth for Asia, stability, harmony and cleanliness everywhere, including under the river bridges which we went under on the River Cruise.

Overall, we had a very good experience in Singapore. Apart from when we left to get on the plane at 0100. Due to security, noone was allowed to go to the gate lounge until about 1230. People, including us, so tired after our day of touring asleep on the floor all over the terminal by the escalators and other travellers passing through. Normally well organised, this was a bit of contrast to the rest of our experience there.

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Travel Location: Rotorua,New-Zealand

Travel About: natural-wonder,food-&-wine,cultural-immersion,tour

This place absolutely whiffs of rotten eggs – you could fart to your heart’s content here and no one would know (of course I don’t do things like that).  People come here to visit areas of thermal activity (hence the sulphur-rich air).  Even in the heart of town there are lakes covered in smoke – which would look quite mystical and romantic if is weren’t for the stench, bad enough to make you almost retch at times.

We visited ‘Waiotapu (‘thermal waters’ in Maori) Thermal Wonderland’, a compact area of cold and boiling pools of mud and water, steaming fumaroles (vents in the ground), smoking waterfalls and brightly coloured lakes.  All accompanied by the foul smell, of course.  All this is associated with volcanic activity that began 160,000 years ago.  The water can reach temperatures of up to 300 degrees centigrade.  Far off in the distance you can see the smoke coming from a geothermal power station, which just looks like another geyser.  Highlights are the boiling multi-hued ‘Champagne Pool’ and the Lady Knox Geyser that spouts punctually at 10.15 each morning, with the help of 300g of soap suds which acts as the catalyst.  The spurt of soapy water reaches heights of up to 20 metres and keeps going for about 10 minutes.  The fact that soap accelerates the geyser activity (pronounced guy-zer for anyone struggling to say it like I was) was discovered when prisoners in the prison that used to exist at this site tried to wash their clothes.

After 4 months of eating out pretty much all the time, we’ve had to put a stop to frivolous spending on food.  NZ is simply too expensive, particularly when you’ve been travelling for as long as we have (get your violins out) and when many activities here are adventure/experience-based and cost quite a bit.  Luckily, most hostels here have really good and clean kitchen facilities.  Some even have barbeques so we’ve been making the most of those.

Our evening excursion in Rotorua included food. Whoo-hoo!  We went to Mitai Maori Village.  Maori people have remained close to this sacred land around Rotorua and so it’s a good spot to catch up on heritage.  I was excited because we would see more traditional dancing – I just love it (especially the haka war dance).  These tours are incredibly heavily commercialised (there were 300 people), but still highly recommended.  We were treated to a hangi – food cooked in a earth oven, made by digging a hole and steaming food in baskets over embers in the hole.  The food was unveiled to us outside – whole chickens, lamb legs and potatoes.  I doubt that the rest of the food – salads, garlic bread, dauphinous potatoes followed by desserts were strictly Maori, or even if this food we were shown was actually cooked in this hangi oven, but the food was delicious anyway.  It was a buffet and there was heaps of it.

A ‘chief’ had been selected from the group of tourists (I believe his wife put up his hand) to represent the ‘nation of four winds’ as we were all named.  When we all sat in front of a stage made up to look like a traditional Maori village we were treated to a welcoming ceremony by the tribe of costumed men and women.  Ceremony is very important to the Maori people and in their long long speeches much care is taken to praise ancestors.  Our ‘chief’ (poor bloke) had to deliver a speech to the Maori leader on stage introducing us and paying his respects and then press noses with the elder.  This is called haku, the sharing of life breath, and signifies acceptance.   We all sang, copying the Maori line for line. We were treated to a demonstration of weapons and musical instruments in action, exercises to prepare for battle, singing and dancing.  The men on stage were literally wearing g-sting loin cloths and little else but tattoos all over their thighs, bums and faces.  We were shown and told about the common tattoo designs.  For most of them in this ‘show’ the tattoos were just make-up, although the Maori playing the part of the elder told us that the ones on his legs and buttocks were genuine.  Originally these would have been created using bone chisels, a mallet and blue pigment.  Ouch.  The women traditionally just (!) had tattoos on their lips and chins.  From a distance it looks like they’ve been eating something bloody.

