We have now been on the island for 5 Days. We found a vacant bungalow at White Sands Resort, the first place we tried. The first morning we woke up to torrential rain. Our bungalow was right on the side of the dirt road; water lorries had trundled along all through the night turning it into a mud bath. We couldn’t avoid having to paddle through it, so what with that and coupled with the noise of the lorries we ask if we could change bungalows. No problem, we were given a bungalow in a lovely gardened area. Sadly, a large group of Chinese guys were in the bungalow behind us and thought it would be a good idea to party at the top of their voices until 6am. I guess it is the start of ... read more

Just a quick message to wish Happy New Year to all our friends, relations and the many acquaintances we have met on our travels last year in S.E. Asia and Poland and also acquaintances from previous years. Well, the New Year has begun and the big wide world is beckoning us again. We’re now counting down to our next trip. On January 16th we fly of to Bangkok to explore more of S.E. Asia. This time we will spend a month visiting the Thai islands along the west coast and down into Malaysia to Kuala Lumpur. From there we fly to Ho Chi Ming City in Vietnam and spend a month travelling up the coast as far as Hanoi. After that we fly to the Philippines for 3 weeks. We have it on good authority, Sharon ... read more

The tradition in Poland is that the Groom goes in the Wedding car to collect the bride from her parental home and they go to the church/ cathedral together, unlike England where they don’t actually see each other on the day until they meet up at the alter. As the groom’s parents we were to follow in a taxi and meet with the brides parents and carry out a few Polish traditions. We had no idea of Milena’s address in Poland so gestured to the driver to ‘ follow that car!’ The wedding car was a black and white vintage model. We set off through the busy streets of Lodz no problem until we hit the first set of lights, the wedding car sailed through and we got stuck as they turned to red. Now what? ... read more

After three long years we have finally met up with Sharon again. The main reason for her coming home was for Gary’s wedding in Poland. Before the wedding, however, we had two weeks together. Firstly we had arranged a Bar-B-Que for all of Sharon’s friends here in England to welcome her home. It was a great occasion and lovely to see her catch up with old friends and of course, Gary. Sadly, Milena could not come due to her singing commitments. The weather did it’s usual of course and kept us wondering if the rain would stop before it was time to light the Bar-B-Que! Fortunately it did – but only just in time! At 10am the next day sharon, Stan and I flew off for some much needed guaranteed sunshine. We spent a week in ... read more

The second day of a Torajan funeral ceremony. As we drove to the site of the funeral our guide explained to us that the site would have taken several weeks to prepare. It consisted of bamboo structures erected on stilts with colourful roofs over them, decorated with equally colourful drapes. They were arranged around a square area of rough earth. One structure was smaller and higher than the rest; this was where the coffin was displayed throughout the ceremony. All of this would be taken down after the funeral and used for firewood. When we arrived there were already lots of people there looking down from a pathway to the square area in the middle, they seemed to be enjoying what they were watching. We looked over and saw one buffalo on the floor taking ... read more