Zephyr

I was up earlyish and headed to the bus station for my bus to Klaipeda. I was glad I didn’t have to far to walk with my stuff. The bus station was well organised and I found where my bus was leaving from and when I saw it had arrived I headed out to board. The journey to Klaipeda was a couple of hours or so and uneventful. It was cold and miserable when I arrived. My accommodation was a good 20-30 minute walk from the bus station. The first part was through a housing estate and the path there was pretty dicy. I managed not to fall on the ice. All good! Then it was along the main streets, which were ice free. I was able to do an early check-in at my accommodation and ... read more

I don’t think I slept a wink as I was too nervous about waking up early. I got up around three and was out the door by four. I was staying just a couple of minutes walk from the airport bus stop so headed there. I thought there might be some drunken revellers about but the streets were quiet. I didn’t have to wait long for the bus and the journey itself was quick. Deposited in front of Edinburgh Airport, I made my way into the terminal and headed to the luggage self check in. That was straight forward apart from figuring out how to actually attach the label. A nice member of staff helped me out. I haven’t checked luggage on Ryanair in years, and the last time I did it they still had people ... read more

An early start today as I wanted to get out and beat the queues, if they existed. I am still not used to venturing out in the dark in the mornings. It felt like the middle of the night and watching people do their daily commute in the dark made me relieved that I wasn’t. First stop was the nearest Starbucks for coffee. The cafe was home to a cat, which seemed to have the run of the place. It has really impressed me, all the animals that are on the loose in the city, that they are well cared for and just do their own thing side by side with us humans and neither bother each other. It says good things about the citizens of Istanbul. Once the coffee was consumed, I walked down the ... read more

I had hoped to have an early start, but since I didn't arrive into Guangzhou late the evening before and didn't get into bed until after midnight, I was a little slow off the mark. Once sorted, I repacked my case ready for my late night departure and ordered some breakfast. I headed downstairs as the place I was staying at had a cafe on the ground floor and I ordered an iced americano as I was no longer used to the Guangdong heat since moving a bit further north. I got a nice surprise that as a guest my coffee had a slight discount. I drank my coffee and waited for my breakfast to arrive. I nearly missed the delivery bloke as he raced off up the stairs. I'm glad I saved him having to ... read more

After my expensive Starbucks the previous morning, I headed to McDonald's for my caffeine fix. Much cheaper, but a lot scruffier. I took the subway to Yingwanzhen station, which is near the start of the trail up Yuelushan mountain. There were a lot of people heading to the mountain. There were entry gates and it was the same mini program as the one I was unable to use for Orange Island so I just snuck through when the gates opened for the person in front of me. The mountain isn't much of a mountain, more like a big hill. The first part of the trail was along the road and just a gradual climb. I passed the entrance to the cable car that can take you to the top, but it was closed for maintenance. The ... read more