Cultural North Looks to be a fascinating area and welll outside the normal tourist view of Majorca although I was surprised by the number of cyclists you mentioned clogging the roads. Sound as if a combination of bikes and taxis is the best way around. Enjoy the rest of your stay.
Kalamata 2019 Hi Darren, good to hear form you. The hire car is a SEAT Ibiza (VWGolf or Polo), and pretty nifty; but the empty motorways here and the weather are made for the Big Bad Chev - still going strong and now 18 years old. Hope that all is well with you. Tony
You are obviously seeing the very rugged side of Crete now you know your way around. Loved the phots and weather looks OK as well despite the wind. Enjoy the rest of your stay. Love, Rich
Tomb Raiding There were many occasions when I thought that the Chev was made for roads like the ones in Crete; especially going through those gorges where the engine noise would reverberate
Malaga looks nice Hi Anthony,
Well I finally got round to reading this instalment of your blog, and I think it is one of your best!
Nice pics of the Picasso and car museums.
Looks like a nice place to visit.
All the best,
David.
Turkey Glad you're enjoying the blog. You should visit, the Turquoise Coast is amazing: especially Kas. And if you're interested in visiting historical sites or just amazing scenery then this is the place.
Sri Lanka driver Read your blog with interest. We are planning a trip there next month. Still not decided on a car/ driver. Saw that you spoke highly of your find. What sort of car was it, how were the roads ? We have just 6 days and want to see as much as possible in the cultural triangle. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, especially stuff not freely available in print. Did you for instance have to pay for the driver's board and lodge.
Looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks, Rita
Hi Rita
Our car was a Toyota Corolla: not new but in perfect condition: comfortable and plenty of room for my wife and I and our luggage (I'm 6'1" and the legroom was fine for me).
Our driver Daya was excellent: a devout Buddhist and a very careful law abiding driver. He always kept to the speed limits and was always helpful and very informative.
The roads in Sri Lanka were all in good condition, smooth surfaces and well maintained; but the traffic is crazy and although I've driven in some pretty crazy places myself (Saigon, Hong Kong) I would not consider driving there. There is a lot of ribbon development and in towns and outskirts (if you can tell the difference) there are few road signs; so finding one's way around Colombo would be impossible.
We met Daya as we had booked a driver from the Mount Lavinia Hotel, and Daya was the driver who met us at the Airport. We asked him if he could recommend a car and driver service and he said that he would speak to his boss and get back to us. He duly did and offered to drive us to the places we wanted to visit for LKR75,000 all in: no extras or additional charges at all. Given that self drive is really not an option we thought this was a reasonable deal and we were delighted.
I can recommend Daya: you can email him via his daughter:
chanya2000denuri@gmail.com
Attention Mr Daya Perera
If you want I can also email his telephone number to you later - I'm not at home right now.
I hope you enjoy Sri Lanka: fantastic country, great food and lovely people.
Regards
Anthony
Emotional Touch given by Elephant pics. Excellent Photography, Article is certainly a Visual Delight and Emotional Touch given by Elephant photos for the readers on Travel and Tourism.
I'm glad to say that you keep us informed of your trips away! It seems like you are enjoying another wonderful holiday. I have looked at this hotel many times in the past myself, and it is great to see a few pictures in the flesh so to speak, and to get some personal reviews. Enjoy the rest of your trip away and keep us up to date of all your adventures!
Mount Lavinia Thanks Sarah. If you want more (expert and detailed) reviews about the Mt Lavinia then enter the name of the hotel on Tripadvisor and read all about it. Best wishes to everyone at Brondesbury.
Anthony
Lucky you Dear Tony,
The place look wonderful. I'm really glad that you are enjoying your time travelling to nice places and sharing that with us.
Since you are relatively near by, why don't you come down to Dubai for a day or two??
Enjoy it.
Regards,
Samira
Too right Start saving your pocket money mate. This part of Turkey, was known as Lycia in ancient time: the country of light, and that's exactly what it is. When the weather is perfect, usual conditions, there is a quality to the light that seems to make colours brighter and more intense and the air itself is very clear. Actually, rather like Sydney on a perfect day but with fantastic mountain scenery thrown in. I have to say the food is pretty amazing too: always fresh and natural and simply but perfectly cooked. By the way there are riots just down the road (20 miles) away in Antalya but there's not the slightest hint of anything here; folks out here in the countryside are too relaxed. All the best. Tony
Richard
non-member comment
Cultural North
Looks to be a fascinating area and welll outside the normal tourist view of Majorca although I was surprised by the number of cyclists you mentioned clogging the roads. Sound as if a combination of bikes and taxis is the best way around. Enjoy the rest of your stay.