sarahwalker

This is just a quick note for coeliacs and possibly people with some other food intolerances to hopefully enable them to feel comfortable enough to travel in Timor Leste. I'm not sure how searches work but I hope that this will come up on Google if someone looks for it. I brought my own gluten free soy sauce, stock cubes, muesli bars (they went quick) and a few cup of soups as an emergency. In the supermarkets in Dili I found rice or mung bean vermicelli, gluten free spaghetti, soy custard desserts (I don't like soy but they are GF), banana 'chips' for snacking during road trips and of course there's fresh fruit and vegetables available as well as rice everywhere. I've found that some of the fried chicken isn't battered, only seasoned and fried in ... read more

As usual, I composed various parts of a blog in my head and when it actually comes to putting it down in words, I can't remember it. I've been missing on here for some time for which I apologise to all the people who took the time to follow, write, inspire and encourage me. I do like writing but it usually feels a chore. I need to sort that bit out. Let's move on. Currently, I'm sitting at a marketplace at 05:18 in Lautem. A solitary light bulb hanging from the wooden beams provides enough light to see the goods for sale on the concrete tables whilst the wares laid out on sheets of plastic over the gravel surface are lit with torches or phone screens. Teens who collect the fares from bus travellers are the ... read more

23rd May The train came to a shuddering halt at a station around 05:30 which pulled me from my sleep. Dozing until each station wasn't a viable option and I gave up around 8am. Looking across to Steph and Quinn, they had found the bizarre but inventive 'cappuccino in a can' which was self heating. They followed the instructions while everyone else stood around, fascinated. It was definitely hot and for the price, I think they wished they'd bought more. We arrived in Astana not long before 9am and were met by taxi drivers ready to whisk our luggage into their cars and be on their way. But Suse needed to get across that we wanted to go to Customs, not the border and to do that she rang the apartment owner in Baku to translate. ... read more

14th May We're on the move again, out of Tbilisi. Out into the countryside, across the dammed Lori river and into the tree laden mountains with cattle grazing amongst the wildflowers below. In the villages we pass through, houses are built with bits of this and bits of that but are well maintained. Neat rows of greens can be seen in vegetable patches and unripe stone fruit fill the trees in the front gardens. We try to pronounce the names of towns that could use a few more vowels and a few less consonants for our English tongues to even have a chance of saying them correctly. Under canopies of overhanging trees and through the dappled sunlight, one can glimpse a ruined fortress on a hilltop or an abandoned solitary house or a distant road that ... read more

6 May Last night wasn't as bad as the night before but I think everyone was glad to be leaving Turtle Park. We'd be back in Tbilisi in a few days to pick up our passports and stay in a hostel for a couple nights which sounded MUCH more appealing. Leaving the city and heading back out into the countryside, we climbed high into the mountains en route to Kazbegi. Crossing one of the many bridges, we came across the stunning Ananuri monastery which is the cover photo for Lonely Planet's Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. While I stopped to pat the dogs (whose ears have sadly been clipped and sometimes even tails docked), most made for the stall selling felt and fur hats. I took some photos from the bridge and then we walked down the ... read more