Read this blog: The one where we visit the cradle of Buddhism in Sri Lanka Thursday 5th March 2026 We opted for another early start to try and avoid being out in the midday sun. Our first stop was the Mihintale Rock Temple on Missaka Pabbata – a mountain peak which is about 1,000 feet [300 m] high. According to legend, Mahinda Thera met King Devanampiyatissa of Sri Lanka on this hilltop and discussed the teachings of Buddha with him, thereby bringing Buddhism to Sri Lanka in the third century BCE. Mihintale is a contraction of Mihin-Thalé which means ‘Mahinda’s hill’. Visitors must climb a granite staircase and although the guidebooks say there are 1840 steps to the top, our guide informed us that we had already circumvented 400 of them by being driven to the car park. The steps are shaded by frangipani trees. For both of these things, we were truly grateful. On a terrace stands the Sela Cetiya Stupa, also known as the Ambasthala Dagoba, which was built to enshrine a relic of the Buddha, specifically, the Urna Roma, or hair located between the eyebrows. Buddha is also said to have visited this location on the third occasion he […]
08
Read this blog: The one where we walk with elephants Friday 21st February 2025 Robert had researched elephant experiences in Laos while he was planning this trip. He was adamant that we should not ride an elephant because of the training methods and MandaLao was one of the centres which people had recommended as an elephant sanctuary which was focused on rescue and conservation. Awareness about the mistreatment of elephants is growing and in India we had seen the long line of elephants standing in the scorching sun in the ‘Pink City’ of Jaipur waiting to take tourists up to the Amber Fort. We vowed then we would not be a part of exploiting these fabulous creatures. On the 14th November last year when Robert booked our visit to MandaLao some of the dates when we would be in Luang Prabang were already showing on the website as unavailable/fully booked so we were pleased that we had a confirmed booking. However, when we walked about Luang Prabang we noticed that most of the hostels and hotels, including the Sunrise Garden House Hotel where we were staying were offering elephant experiences. As we had already booked we didn’t enquire so cannot comment on […]
Read this blog: The one where Robert orders some shirts Sunday 17th March 2024 Matilda has been tempted by the traditional, conical nón lá or leaf hats but did not want to raise any expectations, or get into any extended negotiations, by trying one on at a street stall or in a market. However, there was a display in the lobby at our hotel and she took the opportunity while we were waiting for our taxi to the station to try one on for size. Although she felt it was quite flattering, she did not think she could pull it off back in the more temperate climate of the UK. Huế Railway Station was built by the French and is apparently now considered to be one of the most beautiful stations in Vietnam although it was allegedly described as a “rectangular horror” in 1913. How times and tastes change. Huế Railway Station has several waiting rooms and we were directed to Waiting Room 2, to the right of the station. Of course Robert tried to go straight onto the platform, to get a better view of the trains but the doors were locked. Several people checked our tickets while we were in […]
Read this blog: The one where we sample the spa waters of Vichy Saturday 30th September 2023 In the morning we drove to the lovely spa town of Vichy. As with many natural springs, the Romans set the precedent and established a settlement here in the first century AD, known as Vicus Calidus or Aquæ Calidæ [hot water]. We set up our own encampment at Parc Camping les Acacias in Bellerive-sur-Allier, across the river from Vichy itself. The campsite is quiet now and many of the facilities are closed for the end of the season but it has swimming pools and a water slide which would be great for families in the summer. However, since our pitch is right next to the water slide, we appreciate the comparative peace and quiet at the end of the season. There is a gate leading straight out onto the embankment and we took a pleasant riverside stroll into Vichy itself. The city became a fashionable destination in the late eighteenth century when the French aristocracy began visiting to take the waters for therapeutic reasons and the Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte I himself originally ordered the creation of the Parcs des Sources, an oasis where […]
Monday 9th May 2022 We arrived at Chicago Station, which like so many we have seen, is grand, gorgeous and very clean. It was designed by Daniel Burnham and opened in May 1925. Once again we were able to use the Metropolitan Lounge and so could leave our luggage and spend a few hours acquainting ourselves with Chicago. We were not sure what to expect and used GPSmyCity to find a short route we could accomplish in the time we had available. We went into the Willis Tower, previously known as the Sears Tower, and down to the basemen to ask about tickets to the observation deck. It did not seem as though there would be any difficulty in simply turning up as a walk-in when we returned. The elevated railways seem so familiar from films and TV shows. Lasalle Street is home to iconic Art Deco office buildings. But our route took us to the Rookery Building at one end, the oldest standing high rise in Chicago. We will walk down the rest of the street on our return. On one side of DuSable Bridge we passed a bust of Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable who was born in Haiti and […]
