It’s summer, let’s enjoy a beach holiday in London!

 blog  1 Response »
Jul 272012
 

“To swim, perchance to drown, is an undeniable human right. The Port of London Authority should take a running jump into the Thames – only they’ve just made it illegal,” wrote Boris Johnson in the Telegraph. Calm down, dear, there are still plenty of places to enjoy all the fun of the water in our capital city.

We’ve only had a few days of sun so far, but be brave and be positive my friends, London has so much to offer the enthusiastic water lover even if the weather isn’t always clement: swimming, sailing, rowing or fishing, it’s all there. There’s also plenty of waterside sun-bathing and drinking available to the enthusiastic hedonist. Continue reading »

Time travel in Darjeeling

 tales  1 Response »
May 212012
 

“It’s just a short walk from the Dekeling,” said jolly Mrs Dekeva, our homestay hostess.

I wonder how much longer Jamie and I are going to believe our dear Gorkha friends when they tell us somewhere is only a stroll away. My antennae should have been twitching when I found it wasn’t marked on my Darjeeling street plan. The Tibetan Self Help Refugee Centre does, however, appear as an innocent dot at the top of the small scale Lonely Planet map of the whole mountainous area. But a quick check (using my finger tip to measure) convinced me it was only 4 kilometres from our starting point. Continue reading »

Kechopari Lake

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May 292011
 


Earlier this morning Jamie and I heaved ourselves out of bed to catch the sunrise over India’s highest mountain. In the silence of a Himalayan dawn, we watched the tiger-toothed caps of Kanchenjunga massif emerge from the blackness, changing from pink to peach and finally to a pure, glistening white. One kilometre below us, the valley tucked itself under eiderdown clouds, and people of the Lepcha, Bhutia and Nepali tribes began their daily work.
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Shangri-la in the eastern Himalaya

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May 222011
 


“I promise this walk is not long and nor is it steep,” said Jiwan.

If our recent experience of what a Gorkha regards as an ‘easy walk’ was anything to go by – a one in three incline through forest and driving rain for eight hours – we were not entirely convinced by Jiwan Rai’s assurances. Still, today he was wearing a suit and shirt, black shiny leather shoes and an umbrella hooked over his arm: it couldn’t be that difficult, could it?
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Sadla, Eritrea: Notes on a Small Island

 tales  2 Responses »
Mar 012010
 

The ultimate paradise island? We thought so. To get there just follow this position: Lon: 041 55.81E Lat: 13 52.77N

Since completing our 4500 mile sail from Turkey to India Jamie and I have been asked, on frequent occasions, what our ‘best’ experience was. It’s an impossible question to answer: the historic sites of Egypt, dugongs in Sudan, the children in Massawa, the warmth of the African people and the welcome in Aden jostle for position. But the first time it was asked our gut reaction – like the other crews on the rally – was “Sadla Island”.
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