We flew to Heyder Aliyev Airport, Baku from Izmir. The airport, very modern and grand, is located a short 30 minutes from the city centre. After we (finally) located our pick up service we got driven to our hotel where we oddly changed to another hotel. On the plus side it was just around the corner from Fountain Square, which is more like a series of squares and several boulevards coming off the main fountain square. The architecture really surprised (and impressed) us. Having been to several former soviet states we were expecting more soviet-style grey apartment blocks. Instead we were greeted with beautiful sandstone Parisian-style buildings with terraces. We wandered around fountain square and the old city , Icherisheher, taking photos. As we were coming back with Intrepid we didn’t go into some of the ... read more

We arrived in Çeşme in the evening and walked to our hotel (thanks to some locals giving us directions) for the evening. Lucky I only booked the hotel for one night as the only thing it had going for it was the view! We then went to buy our ferry tickets to Chios the next day, had a stroll around the Çeşme market street and relaxed on our balcony with some beers watching the world go by down by the the marina. The next day we caught a ferry from Çeşme to the Greek island of Chios. Despite being a short distance (8km and 15 mins) the immigration process on either end (the Greek side being worse) made it much much longer. The ferry itself was large and efficient. In Chios, our hotel was very near ... read more

We arrived into the new Istanbul Airport (one word HUGE) late Monday evening from Seoul. We were swiftly picked up by our pre-arranged pick up service by a nice young man in flash BMW and taken to our hotel in the old city. We love staying around the Sirkeci/Fatih area of Istanbul – close enough the Sultanahmet and all of the old city attractions, and only a short walk over the Galata bridge to the shopping/hip district of Beyoğlu. My 6th visit to Turkey, and Bill's 5th. This city will never grow old for us – indeed this country sparks something special for us. Early the next morning (which is a great time as not too many people are out) we walked up the winding street dodging trams and cars to Sultanahmet. As we've done the ... read more

Trip 2019 has gotten off to a great start. Bill and I arrived to Seoul on a warm, humid evening. After a swift immigration and baggage collection we boarded a KAL Limousine bus to our hotel in downtowan Seoul (Jung-gu). We wandered around neigbouring Myeongdong distrct to familiarise ourselves and search for something to eat. Myeongdong was everything I expected – dazzling lights, a plethora of shops (in particular K-beauty cosmetic shops) and a bustling street food scene. We finally settled for authentic Korean crispy chicken and beer, the air conditioned restaurant a respite from the opressive humidity. An early start for our tour of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and Joint Security Area (JSA) in Panmunjom the next day. Earlier in the week, I had received an email from the original tour I had booked a ... read more

After the sess pit that was Pattaya we drove south near the Cambodian-Thai border to Trat. Along the way, we stopped at the seaside town of Rayong for the best seafood lunch we've ever had in Thailand. Yummy fish and huge prawns in the Tom Yum soup. Rayong is popular with Thai tourists and much much quieter than Pattaya. We then got to Trat and boarded the barge to the Island of Koh Chang. Luckily our mini van was the second last car to get on! A short 30 min whizz across the ocean we were at Koh Chang. This is only the second time I've been on a Thai island ( the first was Koh Samui when I was 15). A different look to say, the picturesque Phi Phi island down south. No limestone casts ... read more