Geo: 45.4345, 12.3384We have been to Venice many times in the past but it is always a delight to return. This time we stayed at the Bauer Hotel just off San Marco square. The entrance is impressive and a buffet breakfast on the terrace overlooking the Grand Canal in warm sunny weather is very pleasant. However the rooms were dark as we had no view and drinks and food were extortionately expensive. There again Venice is always expensive in the tourist areas, whereas if you walk down the side streets away from the crowds much cheaper places can be found. There is a bar in the square outside the Arsenale which is a sunny spot and the beers are reasonably priced. We had lunch in our favourite restaurant, the Al Vecio Portal, which has a lovely ... read more

Geo: -0.229854, -78.5249It was sad to leave the Celebrity Expedition cruise ship as the voyage had been so fantastic and we had made lots of new friends. The transfers back to the Marriott were handled superbly. We didnt see our luggage from leaving the ship on the zodiac for the last time, flying from Baltra to Quito and then being bussed to the Marriott where our luggage was delivered to our room. Another trip had been arranged, this time to a local Artisan market where we bought a few souvenirs . There are lots of stalls and for a change they were selling different stuff from the usual tourist tack at reasonable prices especially if you haggled with the price, which was expected. After this we were taken to a more exclusive gallery,Galeria Latina, where we ... read more

Geo: 13.1651, -16.8091The Denton Bridge spans the Coco River and connects the capital Banjul to the rest of the mainland. It is from here that the boat trips set off, outwards for those who want to fish or up river for those like us who wanted tranquillity. The Chef comes out to greet us and we clamber aboard our pirogue and meet the Captain and his helper. There are not many boats around as it is already 11.30am and most have left but we do not like early starts on holiday! It is high tide as the boat meanders through the Mangrove trees and it is also very quiet. There is not much to see apart from the Mangroves stretching mile after mile so apart from waving to the odd passing boat we relax on top ... read more

Geo: 13.7308, 100.521We had read about the really heavy rainy season and flooding north of Bangkok so decided to take a boat up the river and off the canal to have a look for ourselves. The level of the River of Kings was certainly high and even the Oriental had some protective sandbags between the railings just in case. Along the canals further up we saw very high water levels with the poor houses flooded. All the government buildings had flood walls along the edge of the river to keep them dry but even so there was evidence that all the walls had been breached at some time. We saw a lady curled up on her chair on her flooded front porch with water swishing round the chair legs. Water was seen in peoples front kitchens ... read more

Geo: 1.54907, 110.344A drive up into the mountains from Kuching brought us to the Anah Rais Longhouse in which the Bidayuh tribe live. I thought that this was going to be a real tourist trap with loads of souvenirs for sale and not the genuine thing. However, there were no souvenirs for sale and these were ordinary people living their lives in small houses lining either side of a long bamboo platform built on stilts. The chickens were on the ground underneath and the one story houses on the platform where built of a combination of wood and corrugated iron roofing. The long bamboo poles which were lashed together were quite difficult to walk along. Our guide showed us into a really old original dwelling which has several skulls in a basket hanging in the centre. ... read more