Blogs from Greece, Europe - page 512

Greece was a trip I was looking forward too .. My cousin's first trip abroad was somewhat of a disaster, so I decided to make this one a memory not to forget! We stayed in Ixia, just out of Rhodes town - which itself is a beautiful medieval castle .. amazing! Our hotel - Ocianis *or as they say Okeannis* is amazing - right next to the beach and bars wayheyyy! :D We spent alot of our holiday checking out the local shops, and lazing on the beach .. unless we were woken up by the man selling fruit! 'Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeelons, banannnnnnnna..' damn you man let us sleep! Lol .. We also headed to Eddie's Bar - and English and German run place, to catch up on some football. I wanted a sparkler in my cocktail, but ... read more

Man… The Aleutian Islands were a godsend after a year of the monotonous gray Chinese Skies. The beauty of this area is almost ineffable. Crystal blue seas stretch off onto the horizon, sleepy clouds drift in the light blue sky, and beautiful bikini clad babes walk to and fro on picture perfect white sand beaches. It’s paradise. I couldn’t have imagined a better vacation after a year in the industrial city of Nanjing. I had almost forgotten what nature was supposed to look like. I took the barren, albeit beautiful in their own way, peaks of Zijinshan to be a beautiful site after the course of my time in China. It's funny how time can do that to you and that is why travel can be so important. It breaks the images and beliefs that you ... read more

Tour Itinerary Contiki Island Hopping Tour 2004... read more

Well, I got as far as Karpathos - 60 miles and then we anchored in a secluded bay miles away from anywhere.  That night, the winds set in and lasted for 3 days, so we were stuck.  All there was nearby was some ruins from an ancient port, one old guy (it took half an hour of charades to establish that his name was "John"), his missus, five goats, two cats ("gato"), a well and a fig tree.  Good job that there was plenty of booze on board.  After three days of that (at which point, I was ready to hammer a nail into the back of my hand for something to do - I settled for a bit of snorkelling instead)  we decided to bite the bullet, risk our lives and race through 2 narrow ... read more

Slipping down the Gorge When I first thought of this trip, the presupposition went something like: "Hey, I reckon I could get from Blighty to Oz without ever seeing an airport". Less than 2 weeks in and I have taken three flights. Bollocks to that idea then. Currently in Crete, caught up with The Folks, Sim, X and little Niamh who were taking in a week here. That was a nice thing all round and it was all possible thanks to the marvel that is SMS. Package tour land here. The Greeks are all very congenial except, for some reason, the people at the information desks at bus stations who can all fuck off. Legs, feet and arse are still in pain after walking down the Samarian Gorge (see fab pics of well-nice scenery). The blister ... read more