Katravels

First day of sight-seeing in the Eternal City, aaand the metro's closed. Of course, in true Italian style, this means we get to buy the tickets and get down to the station only to be turned back by police. No explanation given (later we were told it was due to a 'crash' which I sincerely hope is not true.) So we were sent over to the buses, which were ridiculously full. So we headed to the taxi queue, which was round the block. Mmmm. Luckily we managed to steal a taxi at drop-off and, thanks to the amazing (if slightly crazy) driver we got from Termini to the Vatican in 15 minutes. I think we may have gone through a park at some point but never mind. The Vatican was amazingly calm and we got through ... read more

This pretty much sums up the advice guidebooks give about getting ill in Myanmar. The Lonely Planet states outright 'local medical care is dismal and local hospitals should only be used out of desperation.' Having spent a fair bit of time in hospitals over the last few days I think that is a dramatic exaggeration and quite frankly insulting to the doctors here (the ones I met at least.) This said, being ill is never pleasant, contracting a tropical disease thousands of miles away from home where no-one speaks much English is very unpleasant. Travellers are advised to bring a complete supply of medication from home, including antibiotics if possible. Well, trying to march into a GP surgery in the UK and saying you want a bunch of drugs even though you're not ill is never ... read more

Or rather, actually in Mandalay. Which doesn't resemble the idyll of Rudyard Kipling's poem much, so much as a modern, bustling and very dusty city. And then it turns out that Kipling never even made it to Mandalay anyway, so I am left rather disillusioned about the whole thing. On first impressions, despite the plethora of motorbikes, no working traffic lights and (apparently) no traffic laws, it seems rather safe and civilised and, unlike most places in South America, the drivers would actually be quite sad if they managed to kill you in the middle of the street. Despite arriving at the close of the rainy season it is still disgustingly hot and humid - thank god for air-conditioning - although it is so hot that I'm not counting on any decent photos of myself this ... read more

Well let the title of the blog be my very disillusioning fact of the day. I went with the horribly stereotypical image of a whole city filled with fez-wearers, and left without having seen anyone apart from fat sock-and-sandal-wearing tourists in them. Apparently (despite the abundance being sold everywhere here) fezzes are not from Fez. Which probably should be spelt Fes anyway (though spelling seems to differ everywhere it's written anyway.) The wonder that is that little red hat so synonymous with northern Africa and Dr. Who is apparently actually from Fez in Turkey and has no business whatsoever being in Fez, Morocco. Sad times. Red hats aside, Fez/Fes is actually really quite beautiful. Still in complete ignorance over the soul-destroying fez fact, we started the day at the gate to the Royal Palace which, like ... read more

I have neglected this blog shamefully for quite some time. So, starting afresh in 2014 (mostly as I can't be bothered to fill in the gaps from the last couple of years), and having left South America after almost four years, the travelling year started with a city break to Budapest. Mostly because it has been on my 'to-visit' list for quite some time, also because of some pleasantly surprising cheap flights. More exciting parts of the world are to come, namely Morocco for a holiday, and Myanmar (fingers crossed!) for work. Setting off before the summer holidays start in Europe, Budapest still had very sunny weather and a smattering of tourists. We'd managed to get a very nice hostel (more like a private apartment thanks to the lack of any other guests) in the Jewish ... read more