Wednesday 9th to Friday 11th March 2022 Sue and Henry joined us on Tuesday afternoon and were surprised by how cosy it was inside The Duke. Matilda and Robert explained the vagaries of the stove and the lengthy process to light it and persuaded them it would be better to leave the stove going overnight, rather than wake up cold in the morning. Having spent their first night aboard, sleeping in an oven with most of the windows open, Robert discovered that he had not turned down the diesel supply to the stove after lighting it: once this was adjusted the temperature became more bearable inside The Duke. Day 22 promised to be bright and sunny and following an evening of planning in The Railway Inn, we set off as a team of four [see Selfie of the Day] to tackle the flight of locks out of Marsden. Sue and Henry have both been on a narrowboat before but not together and not for a while and had a brief practical refresher course on operating the locks. We noticed the Blue Peter logo on the balance beam at Lock 37E and discovered that, in 2016, presenter Barney Harwood had helped carpenters […]
Wednesday 15th September 2021 Land’s End is undoubtedly beautiful but the site is also unashamedly commercial. As well as the spectacular craggy rocks, breaking waves and uninterrupted views there is a signpost giving the distances to New York and John O’Groats. During the day there is a man offering, for a price, personalised photo opportunities which include the date and individual messages on two extra panels. Before breakfast we seized the opportunity to avoid the queue and take a free photo at the Lands End signpost before the man reappeared. We had booked entry tickets to St Micheal’s Mount for 11:00. Usually a boat trip is to be anticipated and enjoyed but we found were a little disappointed that on the day of our visit we would not be able to walk The Causeway in either direction due to the tides. On the way over it seemed to be “Take your Dog to work Day”: a very chilled spaniel was supervising the crossing. The trip across to the little harbour is brief and a metal footprint at the top of the steps up to the quay marks the spot where Queen Victoria first set foot upon the island in 1846. […]
Friday 10th January 2020 Before we left the UK we had pre-booked a local guide for four hours for our first morning in St Petersburg to show us round the city – again through London-based Russian travel specialists RealRussia. This is a tactic that we like to use in countries where the languages and scripts are almost totally unfamiliar for us: walking, talking and using public transport but not entering sites helps us to get a feel for a new location. We can then decide the buildings and cultural sites that we want to visit in our own time at our own pace. In his Tour Manager role, Robert has visited many great locations but dislikes being shuffled through at the pace of the guide and prefers to be able to set his own agenda and timeframe. We met Marina in reception and explained the sort of tour we wanted. Marina was both very knowledgeable and happy to accommodate our requests and it was a pleasure to spend the morning with her walking around the sights and learning more about this fantastic city. First we asked for a lesson in using the Metro and Marina took us to buy tokens […]
![Rock[s and] the Kasbah, Rabat](https://i0.wp.com/iciel.uk/imagesTH/19-09-Morocco/Post8/19-09-08-feature.jpeg?resize=570%2C350)
Thursday, 21st November 2019 We had a leisurely start to the day then set off to walk the walls and the coastline. Our first landmark was the old lighthouse, which became visible through the Bab Laalou [below left] entrance to the Cimitiére Chouhada. The day was rather overcast and the Atlantic Ocean was demonstrating the impressive force of nature as it . . . . . . . crashed onto the shore by the lighthouse. As we walked on past the lighthouse and past the Plage de Rabat it was clear that work was well underway to make this area a seaside destination for tourists. The beaches need to be kept clean, but a promontory was being built out into the sea and the facilities and infrastructure were being improved. It was also clear that the man-made breakwaters were very effective: once round the headland and into the estuary, the waters were almost still. You can climb up to the battlements of the Kasbah where there are panoramic views across the mouth of the river and out towards the breakwaters. Our route back towards the town took us past one of the ancient, ornately-carved entrances to the Kasbah. From here […]
