Sunday Spotlight – Hoi An, Vietnam

Yes! Sunday Spotlight is back! And today a trip for me down memory lane (has it really been that long?) to 2011 and my visit to Vietnam. Sort of halfway up the coast is the little town of Hoi An, with a charming old town, welcoming tourists happily and with welcoming arms. It’s a great …

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The Air BnB Experience – Homestays

Hi all. It's taken an age but finally I'm getting around to writing about Air Bnb. In the last two trips I've used Air BnB five times, twice for homestays and three times to rent apartments. They have been quite different experiences. I'm not sure what took me so long to finally use Air BnB. …

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Train Journeys – Irkutsk to Ekanterinburg (Trans-Mongolian Leg 3)

After three days in Irkutsk it was mid-afternoon and I was back on the rails again headed roughly due west towards the city of Ekanterinburg, the city which saw the demise of the last Tzar of Russia, Nicholas the Second. Again, it was realrussia.co.uk through which I got my ticket for this train. 180 pounds …

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Accommodation Review – Baikaler Hostel

The Baikaler Hostel in Irkutsk, Russia, has a pretty good reputation and I was very glad that I was able to get a room there – especially as there was only one private room in the whole hostel! Apparently it is owned and run by an interesting and friendly character named Jack. Unfortunately for me …

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Train Journeys – Ulaan Baatar to Irkutsk (Trans-Mongolian Leg 2)

After four days in Ulaan Baatar and Terelj, it was very quickly on again by rail travelling a further 1114km to the Siberian city of Irkutsk, not far from Lake Baikal (around 60km). This, it turns out, was the shortest journey of the four legs of my Trans-Mongolian as far as distance covered. However, it …

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Train Journeys – Beijing to Ulan Bataar (Trans-Mongolian)

Okay. Well here I am ready to start reviewing the four segments of my journey from Beijing to Moscow, around 8000 kilometres away, via Mongolia. The trip to the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bataar was 1426 kilometres, crossing the border at Erlian (China) passing through Jinignan, Zhurihe and Dzamynude and other towns that perhaps I …

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In China. That Wall Thing. (great!)

When I went to China at the beginning of May this year, more specifically to Beijing, it was about 95% to catch the first leg of the Trans-Mongolian train journey. However, as I was going there, I decided that I wanted to get to two of China’s great historical landmarks, the Forbidden City and the …

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