Sunday Spotlight – Rouen

Hello and welcome to another 'Sunday Spotlight'! This time I go back to June this year, so not far back at all really! To France, to Normandy, to a small city with a past tied up with perhaps France's most revered woman - Joan D'Arc. If you want to learn about Joan of Arc, well …

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Accommodation Review – Ermitage Bouquet, Rouen, France

The last place I visited in France before heading off to Japan was the small city/town of Rouen in Normandy. It's quite a nice little place, with a few things to see none of which take an awful amount of time. It had its old town which is genuinely very attractive and lovely to walk …

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Sunday Spotlight – Semey (Kazakhstan)

Today's Spotlight is shone on the northern city in Kazakhstan of Semey. I ventured there a few years ago now (really I can't believe it's been SIX years! Time is going too fast I tells ya!) as the first city I went to bar Almaty. I took the overnight train, which was quite a cool …

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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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On the Shinkansen

It seems odd that I’ve never done a post specifically on the Shinkansen before. One reason is that I didn’t have ANY pictures despite having used the Shinkansen many times since first visiting Japan in 2011. So today’s Train Journeys is going to look at this Japanese marvel of modern technology getting you from A …

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Train Journeys – Ekanterinburg to Moscow (Final Leg Trans-Mongolian)

My final journey which completed my trip from Beijing to Moscow began early morning in Ekanterinburg. Luckily my hotel was just opposite the train station, and I was there around 7am in the morning, an hour before the train left. In all cases I was advised to get to the station an hour before the …

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Accommodation Review – Marins Park Hotel Ekanterinburg, Russia

After a couple of hostels and a yurt, I found myself in the rather wonderful business hotel 'Marins Park Hotel' in Ekanterinburg. Okay, it wasn't the most amazing stay I've ever had, but it ticked all the main boxes and I left feeling pretty satisfied with my stay and choice. I had a basic double …

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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 – 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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