At the end we all stood and learnt some dance movements, including the elevated eyebrows, eyes wide open (so you can see whites all around) and tongue out move.  My favourite.

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Travel Location: Matamata,New-Zealand

Travel About: wildlife-viewing,tour

Matamata was situated on New Zealand’s North Island, and was our first brush with something “Lord of the Rings” in the country. For those of you who don’t know – probably most of you reading this – a farm just outside Matamata was used as the setting for Hobbiton and The Shire. For those of you who don’t know about Hobbiton or The Shire because you haven’t seen any of the “Lord of the Rings” films, then you may want to pop over to your local video store to rent them after reading this journal entry. What better way would there be to see actual actors, instead of cheesy tourist stand-ins like ourselves, dancing on the Party Field or trying to appear as little as hobbits?

We had arrived in Matamata the night before the “Lord of the Rings” tour, and had parked our campervan, aka Bessie, in the car park of a small motel called Tower Lodge. For the previous three nights, we had stayed in a holiday park in Auckland and we wanted to save money by sleeping at the side of the road or in a picnic area when we arrived in Matamata. As we drove through the small town centre, we didn’t see any convenient place to park the large vehicle, so we pulled over at Tower Lodge Motel, one of the only lodging places at the edge of town. When we asked the motel manager for a spot where we could park Bessie overnight, he suggested that we stay in his car park, thus prohibiting us to block any of the town’s busy streets.

There were people whose prime responsibility was to corral sheep away from the film locations, and Sean Astin sometimes got involved

The manager at Tower Lodge Motel was not the friendliest character, but we did appreciate his gesture of goodwill. To prove our appreciation, we offered to pay for the parking spot, but he declined our money. That evening, we didn’t want to cause any commotion and we cooked dinner as quietly as possible before eating and then spending time reading our books. Bedtime came early that night and we were both happy to get some rest after a full day of driving from Auckland to Coromandel Peninsula, and then on to Matamata, complete with some hiking and several stops at overlooks and viewpoints along the way.

In the morning, we skipped taking showers for two reasons. (1) The weather had not been hot the day before and we hadn’t really worked up any kind of sweat to cause enough stink to warrant a shower (or so we thought). (2) It was our first night staying in the campervan outside of a holiday park and we weren’t sure if there would be enough water for two showers, or whether the hot water heater would work without being hooked into a power site. Later, we learned that the shower would indeed work just fine when we weren’t staying at a holiday park, but we still skipped showers on many occasions in New Zealand, wearing the same clothes day after day. At one point, we had both gone three days without one! Yes, we felt like true backpackers… or at least could compare ourselves with some of the smelly travellers we have come across over the past ten months.

Since we had gotten to bed at a decent time, we were able to make an early start in the morning. We had some cereal for breakfast and then headed a couple of blocks over to Matamata’s I-Site (information centre) to find out about the “Lord of the Rings” tours on offer. It wasn’t clear where we could park our campervan so Kyle pulled it into the I-Site car park upon Dan’s suggestion. The parking spaces were set up for standard size vehicles, but we just parked sideways and took up a few spots since our intention was only to go quickly inside and find out information about the tours before returning to our vehicle.

Inside, we had to wait a few minutes for the woman working at the information centre to finish explaining the tours on offer to a couple of Swedes. The Swedes didn’t know what they wanted to do and they said they would return after breakfast to book something. We had already eaten breakfast and knew by that point that we wanted to join their Hobbiton movie set tour, so we booked ourselves onto it straight away. We declined the woman’s offer of adding a sheep experience to our tour because we had planned to get closer to sheep at our next destination, Rotorua. We saw the Swedes again when our tour finished, as their tour was just beginning. The sunny weather we had in the morning left at the end of our tour and they viewed Hobbiton and The Shire under the clouds – pity for them!

The tour we booked ourselves on cost $50 NZD each (around £19, or $38 USD) and was the first one planned for that day, but we had half an hour or so to wait before it departed. To kill time, we moved our campervan to the rail station car park located behind the I-Site car park, a much better place to leave our large vehicle without getting ticketed or towed. Coffees were next on the agenda and we each ordered one from a nice cafe across the street from the I-Site. We also took advantage of the cafe’s clean toilets as we were told there were no loo (that’s the same as a bathroom for the Americans reading this) stops during the tour unless we wanted to perform our duties, like sheep do their doodies, au naturel.

