Coastman1

Well, already the weeks have whizzed by and I am about to start the last leg of the trip (apart from the flight to Melbourne and the Gull Bus home). We spent an inordinately beautiul week on Corsica with its strong separatist, independence movement. Like in some parts of Scotland and Wales, there are people who burn down (or in Corsica's case, blow up!) the houses bought by overseas people as holiday homes. The weather was beautiful, and we started the Mare a Mare Sud walking track from Porto Vecchio on the east coast with an 18 kilometre uphill walk. It was a lot harder than expected and our backpacks were probably heavier than they needed to be. Better organised people were having their luggage transported from one gite (lodging) to the next and only carrying ... read more

OK - I know. You've been missing the dulcet tones of text from afar. Well instead of going into detail, I'll give you a summary. I heard a sigh of relief - come on, own up! So I think I last blogged from Istanbul. It seems an eon ago. I took a two-day trip to Cappadocia in Central Anatolia (saw a few Anatolian shepherd puppies). Took a couple of day-tours, not usually my bag but I'd dashed off to Cappadocia - Land of beautiful horses - on a whim so I didn't organise any independent travel. Covered a few places of interest incuding the underground city where persecuted Christians used to live; the caves cut into the eroded sandstone under the basalt lava. Escaping Christians used to live here when the Romans came through. Underground churches ... read more

Spending a little time this morning debating the next best things to do. I am considering a two-day trip to Capadoccia (Goreme) leaving tonight and coming back to Istanbul for a Hammam (wash in a bath) before heading out to Ireland. I just need to make sure I don't miss my flight. Ali, the hostel owner / manager will give me a recommendation and I will accept it since I haven't taken the trouble to plan it for myself. Last night Ali organised a street barbecue and a belly dancer on the rooftop garden. It sounds fascinating and it was good fund. Sitting in the street eating kofte and chicken with salad and rice was done by street light - I couldn't tell whether the meat was cooked but I a not dead or ill this ... read more

A half day walk around the old city Once again, this city is delightful, interesting, diverse and familiar all at the same time. Delightful with the smell of fish cooking at a number of shops on wheels by the boat-busy Bosphorus. Interesting with the opportunity to shoot airgun pellets from the promenade at balloons, cans and bottles set up on the rocks by the Marmara Sea. Diverse with the collection of building styles from mosques and a French architectural style school to Roman remains and rotten wooden houses; from tall blocks of flats to low-rise apartments and the lovely winding streets with dozens of shopfronts, markets, street vendors, small cemeteries and the Topkapi palace public gardens. Familiar, partly because I have been here before, but more so because it's a dispersed city you can navigate by ... read more

On a mission! A destitute family in the outer suburbs of Nanjng is in desperate need of supplies. Without them, the children will fade away and vanish. My mission is to bring those supplies to this poor and needy family so they can survive in the face of all adversity. This is the fifth time I have been to Nanjing - always for work. Usually I visit for two weeks. This time just a week. I choose to extend my visits here by a week or so each time to havea peek at other places. First a walk on the Lantau Trail on Lantau Island near Hong Kong. This included a visit to the village on stilts and a bouncy small boat trip to see the pink dolphins. After the next visit I went to Anhui ... read more