Isla Holbox Holbox island is located on the north coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is just over 1km wide and 12km long and home to some 1,500 inhabitants. It is not a place for the masses and it's not that easy to get to either. The island is accessed by ferry (M$60) from the mainland town of Chiquila, which is approximately 2 hours drive from Cancun. There are no paved roads on Holbox so when I stepped off the ferry, all I could see were golf carts and bicycles moving slowly through the sandy streets. Note that there are no [View Full Entry]

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Saturday, November 14th We woke the morning very eager and continued working on the van. Neither of us had done this kind of thing before, so found it hard to make decisions. What’s right and what’s wrong? Common sense seemed to be our only guide. Also, in theory everything is easy. In practice, however, it’s really hard. For example, it’s impossible to cut a straight line with a jigsaw. We got a few tips from the net, but they didn’t help because the moment the blade got hot it would start veering off course. Hence we made much slower progress than [View Full Entry]

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In the Islamic tradition, guests are considered a gift from God, and must be treated accordingly. This might sound like yet another religion-based principle that sounds good on paper, but in the country of Iran, belief in this regard is put into practice. In the two weeks that I spent traveling across the nation, I was faced with daily examples of warmth and generosity to a degree that I have never encountered anywhere else in the world. Iranian people are desperately hospitable; at least that is the impression that is left on the visitor, as you are practically fending off near [View Full Entry]

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As per my current lifestyle, this is more pictures and less prose. A weekend in Bath visiting old friends. They're not old, but I have known them for a long time. I've known Tom/Laura for about 20/15 years. They forsook Cheltenham when they got back from travelling and set up an organic deli in Bath. It's been running for three years and is going strong. I'll shamelessle plug it a bit (and it's worth plugging)- sandwiches, salads, cakes and soups, tea and coffee, cheeses. If you're in Bath...just everything except the cheese is home-made. www.bestofbritishdeli.co.uk So, Friday. Zipped [View Full Entry]

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Flying in from Singapore via Air Asia, we arrived in Langkawi tired and sleepless from our night sessions with friends. At the airport, we changed enough money to last us for the Langkawi and Kuala Lumpur legs of our trip. In Singapore and Malaysia, we found out it is always best to change money at the airport as the rates are so much better. For a small airport, there are a lot of shops at Langkawi International, probably because the whole archipelago is duty-free! We also came right smack in the middle of the Malaysia Grand Sale so we were very [View Full Entry]

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DAY 373 I awoke with terrible cramp in my calf muscle, I rubbed it for ages before it calmed down and went back to normal. I had a glass of water beside me, it was a warm night so I drank it down with ease and eventually went back to sleep. I knew Andy had already got out of bed, it was daylight already but I was tired so carried on sleeping, we had a late night last night and after all that travelling a small lie in was deserved. I finally succumbed to the daylight at 7.30 and got up. [View Full Entry]

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Day 18 (Monday, September 14, 2009) After checking out of the hotel in Arles, we left the city and began the long two hour drive towards the Riviera. Along the way, we ended up having to pay three separate tolls, which totaled to a whopping 18 Euro (about $27.50 USD). Luckily, we didn’t have to purchase gas that day, so it didn’t take a huge dent out of our daily budget. We drove directly to our hotel, which was located in the town of Antibes. I had chosen to stay at a place called [url=http://www.hoteletoile.co [View Full Entry]

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7th March '09: Tachographs are a dashed nuisance. Namibian and I awoke yesterday after five hours in bed - separate beds, that is - faced with a dilemma. Either we go immediately, to reach our destination within a regulation “spread-over” period of fifteen hours; or we wait another four hours, to complete a nine-hour daily rest. These hard-and-fast rules just do not suit this industry; both options - in the name of safety regulations - leave us knackered. We choose the latter, dining on bacteria and a bread roll to eke out the time. But I totally forgot it was Friday. [View Full Entry]

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