J.R. was our tour guide for the morning and the minivan he picked us up in was named Frodo. There were eight other people – all from Europe – on the tour with us, a nice small group with which to explore the Hobbiton film location. The drive from Matamata to the Alexander farm took about 15 minutes, and J.R. entertained us along the way by providing a lot of interesting facts about the film and how Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema discovered the farm’s beautiful countryside during an aerial search by helicopter before securing its use (in secret) for the duration of the trilogy’s filming.

The Alexander farm was run, not surprisingly, by a family of sheep farmers named Alexander. The 1250 acre farm had many steep and rolling hills and was a perfect setting that closely resembled that of Middle-earth as described by J.R.R. Tolkien in the trilogy’s books. The most important factors that sold Peter Jackson on the location were the privacy of the farm and the fact that it was virtually untouched by 20th century clutter such as roads, buildings or power lines. Of course, Jackson first had to find an area of rolling green pastures with a large round tree sitting along the bank of a small lake to serve as the hobbits’ Party Tree. You’ll see in the photo album for this journal entry that the farm had a perfect tree and lake for the film.

During our tour around the area of the farm that was used for filming, J.R. pointed out where different scenes were shot. He was a whiz with a camera, too, and took photos of all of us in various hilarious poses, whether we were trying to appear as tiny hobbits, dancing on the Party Field, hugging the Party Tree, or chilling out in Bilbo Baggins home. Of course, all of these should be reason enough for you to check out our photo album, if you haven’t already done so when we asked you to in the previous paragraph. Bear in mind that the facades used in the film had been taken down because they were made of cheap, disposable materials and it was part of the contract with New Line Cinema, since they wanted to maintain secrecy and keep their possessions.

Site construction on the farm began in March 1999 and took nine months, with the enlisted help of the New Zealand Army; filming commenced in December 1999 and continued for three months. At its peak, there were 400 people “on site” including Jackson and several of the main actors in the films. The farm was still an active sheep farm during filming, and stray sheep occasionally blundered onto set. There were people whose prime responsibility was to corral sheep away from the film locations, and Sean Astin (who played Samwise) sometimes got involved in that activity. When we visited the farm and film locations, we saw many sheep around, our first up-close experience with the cute creatures.

The tour lasted around 2-1/2 hours and we felt that we really got our money’s worth for the morning. J.R. was such a great guide that it made the tour very memorable; he had us laughing at his silly jokes and enthusiasm, and we left the farm with a great feel for what went on when the film trilogy Hobbiton scenes were captured on camera thanks to his useful snippets of information. As a result, we’d highly recommend the tour to anyone visiting New Zealand. When the tour was over, we were driven back to the Matamata I-Site, and then we walked back to the rail station car park to board Bessie and head to Rotorua, our next Kiwi destination. The drive to Rotorua didn’t take very long and there was nothing too interesting to note along the way, as we just saw more rolling hills covered with green grass, and cows or sheep.

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Travel Location: Alnwick,United-Kingdom

Travel About: natural-wonder,food-&-wine,shopping,tour,garden,bookstore

We hadn’t really known what to do today, the weather was poor and buses not as frequent because it’s a Sunday, but our host came to the rescue. He is going into Alnwick today to feed his daughter’s fish, so offers us a lift! This saves us calling a taxi and means we can have a good look round before catching the last bus home.

In the end it turns into more of a guided tour of the area, including a photo opportunity across the river from Alnwick Castle. The sun even comes out so that we can take a lovely photograph. Then we cross the river by a bridge guarded by an amazingly straight tailed lion.

Children … can play with toy diggers, filling the buckets with water and racing round the paths with it.

Our guide dropped us off just outside the gates to Alnwick Gardens, a wonderful modern garden created by the Duchess of Northumberland. It’s still a work in progress and she needs millions to complete it, but is currently doing her best to earn a bit more back in Newbury. Apparently she is giving a talk at Cheam School at £30 a head!

