Ethiopia Through My Lens – Gondar

Located in the north-east of Ethiopia, Gondar is an interesting town with its own castle Fasilides Castle, founded by the Emperor of the same name who founded both the castle and the town. The town was founded in 1635. The castle is interesting because it is strangely European in style and there are some large …

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Travel Videos – Vibrant Vietnam

Welcome to a new week! Today's video is one I compiled from my time in Vietnam, 2011. Wonderful wonderful warm country! I visited Ho Chi Minh City, Da Lat, Nha Trang, Hoi An, Hue, Hanoi and Halong Bay, and here's a pretty long (18 minute) video with the highlights! I hope you enjoy! Thanks for …

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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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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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City Rumble – Quito versus Lima

Two cities on the western side of South America, two countries that share a border, Quito and Lima both have good and bad sides. They are quite different cities despite being in neighbouring countries, and both offer quite a bit for the visitor. Quito is the Ecuadorian capital. It’s at altitude – 2,850 metres above …

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Pan-America Panorama – Arequipa and Culco Canyon

Yes! The panoramas are back! But I'm not sure how many, if any, I have after this one. Today I look at the ones I snapped in Arequipa, in Peru and around. I took a trip through the mountains to the Culco Canyon as well from Arequipa, although I didn't take a lot of panoramas. …

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Review – Intrepid Tour Galapagos, Days Three, Four and Five

Continued on from Pretrip, Days One and Two Day Three You last left me on my 9 (ish) day tour of Galapagos finally arrived on the largest of the islands, Isla Isabella staying in a nice hotel called Hotel Iguana. I shared a three bed room with one other person. Day three was a 6am …

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Accommodation Review – Hotel La Dolce Vita, Sucre, Bolivia

Well. The name says it all, doesn’t it? Sucre is a delightful city in South-Central Bolivia which is definitely worth a short stop if you’re there. It can be reached in a couple of hours from Potosi by share taxi which was great as at the time I was well and truly sick of the …

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