Monday 8th July 2019 The day started with what should have been a train journey from Alghero to Sassari, but no, we had another bus replacement service. I seems as though the narrow gauge railway is closed so that they can replace it with a tram service. Sassari is the second city – or as some might say – Sardinia’s equivalent to Birmingham. On arriving in Sassari we walked in 36ºC heat [almost 97ºF] to our hotel. Google maps said it was a seven minute walk but it took significantly longer than that and was most definitely not “mostly flat” as claimed. Sassari was a stop-over for us rather than a destination in its own right on our itinerary but despite the heat, Matilda insisted on going out to see the Piazza Duomo and the cathedral which is dedicated to Saint Nicholas. We passed through Piazza d’Italia . . . . . . where the arched porticoes reminded us of an enjoyable trip to Turin and recreating scenes from the film The Italian Job. Then on to the cathedral. The cathedral appears bright in the sunshine with clean almost modernist lines from the direction we approached and looks as though […]
Overnight Thursday 14th and Friday 15th March 2019 The start of this journey was very civilised. We asked at reception for a taxi to the station and they arranged one of their own hotel cars and drivers and provided chilled bottled water for the journey. After the tuk-tuks we used earlier on the trip, a 4×4 with air-conditioning and a driver with a chauffeur’s cap is quite a contrast. During the drive we made the extraordinary discovery that it is possible to drive in India without using the horn at all. On this journey we were allocated a two person berth. Because we had managed to log on to the Indian Railway website using the wifi at our hotel, using our PNR we were able to ascertain our cabin and coach number prior to the journey to the train station. The train started in Kolkata so the allocation of cabins is easier, they potentially are more disjointed if you are joining the train at some point later in the journey (we might experience that issue later on the trip). Already our longest scheduled train journey at 21 hours, the trip from Kolkata to Agra was extended by a six hour […]
Thursday, 18th October 2018 The guide books say that petrol is cheap in Luxembourg. This explained why, when we first entered the country from Belgium, the road was lined with petrol stations. Slightly belatedly, we remembered this as we were driving out of Luxembourg so we were very pleased to see that an enterprising fuel company has turned what used to be the border control buildings into a petrol station, allowing us to fill up at £1 a litre as we were literally leaving Luxembourg on our way to Metz in France. Metz lies at the point where Moselle and the Seille Rivers meet – a strategic point appreciated by the Romans. The free aire in Metz is by the River Moselle but just a short walk into town. We set off with Ralf, who is always desperate to get out of Alan whenever we arrive in a new place. We realised in traffic today that just the sound of the hand brake is a trigger for him to get excited about the possibility of stopping. We spent about half an hour walking round this pleasant historical city, walking over bridges . . . . . . . and past historical churches . . […]
![Sighisoara, Dracula’s birthplace [allegedly]](https://i0.wp.com/iciel.uk/imagesTH/18-05-Danube/Post8/18-05-08-feature.jpeg?resize=570%2C350)
Tuesday, 14th August 2018 One of the things Robert likes about the main stations in Romania is that many have a vintage, stationary, steam engine on display out side. We left Cluj-Napoca on a train at 09:37, the rail route to Sighisoara is about 120 miles [approximately equivalent to Birmingham to London]. We are scheduled to arrive at 14:01, that’s near on 4.5 hours [average 27mph]. Oh well, sit back and remember the reasons we travel by train. Matilda who, when traveling, likes to read books set in the area she is visiting, was able to make significant headway towards finishing her current book: she has been re-reading Bram Stoker’s classic gothic novel Dracula on this journey. Robert watched a couple of documentaries on his iPad, then watched the fields go by. It would appear that sweetcorn is grown extensively in this part of the world, however, none of the local dishes seem to include it, so we wonder what it is used for, or whether is it just exported? Throughout the whole journey we ran parallel to a massive new engineering construction comprising a new railway line, half finished bridges, laid ballast, drainage channels and virgin trackwork. It is very nice […]
The campsite in Norwich was very peaceful and you would not expect to find such an oasis of calm so close to an English city. We will certainly use this again if we are visiting relatives there. Ralf has not been himself today: primarily evidenced by not eating any breakfast. This may have been because he shared some leftover cold pizza with Robert and Matilda before the morning walk. But just ten minutes into the walk he stopped and refused to continue: he then declined to eat. The day has therefore been spent being very attentive to his every whine and whimper as dog vomit in the motorhome is something to avoid. He became very agitated travelling through a village on the way from Norwich to Southwold and Matilda suggested stopping in case he felt unwell. We found a place to stop beyond the built up area and Ralf jumped down and proceeded to sniff enthusiastically all along the hedgerows. No noticeable signs of illness. It is possible that he feels that the slower progress through towns, with the many junctions, pedestrians and traffic lights indicates a stop is imminent and therefore, as many people travelling to new places do, he […]