TWtrips

Was up shortly after sailing this morning, 6.30 & by 7.30 breakfast as I was quite hungry. Ate a good meal and ashore by 9 for the Museum talk. Plenty of detail, interesting film footage from 1960s. When port tasting time I went down to museum exhibits which were pretty much the same as the talk. The rest of the day was just sailing upriver to the furthest point the ships can go on the border with Spain. Beautiful views in glorious weather. Slowed near Pinhao as Viking ship coming down and looks interesting enough for a couple of hours whilst people go to Quinta's on the day we stop there. Have plotted with maps.me along the river and hope to match photos when home. 3.20 now and in a lock that takes almost an hour ... read more

It was a 3 ½ hour drive from Lisbon up the A1and as we came off it near Porto there were toll booths. Arrival at Vila Nova da Gaia was down a steep winding road following a Viking bus after the driver came across it at a roundabout. It was his first time on this transfer and his sat Nav did not seem very helpful. We drove along the quay and pulled in next to the boat. We were boarded 3 at a time up the gangway for safety reasons, I guess it was quite a steep slope and know that gangways collapse as it happened on a Med cruise that we took. Clearly we were early and just a small group in for lunch. It was a simple green salad, chicken, steak or salmon with ... read more

We flew in on TAP from Gatwick to be greeted by at the arrival lounge for our transfer. They were waiting for more so we had half hour to have coffee in the glorious sun and warmth. Having checked into Hotel Iberostar as booked by our agent we decided to go out rather than nap. We walked into the park of king Eduardo 2nd, where they have, I think it is the Judas tree with lilac flowers- they look better from a distance with a hazy blue aura, but apart from that there was nothing really attractive. A festival finished a couple of days ago and there are many small huts still to be cleared. We did not walk up to that viewpoint because we could see down Avenue da Liberado and we were both tired. ... read more

Nyaung Shwe town Today is my first day off I should have had more days like this. I woke around 7 and was up and around the town by 7:30 visiting the market to buy a couple of t-shirts and a pair of velvet flip-flops. I also found a length on fabric which is Thai or Indonesian batik cotton to replace the sarong which is my last one from 30 years ago. I returned to the hotel to have breakfast and as it was 8:15, almost everything was finished but they made sausage, bacon and bread and then I was surprised to be given pancakes honey and fruit. Tomorrow I will remember not to have breakfast just the pancakes with fruit and honey. A couple of hours later I returned to town thinking I would just ... read more

Kalaw. 26th October The hotel has intermittent WiFi so fingers crossed I'll get some use. The 9 hours predicted on the bus was less than 7 as it was full soon after leaving Bagan, we even had a half hour lunch stop. Many of the passengers were tourists going to Kalaw or on to Taungii. I'm feeling dizzy and nauseous but it's not surprising as the last 2 hours were over mountains with constant switch backs. If I don't travel well normally, what chance do I stand here?The guide for tomorrow was at the hotel to greet me and discuss the route for trekking. It is 4 hours up and down mountains. Even before coming away I wondered whether I'd cope and my itinerary said only 3 hours! I cancelled it, what a woos, ... read more