Read this blog: The one where we spot a Sri Lankan Leopard Saturday 21st March 2026 There was torrential rain overnight so by the time the alarm went off at 04:30, neither of us had had much sleep but the best time to see the animals at Yala National Park is at dawn or dusk. Yala National Park is vast, covering a protected area of 979km2 [about 378 square miles or 103,889 hectares] and is divided into five blocks. It is the second largest national park in the country after Wilpattu National Park which is approximately 1,317 km2. Dilanka picked us up at 05:30 and drove us to meet our jeep safari driver/guide who in turn drove us to the ticket booth and paid for our entry. Although the sign read Ruhunu [Yala] National Park, it seems to be universally referred to as Yala National Park. Park Rangers checked the number of people in the jeep matched the number paid for on the ticket. Apparently around 600 drivers are licensed to take jeep safaris into the park although not all are permitted to work at the same time. A further 150 have submitted applications for permits. After a brief time […]
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Read this blog: The one where we try Butter Chicken Masala pizza Monday 10th March 2025 Matilda has been struggling to remember the name of Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei Darussalam [the official name of the country] but in various places it is simplified to its initials so we considered adopting this convention. Various facts were revealed during our research and background reading. Brunei is one of the few dry countries in the world. Shockingly, fuel is cheaper here than drinking water. This might account for the quite aggressive driving style since there is no need to worry about accelerating and breaking gently to conserve fuel. We frequently heard the sort of throaty roar of a petrol engine which Jeremy Clarkson might enjoy. Alternatively it is possible that the driving seemed more aggressive to us after the relative gridlock in Manila where the volume of cars on the road meant that it was not possible to accelerate away from junctions or drive anywhere at any speed. Despite its vast oil wealth the country has managed to preserve 70% of its forests and owns a cattle farm in Australia which is larger than the country of Brunei itself. The animals are […]
Wednesday 25th May 2022 We had originally hoped to start the day by going up the Willis Tower but the weather had different plans. The forecast did not indicate much improvement for tomorrow so we will need to save this for a return visit. As Chicago is a major railway intersection, and Robert is planning more transcontinental train trips here we will hopefully return. Instead we decided to see the city from lower down and booked an Architecture Boat Tour along the Chicago River. Our tour guide said that he had found the perfect job as he never stopped talking. He was certainly very knowledgeable and the tour proved to be most informative. Here is just a small selection of the things we learned, not all of which have accompanying photographs. The white glazed terracotta tiles on the Wrigley Building, which we admired on our first fleeting visit to Chicago, are fire resistant but will not stand up to power washing so have to be hand cleaned by people suspended from the building. The curvaceous Marina Towers complex [seen in the video below right] was built in 1968 at a time when not many people lived by the river so the […]
Thursday 14th to Saturday 16th April 2022 We set off early from Hockley Heath to travel down Lapworth Locks to Kingswood Junction where we had previously dropped Robert’s parents on the first leg of our narrowboat adventure way back in early February. This time we had arranged to meet our daughter Jaime at Kingswood Junction as she had kindly agreed to drive up to join us to help with the Hatton Locks the next day and then take Ralf back home. There was a moment of slight panic when she called to say that all the local petrol stations on her way out to the motorway had run out and were only selling diesel. None of us had taken into account that this was the beginning of the Easter weekend and the forecast was glorious sunshine. Thankfully, she found petrol further away from the motorway, back towards home and she messaged to say she was on her way. We were hoping that by setting off early we wouldn’t have to follow another narrowboat down Lapworth Locks refilling and emptying each one on the way. The Lapworth flight starts at Lock 2 since the Guillotine Lock mentioned previously is technically Lock […]
Friday 29th March 2019 We had arranged a car to take us to New Delhi Station but the rush hour traffic was so bad we could not get close and in the end we got out and walked the last 200 meters. As we waited on the platform for the train to Kalka we were joined by two English ladies who were also travelling on to Shimla via Kalka and who, perhaps sensing Robert’s burgeoning Tour Manager skills or perhaps simply attracted by his Hawaiian shirt, thought we would provide a buffer between them and the many people who kept trying to accost and “help” them in the station. For this leg of our journey, we travelled executive class [EC] from New Delhi to Kalka which proved to be a very civilised experience. However, Indian Railways seemed incapable of booking groups or couples travelling together in adjacent seats but after some trading of places with others in the carriage, everyone seemed happy. The catering is provided by Meals on Wheels who we have experienced before and we were offered complementary water, tea/coffee and biscuits followed by breakfast. In an interesting local variation, although we had not ordered this ourselves, the […]
Sunday, 26th August 2018 This morning we had to go through passport control on board the boat to enter Hungary. This involved completing a declaration the night before about the amount of alcohol, cigarettes and currency we were bringing into the country and presenting ourselves to the customs officers in an orderly fashion in the morning. A cursory glance at our passports seemed to be all that was required. The weather has broken and the temperature is a chilly 21 degrees. Since the sun deck loses some of its allure in these temperatures, Ruth, Matilda and Jaime all decided to join the excursion to the Puszta area to see the Hungarian horsemen in action. Robert remained on board, hoping to arrive at the pick up point in time to have a look round the town. We were moored alongside another boat and had to walk through it to disembark. This seems to be a slightly more luxurious vessel than ours and Jaime wanted to jump ship. The tour started with a visit to a traditional Hungarian home with painted walls and hand embroidered cloth and clothes. Ironically, given the current water level, houses were built on a slight mound to protect […]