Touchdown to Athens, Greece. Named after Athena, daughter of Zeus, Goddess of wisdom, the birth place of democracy, the staging arena of western philosophy, the epicenter of art and culture which has been replicated time and time again, stands as one of the oldest cities in the world dating back to 5000 BC. There are excavation sights throughout the city, some gated off and others open to the public. One was recently discovered in central Athens by the public transit system as they were digging a vent for their subway line. Whoops! Now it's just another sight amongst the hundreds you [View Full Entry]

---

---

Dead Sea Not wanting to see anything of the apparently rather bland capital of Amman (In fact I didn't spend one day there, isn't travelling on a time limit fun), I decided to head to the Dead Sea instead. I managed to recruit these two Australian girls to come with me and we all headed off to the lowest spot on the face of the planet, 422m below sea level, to float around in water so salty that nothing can survive but microrganisms and the bizarre creature known to science as the "elderly German tourist". After a pain free trip there, [View Full Entry]

---

---

Most people who think of Kazakhstan, think of Borat. Most people who have been to Kazakhstan might think of Almaty its former capital, and then there are some who decide to discover what the rest of the country might be like. I decided to go up north, and to keep me company along the way I went with an English man who went by the name of Tim, whom I had met in a rather decrepit dormitory in Almaty. Before long we were on a train riding up the steppes of Kazakhstan and I learned my first lesson on this country. [View Full Entry]

---

---

The end is nigh Kate It's coming to the end of our contract here in Haiphong. We finish teaching for Apollo on the 5th December and we fly back to the UK, via Kuala Lumpur, on the 12th. We are really excited about coming home now. We are not the sort of expats who can stay away from the UK for long periods of time. We don't live abroad because we hate the UK, but simply because we love the life we lead away from it. We left the UK this time nearly 14 months ago now, and for future [View Full Entry]

---

---

Tuesday, November 17th We woke to a beautiful morning in the peaceful country side. Ferdi went to feed the chickens and in return they kindly left us two eggs. We made tea and enjoyed Talita’s rusks while sitting on the veranda. What a way to live! We feel right at home here. Dave and Deborah might be in for a surprise when they return; a couple of bus-sitters with no intention of leaving. Ferdi also took care of the plants in the greenhouse. It’s a great feeling to take care of a living thing. It’s strange how he’s come almost full-circle; [View Full Entry]

---

---

DAY 377 There is never a dull moment on the farm, which is proven to be quite true much later today. Up at 7.15, and made myself a cup of tea as Helen and I are off to Wagga Wagga this morning, providing there are no more disasters on the horizon. We left early so that we could have breakfast when we got there. Helen needed to do a couple of errands first, the unused Wobble Box (read yesterdays if you don’t now what that is about!) went back to John Deere, the radio from the Header had packed up so [View Full Entry]

---

---

I am back... sorry for the delay in blogs but as you all know I am now home... the last week was just so crazy (and relaxing) that my blogs got forgotten for awhile! After settling in, getting back to work and have unpacked (well half of my stuff) I am ready to sit down with a cup of tea and try remember everything we did! Crazy times! So we left our little hotel Bich Duyen and got a taxi to the airport... for some reason it was only $8 on the way back out (even though they had charged us [View Full Entry]

---

---

Day 21 continued (Thursday, September 17, 2009) After leaving Seguret, we began the long drive north to Lyon. This magnificent city is sadly often overlooked on the tourist trail, with Paris and Nice being much more popular cities to visit. This is truly a shame considering that Lyon has much to offer to visitors, including multiple museums, gorgeous churches, diverse neighborhoods, pedestrian-friendly squares, and more restaurants to choose from than anywhere else I've seen in the world. Prior to our visit, even I was unaware that Lyon had multiple areas within its city desi [View Full Entry]

---

---