John from Totnes

Lengthy 400km drive south stopping off at the ancient Roman town of Sardis, which prior to the Roman occupation, was capital of the Lydian empire. We crawled over the ruins and remains of the Temple of Artemis, a Roman synagogue, bath, gymnasium and library. All very atsmospheric. Then on to Pamukkale, which is famous for its"cotton castle" being a dazzling white array of shaped travertine terraces. Adjoining the terraces is the remains of the ancient city of Hierapolis which was founded in the Hellenistic times. It was eventually ceded to the Romans but unfortunately the city was destroyed by an earthquake in AD60. It was eventually rebuilt but fell into decline with the fall of the Roman Empire.... read more

We retreated from the chilly hills of the Western Ghats to the warmth of the coast at a spot called Marari Beach, where we are storing up the warmth before we come home to the wintery conditions in the UK. We have spent the last few days of our holiday resting, reading and relaxing and I will leave the photographs to set the scene.... read more

Here's Lynne telling you all about our overnight boat cruise on the backwaters. By lunchtime each day the riceboats are ready to go: fresh linen on the beds, supplies stowed and passengers on board. A riceboat is a houseboat used traditionally to transport rice from the paddy fields that flank the waterways. Now many boats are built for tourist cruises but they still have to opeate alongside all the people who live and work on the banks of the lake and its backwaters. Our first houseboat cruise in 2010 was memorable and so we decided to do another one on this trip. The lake was busier this time and is quite obviously becoming a bigger tourist attraction. But the picturesque crafts still have old fashioned charm, making their way through the carpets of water hyancinths like ... read more

A city of contrasts. Skyscrapers stand next to stately Victorian buildings. Slums scattered throughout the city providing homes for many.The law of the jungle prevails when it comes to traffic control with the horn being the most vital piece of equipment required. Everywhere is busy and hectic and yet despite what appears to be organised chaos the city is at the heart of the drive forward by India. Tomorrow we retreat from this hive of activity and head for Kerala... read more

Spent a delightful week in Dorset with Lynne and her sister, Jayne. We stayed in a olde worlde thatch cottage on the Athelhampton House Estate, not far from Dorchester. Being so near the coast I did a couple of days walking two stretches of the South West Coast Path. The first stretch was from West Bay to Charmouth which entailed a hike up two very steep cliffs; the first Thorncombe Beacon and then after recovering from that a steep hike up Golden Cap, the highest point on the South Coast at 626 feet. As you will see from the photographs the views were spectactular from both especially on such a sunny day The weather on the second day of walking was pretty miserable and the walk from West Bay to Abbotsbury was a bit tedious during ... read more