Read this blog: The one where we do actually travel the scenic route by train in Sri Lanka Monday 16th March 2026 The train route from Ella to Kandy was part of the more extensive Hill Country Line, and Sri Lanka Railways describes this stretch of the track as being the most “scenic section of the trip”. Unfortunately the trains are not currently departing from Kandy but Walkers Tours [who also provided our car and driver] had booked two seats in Observation Class for us to travel from Ambewela to Ella on the 09:30 train. We travelled by the rail replacement service from Nuwara Eliya to Ambewela Station to catch the train [see also Selfie of the day]. The route is popular and passengers are advised to buy tickets and book a reserved seat for this trip two to three months in advance. When we arrived at the station, about an hour before the scheduled departure time, there were queues of people waiting to buy tickets. A handwritten sign pinned to a door frame also warned people that the 13:30 departure was already fully booked. The original historic train carriages have long since been replaced by modern rolling stock painted […]
17
Read this blog: The one where the cracks keep appearing Thursday 6th March We decided to walk the walls of Intramuros as our introduction to Manila. One of the walkways up to the ramparts was conveniently positioned just outside our hotel. The walls are very nearly complete and Robert decreed we should walk clockwise. Our first stop was at Baluarte De San Diego on the southwest corner of the Intramuros walls. The fortification is shaped like an arrow with a circular tower inside and dates from the sixteenth century. There is a small park surrounding the bastion which includes landmarks, monuments and fountains, including the frame of a steam engine which Robert was pleased to see was British made. The bastion was built in 1587 and was meant to be part of a larger fortification which was never completed. The Fort Nuestra Señora de Guia [below] is the oldest stone fort in Manila and is the remains of the central circular tower. Shortly after it was built, in 1593, the upper portion had to be demolished after cracks appeared. Subsequently the rest of the structure was reinforced and integrated into a new bulwark which was named Baluarte de San Diego. […]
Read this blog: The one where we catch the wrong coach … initially Friday 29th March 2024 From Phnom Penh we were booked to travel by GiantIbis coach to Siem Reap from where we would visit Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom – the remnants of the once great Khmer Empire. The bus was scheduled to leave at 08:45 and we had to get there at least half an hour beforehand so we had a relatively early start and booked a Grab car to take us to the coach station from the hotel. We checked in at the departure point, were directed to take a seat in the waiting area and after a while we handed our suitcases over and boarded the bus. We had expected it to be much busier, given our destination is one of the major tourist sites in Cambodia. Shortly before the bus was due to depart, a member of staff came running up to explain that we were on the wrong coach. Thankfully we managed to disembark and reclaim our luggage from the hold before it was too late. The bus which would actually take us to Siem Reap was significantly busier. The journey took about […]
Friday 20th to Monday 23rd May 2022 The hop-on-hop-off tour for the day was to Vicksburg but since we could see the first stop from the boat we decided to walk straight there. This time we seemed to avoid the crowds by being the only people who were choosing to visit the Old Depot Museum. To give the building it’s full title, the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railway Depot was built in 1907 at a cost of $60,715. At that time it was the busiest railway station in the state and 22 passenger and freight trains passed through every day. Now it is a museum housing model railways and railway artefacts as well as a diorama of the Siege of Vicksburg. Inside we were welcomed by a fellow rail enthusiast who may not have had many visitors for some time and who took us through to the exhibits. He had two hand held devices which Matilda thought initially were to count visitors but in fact he turned each model railway on remotely as we walked round the room so that we always had trains in motion to attract our attention. The exhibits included maritime models and we were surprised to […]
