The reason for deciding on Costa Rica as a destination to spend a year (minimum) living and working was that it had both mountains and beaches. True, many other countries around the world have mountains and beaches too. In fact, probably all of them. Except Holland. Costa Rica is a little country but it has an unfair wealth of natural wonders. Again I’m struggling to think of a country that doesn’t but such comparisons are not the point of these particular ambling scribblings. Fortunately, Heredia, where I live, is just outside San Jose, right in the centre of the cou [View Full Entry]

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After spending most of 2007 travelling, I wanted to settle a little bit the following year. I wanted to have the same bed for more than three nights in a row, I wanted to be able to pick from more than five t-shirts each morning, I wanted to make more permanent friends, I wanted a cupboard full of food, etc, etc. However, I was sure that i didn't want to be in the UK. Tried that, not too keen. So, as discussed in the Mexico blog a while back, I decided on taking an English teaching course, as a passport to [View Full Entry]

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My plan had been to head out to some of the distant southern cayes off of Belize. However, I met more and more people who had either just come from there or had tried to get there and all told similar stories. Because it is low season, either the water taxi's aren't running, or, you can get to the islands but you'll be the only one there. Not good when most diveboats require a minimum of four to put out to sea. An English/Finnish couple came to my rescue telling me about a cheap airline on which I could fly to [View Full Entry]

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Before I went to Central America I didn't know much about the Maya. I put them in a group with the Inca's and Aztec's as a once great civilisation that were flattened by the arrival of the Europeans. Turns out I was completely wrong. I can remember thinking when in Peru that while Machu Pichu is spectacular, the church in my village at home in Yorkshire is much older. This didn’t dampen my experience at all but it made me realise that architecturally at least, the Inca’s, and therefore I thought all of the American civilisations were way behind the rest [View Full Entry]

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Before I went to Belize I had tried to find some definitive information about the Blue Hole. If you do a bit of diving then this place is legendary. According to guide books and tourist info websites; the hole is not far off being the greatest thing on Earth. But when you read blogs on websites like this one, you can come across highly conflicting views. This is what I thought: Booking the trip was straight forward despite the fact that I found myself on Caya Caulker during low season. All the dive shops took my name and asked me to [View Full Entry]

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It’s strange how the most spontaneous decisions always lead to the best experiences. I think my time in Mexico was one of the most challenging, but also the most fun, months of my life. After my Eastern Europe jaunt, during my week or so as a tourist in London (I was the only English person at most of the sites), I decided that I wanted to live and work abroad. There is plenty of work out there for an engineer but it tends to be in English speaking countries. It was Slovenia that I really fancied after falling in love with [View Full Entry]

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There are two reasons why I came to Prague this summer. Number one is because it meant I could fly directly home to Yorkshire. Number two is because it’s Prague. This city really does live up to the hype. Unfortunately everybody knows it does so half of the population of the earth were here. I didn’t mind the crowds though. Because I was making this final leg of my trip alone, I could dodge and weave between the families and photographers, squeeze past the large tour groups and hurdle the toddlers. This is not much of an exaggeration. Crossing the Charles [View Full Entry]

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It was the third year in a row that I have passed through Budapest, and the second time this trip. Therefore, I really wished I liked it more. It’s not that I don’t like it, it is easy and convenient to use as a hub for further travels, the old part of Buda is nice, the people are friendly and it’s quite cheap. I really can’t put my finger on why I have never been taken by it. There are lots of cities I like with less to offer than Budapest. That’s all. I’ll probably be back next year. [View Full Entry]

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Upon arrival in Ohrid I was quite surprised by what I found. I had read a bit about this town and the lake, how it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site full of ancient buildings and how the Cyrillic alphabet was invented here in the ninth century AD. I had also seen a lot of photographs, nearly all of a little church sitting on a cliff above a deep blue lake. Well that is only half the story. Tacked on to the side of the old town is a lively modern resort. There are lots of restaurants, bars, cafes, shops, banks, [View Full Entry]

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I was in Bosnia last year but only had chance to visit Mostar. This year I only had time to visit Sarajevo but unfortunately seeing as my camera was broken here are a few snaps from 2006. One thing that struck me in Sarajevo, that was present in Mostar but not to the same extent, are the constant reminders of the war. I appreciate that Sarajevo was under siege for three years and four months and must have been a living hell after the Bosnian Serb military commander, Ratko Mladic, gave the order: “Shoot at slow intervals until I order you [View Full Entry]

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