Our first stop is the fantastical tree house. It’s designed to look like a castle in the trees, something more at home in the ‘Lord of the Rings’. In fact it’s a restaurant, and a popular one at that. We popped in to take a look, before bouncing off on the rope bridges.

You enter the garden after having your ticket zapped, just like a library ticket. Then you walk through a modern structure that reminds me a bit of the Eden Project domes, before being confronted by an incredible cascade. Everyone make a b-line for it and the fountains are in full flow as we approach. At the bottom water overflows down the walls, so in the right weather children could play in it. As it is they can play with toy diggers, filling the buckets with water and racing round the paths with it.

We walk up the steps beside the cascade, snatching views into the hornbeam corridor that runs alongside it. At the top we found a restored walled garden full of beautiful flowerbeds and gentle pools and fountains. We are just admiring one of these when one of the water engineers appears. He’s checking the fountains to see what needs working on. We can’t see anything wrong with the one we are looking at, until he points out a few blocked nozzles – that’s what we like to see, a perfectionist!

After looking at the top of the garden we find ourselves taking a tour of the Poison Garden. Here are plants that are toxic to eat, touch and even smell. Some I recognise, some I know by reputation only. The favourite for all children has to be the mandrake, made famous by Harry Potter books. Apparently we could pull it up without it screaming. There are a couple of plants that warrant their own iron cages. They have a special license to grow hemp (from which we get cannabis), coco (heroin) and opium poppies (which they told us how extract!). Worryingly at the hemp and coco cages appeared to be empty – had someone beaten us to it?

Time for a quick break and we headed back into the pavilion. Apparently in the summer water is circulated through the double skinned plastic roof to cool it. We have coffee and cakes whilst watching a local BBC radio gardening programme being recorded.

Fully refreshed we take a look round a bamboo maze, which gives three of us no problem at all. After finding the centre and getting back out again we were working out where to go next when we realised Y was missing. She was well and truly lost inside and we had to go back in to get her. Must make a mental note never to go to Hampton Court with her!

The last element of the garden contains a series of water sculptures, demonstrating some of the properties and science of water. It’s wonderful and gives us all the opportunity to thoroughly wet.

Eventually we take a walk around the town, visiting those shops that are open – not many as it happens. First we make sure we can find the bus station and check the time of the last bus, then we head back to the old railway station that is now a Mecca for book lovers, Barter Books. Imagine the most fantastic second-hand book shop you can. Now forget it because this place is so much better! They quote a newspaper article that describes it as “the British Library of second-hand book shops”.

It really is special and makes full use of the wonderful Victorian station that it fills. Once you find your book on the bulging shelves you can help yourself to a cup of tea or coffee and a slice of cake, putting your money in the nearby honesty box. Then you can wander into the old waiting room where a roaring fire and deep leather armchairs await. What breaks our heart is that we only have half an hour before we have to leave! We are definitely coming back.

Once you have found your book and reach the till, you can admire the magnificent mural that fills the roof space. It depicts a two tier gallery in a library and from it you are watched by some of our greatest literary authors. Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemmingway, Virginia Wolfe, to name just a few.

Eventually we have to leave and make our way back to the bus station. We arrive in plenty of time and provide some entertainment for a group of teenagers who are hanging out there. It’s a strange experience, back home they’d probably be hurling four lettered abuse at us. Here they genuinely seem to be interested in who we are, where we come from and why we are here. They aren’t angels, Y gently tells them off for littering, but my goodness what a difference.

The bus ride is very enjoyable and gives us a good look at the local countryside. It also give the others to show me where they walked yesterday and indeed calls at Caster, before heading back to Seahouses.

After a wander around in Seahouses we head for the Ship Inn on the seafront for dinner. I’m not convinced by this overcrowded pub, but evidently it’s busy because it’s good. I ordered steak (very rare) and chips and amazingly that’s exactly what I get. I’m always disappointed that no one seems prepared to cook steak properly any more. If you request a rare or blue steak it inevitably appears to be medium or medium rare. Presumably this is an over active Health and Safety reaction. From that moment the Ship had completely won me over and we had a wonderful evening. In a few months time it will be absolutely perfect, when smoking is finally banned in public places!

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