Tuesday 5th to Thursday 7th April 2022 Having waved Gill and Derek off to catch their single carriage train at the start of their journey home, we set off from Whitchurch planning to complete our journey on the Llangollen Canal and rejoin the Shropshire Union Canal, heading south into fresh new waters. Matilda was particularly pleased to see the young lock manager on duty at the Grindley Brook Staircase Locks. Robert, who was on the boat and therefore in the lock as the water level sank, noticed that a thick white line had been painted around the middle lock to indicate the required depth, so perhaps Matilda might have coped without flooding the whole area. After the triple staircase lock, we met several narrowboats heading in the other direction and so at Grindley Brook Lock 4 and Lock 6 we were able to glide straight past each other and into the next lock. This always makes it seem as though the system is running seamlessly, making best use of the precious water. We passed a narrowboat delivering coal before . . . . . . Matilda enjoyed another traffic-stopping moment at the Wrenbury Lift Bridge. She still failed to find […]
Sunday 19th and Monday 20th January 2020 There is currently no direct train service between Riga and Vilnius and to travel to the Lithuanian capital by train involves leaving at 07:40 and going via Daugavpils with a four and a half hour wait for the connection on to Vilnius. We would therefore expect to spend about ten hours travelling and arrive at 18:24. In a rare departure from our usual preference for train travel, Matilda persuaded Robert that the executive coach service would be a better option as it would take us direct to Vilnius in less time than we would otherwise have been waiting for our connection. She felt entirely vindicated as, after a lie in, a trip to the hotel gym and a leisurely breakfast, she settled in to the spacious, comfortable, reclining seat which was to be hers for a mere four hours. On arrival, Robert obviously felt the need to sample the local ale in a new country and we went to Variokas. The bar is located in the cellars and has a steampunk theme as well as a good selection of local craft beers and some weird bits of tat as ornamentation [see the Video […]
Monday 25th March 2019 Today was an early start, our train was timetabled to leave Jodhpur at 05:30, so we had arranged a taxi from the hotel at 04:45. Getting up at 04:00 it was dark, and the first job was to check the PNR number of our ticket, so we could find out our carriage and cabin numbers. Unfortunately our PNR gave us an error: not an auspicious start. When we arrived at the station we checked with the ‘Reservation Counter’ and we were told we were in HA-2, C and C. So a first class AC1 carriage and both in cabin C. The train arrived into the station on time at 05:00, not bad when you consider it had travelled over 400 miles from Delhi overnight. We found the HA-1 carriage, but we were told we were at the wrong end of the train because it was splitting at Jodhpur and the other end was the one going on to Jaisalmer. We duly walked down to the far end of the train only to find there was no HA-2 carriage. Robert had a lengthy discussion with the guard and it transpired that there was in fact no first […]
Monday, 29th October 2018 Robert enjoyed testing Alan’s levelling system to empty the tanks before we left Brugge to reduce the weight and maximise fuel economy. We had planned to go to a beer warehouse in Poperinge which Robert has visited several times before but we found it was closed on Mondays so a google search came up with Drunken Vandewoude, Brouwerijstraat 5, 8600 Diksmuide. A family run concern who were very welcoming, allowing Ralf to wander round the warehouse which offered a wide range of very tempting options. Even Alan didn’t seem capacious enough and the journey home was punctuated by the rattling of bottles. Walked today: 5.0 miles Driving distance today: 109.64 miles Total Tour Distance: 1,190 miles
Thursday, 23rd August 2018 Overnight the cruise boat moored in Ruse, which is the fourth largest city in Bulgaria. While the majority of passengers had a guided coach and walking tour of Ruse, we walked into the city to see the sights including the Monument to Freedom in the main plaza; The Court House; The streets of the old city and The Pantheon, which is now a museum. Unfortunately, as we had no local currency – Bulgarian lev – we found we could not pay to enter any of the sites. We did manage to pay by card for some more sun protection as the 30 degree plus temperatures have meant that this is being used up at quite a rate. We left Ruse to travel on up the Danube through the afternoon and evening towards the Iron Gates along the border between Bulgaria [starboard] and Romania [port]. After the evening meal, the onboard entertainment was a team trivia quiz in two halves. First you had to give an answer to a question. Then three possible answers, including the correct one, were provided for the same question and teams gave their “final answer”. This made it possible to score a maximum […]