HE SAID... After touching down in Budapest in the early morning, we breezed through customs, jumped on a bus and headed for the city centre. Feeling a little overwhelmed and tired, we clambered off the bus, donned our packs and trudged towards our hotel with the aid of a tiny map picked up from a solemn staff member at the tourist information bureau. When we eventually arrived, we had been travelling non-stop for 30 hours (from our home in Tasmania to the hotel in Budapest), and were in desperate need of a shower. We crossed our fingers and hoped with all our hearts that our room was ready – the last thing we needed was to discover it wouldn’t be available until the early afternoon. The woman at reception was austere, and she gave the impression ... read more

Good wine needs no label… ~ Hungarian ProverbIf you are travelling in the blind man's country, close one eye... ~ Romanian ProverbA gentle word opens an iron gate… ~ Bulgarian Proverb Jo napot, Buna Ziua and Zdraveite people! Our old mate Wanderlust has awoken and stirred again. It never does sleep for long. We are filled to bursting with the sheer pleasure of travelling to new places! Uncharacteristically, our destination this year was determined largely by chance and circumstance… 2017 had nearly left the building and for various reasons we still hadn’t decided on a travel destination for 2018. Hoping to travel in the early part of the year before work commitments ramped up, we put our heads together and unanimously decided on a location, only to have work contract dates conspire against us – not ... read more

HE SAID... Today we were flying from Singapore to Hobart. We woke early at 3:30am, prepared our packs and checked out (with a hint of sadness) at 4:30am from Amoy, our beloved hotel in Singapore’s Chinatown. We jumped into a taxi and sped through the city’s deserted streets and highways, arriving at Changi Airport at 5am. The place was virtually deserted, so we cruised through Changi’s seamless security, took advantage of the airport’s free Wi-Fi and settled at our gate lounge. We lifted off the runway without incident around 8am – we were on our way home. When the lunch trolley rolled down the aisle we both opted for the gaeng kiew wan pla (fried fish in green curry with stir fried vegetables and steamed rice). The green curry was spicy and tasty, as was the ... read more

HE SAID... Today we were travelling south-west from Kandy to Colombo. We woke early (5:30am), as we had a reasonably early start on the final leg of our Sri Lankan travels – we were leaving Kandy and heading back to Colombo. We organised our packs, walked a short distance along an old wood panelled corridor and found ourselves in Hotel Suisse’s sprawling breakfast area. I sat down to cornflakes, poached eggs, toast, jam, fruit juice and tea before checking out of our lakeside hotel. We jumped into our minibus and drove a short distance to Arthur’s Seat, which offers great panoramic views of Kandy and Kandy Lake. After taking our last few photographs of Kandy, we jumped back into the minibus and headed to Silk Gardens (a textile and garment factory outlet), where we quickly browsed ... read more

HE SAID... Today we were travelling south-west from Batticaloa to Mahiyangana. We woke at 6am, organised our packs and then wandered around the outer perimeter of our hotel, which jutted out into the Batticaloa lagoon. We watched fishermen in wooden outriggers cast their nets and slowly draw in their catch, while other fishermen walked through the lagoon with smaller nets. We then headed to breakfast and enjoyed thosai (thin lacy crepes made of lightly-fermented black lentils and rice / called dosa in India), fish curry, sambar (a lentil based vegetable stew), pol sambol (shredded coconut with onions, chilli and lime), coconut chutney (a thick mixture of ground coconut, tamarind and chilli), toast, jam, juice and tea. The fish curry was excellent (especially with the thosai), and the sambar was fiery. The breakfast was impres... read more