claire b - Claire Boulter

People ask me where I'm from..and I have to say 'everywhere'! So far it's been..I was born in Manchester (but only lived there for one year so can't count it has home), moved from/to London-Vanuatu-London-Zimbabwe-Kent-Newcastle-Kent-London-Edinburgh-Chengdu, China-Dhaka,Bangladesh-Bath-Peterborough-Cambridge and now back in Kent. 17 different houses, 7 different schools, 4 different continents and 5 different countries as a resident...I've travelled by plane, bus, train, taxi, ferry, speedboat, canoe, sedan chair, rickshaw, horse and elephant...having recently completed a PGCE (teacher training course) I'm now figuring out my next move.

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Joined on: September 9th 2006
Last Login: November 5th 2009

Blog Entries: 41
Photos: 256

TB Code: [blogger=23110]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by claire b, order by Date newest first.

By claire b
August 30th 2009

Back in the Emerald Isle Europe » Ireland » County Waterford

Ardmore Round Tower (and view)

Much as I would have liked to travel further afield this summer (having recently completed a teaching qualification I've had over 2 months off) but my meagre funds have not allowed this (too many shoes perhaps?!), so I decided to go to Ireland for a week, staying at my family's cottage in Ardmore, in the south of Ireland. My paternal grandmother who was born not too far from Ardmore bought the cottage around 25 years ago so my family - and friends of the family - have been using it ever since. Ardmore (in Gaelic, 'Aird Mhor', frequently seen on signs [View Full Entry]

By claire b
May 28th 2009

last 3 weeks in Cambridge Europe » United Kingdom » England » Cambridgeshire » Cambridge

church (can't remember which one!), Cambridge

Hello, I don't write this blog much nowadays as I don't deem being back in the UK exotic..however I have moved around 3 cities in 6 months thanks to my teaching placement, so here are a few photos of where I've been living most recently: Cambridge. I've 3 weeks left til I finish my course and leave..no idea where I'll go next so we'll see... [View Full Entry]

By claire b
December 6th 2008

Bath, Stonehenge and Lacock Europe » United Kingdom » England » Somerset » Bath

Stonehenge

I should have updated this blog a long time ago as I have done a wee bit of sightseeing. So..for ease's sake I'll include my time in Bath so far where I'm doing a PGCE in English, and a day trip I took to Stonehenge. I love Bath. And I miss it! At present I'm in Peterborough on a teaching placement and to be honest, not much to see except tons of shops and a cathedral. It's flat, it's grey, it's full of motorways..not very handy when one doesn't drive. So basically I can't wait to leave for those reasons and [View Full Entry]

By claire b
August 9th 2008

1.5 days in Bangkok Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Bangkok

a big golden dome under a blue sky
at the Grand Palace

Hello all, It's my birthday today and quite frankly I can't be bothered to write an in-depth analysis of my 1.5 days in Bangkok so I will just write the basics and tips in case any of you are in the same position, i.e. trying to fit in a whistlestop tour of a massive city. What to do? We (my mum, my friend and I) had to stopover in Bangkok anyway before we got our respective flights back home to a) UK b) Bangladesh and decided to make it into 2 nights. I had last been to Bangkok 18 years ago [View Full Entry]

By claire b
August 6th 2008

Ho Chi Minh and the Mekong Delta Asia » Vietnam » Mekong River Delta

weasel coffee
comes out the rear ends of the weasels, then sorted and sold..apparently a delicacy..and very cheap in Vietnam!

I was looking for a place to go on holiday for 10 days ish, and a few months ago decided on Vietnam, specifically, to be based around Ho Chi Minh as I’d be able to stay for free in an empty flat of my mum’s ex-colleague who lives there but who’d be away. As I know myself well enough to realise I wouldn’t want to travel on my own (get bored with my own company after a while!) my mum was up for coming too, so we were all set. About 6 weeks ago though a friend of mine, Tamsyn, decided [View Full Entry]

inside Cao Dai, worshippers during the service

By claire b
July 24th 2008

sunny Srimongol Asia » Bangladesh » Sylhet

a Bangladeshi train
..which we caught to Srimongol

A friend from the UK came to visit me last Friday, and prior to her arrival I/we decided to go on a brief sojourn to Srimongol (there are different spellings, but I’m going to stick to one). Srimongol is where the tea-estates are here in Bangladesh, in the Sylhet region, east of the country, very close to the Indian border. Dhaka is such a chaotic city to live in, and visit, especially for a first-timer to Bangladesh, that I thought it’d be a change in scene to visit Srimongol, as well as the fact that I had never been. I organised [View Full Entry]

I like the fact they remind you not to spit in the pool

village women preparing betel-nut leaves

By claire b
May 3rd 2008

the common and bizarre at Cox's Bazar Asia » Bangladesh » Cox s Bazar

sunset from Angel's Point, Cox's Bazar

As May Day was a holiday, me and my mum (my dad's currently in the UK on a visit) decided to go to Cox's Bazar, to have a break from Dhaka and to see and swim in the sea, namely the Bay of Bengal..why not? Cox's Bazar is on the south-easterly tip of Bangladesh, not far from the border with Myanmar (Burma) - the weird extra 'bit' at the bottom of Bangladesh, almost as an afterthought. The region was frequented by the Mogh pirates, along with the Portuguese, who ravaged the Bay of Bengal in the 17th century (thanks, Lonely Planet). [View Full Entry]

trying to get visitors to have a horse ride..

By claire b
February 23rd 2008

weekend escape to the outskirts of Dhaka Asia » Bangladesh » Dhaka » Dhaka

rickshaw-wallah staring at me
along a street in Sonargaon, the old capital of Bangladesh

Saturday night is drawing in and the back-to-work-tomorrow feeling is setting in, but for the meantime I'm going to explain what I/my parents and friends did this weekend. Thursday was Mother Language Day, which celebrates those who died trying to save the language of Bangla (a successful fight obviously), so we have had a 3 day weekend..not that it has felt like one! On Thursday I didn't do much..went for a ludicrously expensive (in taka terms) lunch with friends at the Westin, a v posh hotel not too far from our house..and then went to a friend's house to play a [View Full Entry]

By claire b
February 21st 2008

25 great things about living in Dhaka Asia » Bangladesh » Dhaka » Dhaka

Bangladesh flag

Although living in Dhaka can be tough at times, there are some great things about it, for me. I fully realise some points in the list below can't be enjoyed by everyone in B'desh whether as a tourist or a resident, but there you have it. I'm well aware I'm incredibly lucky to be in this country and enjoy so much of it in ways many millions of people here can't due to not being British/white/able to earn a half-decent salary (I work at a local school and earn a local salary, but I know it's still more than the majority)/other [View Full Entry]

By claire b
December 29th 2007

Christmas in Kathmandu Asia » Nepal » Patan

Durbar Square, Patan
view from one of the rooftop cafes

On the afternoon of Friday 21st December my parents, my newly-arrived-from -the-UK brother and I set off for Dhaka airport on our way to Nepal. Those of you who have encountered Biman Bangladesh Airlines will not be surprised to know that we were severely delayed, which is even worse when you are in the world’s a) coldest b) most boring airport! Anyhow after nearly 4 hours of shivering, wandering, reading and general waiting we made it onto the aircraft and 1 hour and 10 minutes later arrived at Kathmandu airport. Out of sheer luck I got a window seat on the [View Full Entry]

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