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Welcome to my travel log! You will find here a lot more than in the travel reports, stripped from political correctness. Enjoy! 
Mar 18, 2010 09:00 PM Tunisia - the plan has changed again!
But I think it will not change significantly again. The last change is a result of a compromise. Something that I do not do often, at all. However, given that I will have own transport, I will have an opportunity to venture to more remote places more easily. I added one ancient Roman site to the plan, but had to give up Tataouine and the ksour. It would have been nice to see the ksour, but I have seen them in Libya, so I did not cry.
Now, the plan looks like this:
25/3 - London to Tunis
26/3 - Tunis, Carthage, Sidi Bou Said
27/3 - Dougga, Bulla Regia, Le Kef
28/3 - Sbeitla, Tozeur
29/3 - Tozeur, Douz
30/3 - Douz, Matmata, Gabes, Sfax
31/3 - Sfax, El Jem, Mahdia
01/4 - Mahdia, Sousse, Mahdia
02/4 - Mahdia, Monastir
03/4 - Kairouan
04/4 - Hammamet
05/4 - Bizerte
06/4 - Bizerte
07/4 - Tunis to London
This plan is based on own transport between 26/3 and 02/4, and public transport for the rest of the holiday. I am still hopeful that my friends on two wheels will be in vicinity so I will meet them...
The picture here is the giant colosseum in El Jem, the second largest colosseum after Rome.
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Mar 16, 2010 09:00 PM Tunisia - the plan is changed!
A couple of my friends (not those on the bikes - well, at least not yet) will be joining me on my trip. So, we will rent a car, and off we go. They will not stay with me for the entire holiday, and will go back to London five days earlier. Therefore it will make sense to do the itinerary in reverse and take advantage of own transport on the more difficult roads. A loop in the anti-clockwise direction.
26/3 - Tunis, Carthage, Sidi Bou Said
27/3 - Dougga, Bulla Regia, Le Kef
28/3 - Tozeur
29/3 - Douz
30/3 - Tataouine
31/3 - Ksar Ouled Soltana, Ksar Hadada, Matmata, Sfax
01/4 - El Jem, Mahdia
02/4 - Sousse
03/4 - Kairouan
04/4 - Hammamet
05/4 - Bizerte
06/4 - Bizerte
07/4 - London
There it is. We will try to be flexible... And if my cyclist friends get in touch, and would like to meet, then I would like to do everything possible to join them somewhere...
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Mar 06, 2010 09:00 PM White Cliffs - Dover to St Margaret's Bay
As weather provided so much sunshine today, I decided to use Britain first domestic high speed rail service and descend from Stratford International (in the middle of the Athletes Village being built for the 2012 Olympics) and Dover Priory, so I could walk the White Cliffs.
The high speed train now takes one hour to reach Dover from London, which is 45 minutes shorter than the conventional service. My original plan was to walk from Dover to Deal and then take a local bus back to Dover. But I overslept and did not have as much time as I thought I would. Also, it was so windy, that I managed to reach St Margaret's Bay and decided to walk back. On the way back, I had wind behind me (pushing me) and sun shining right into my face. That was better.
The views were superb. Probably better than I thought they would be. As I arrived in Dover, there were signs advertising boat trips to see the cliffs from the Channel. This was very tempting! Yet, I managed to resist it and try to find my way to the cliffs and see them on foot. Most of the time, one walks on top of them, so the views are not as spectacular as from the sea, but on four occasions, there are some incredible views of the cliffs' bends. And being on top of them, and so close, had a massive advantage to the views one might have from a boat below.
The walk is rather easy, with few ups and downs. Except the initial walk up from Dover, which can be tiring! Depending on one's pace, it takes just about an hour, maybe an hour and a half with the photo stops, to reach St Margaret's Bay from Dover. It is a good exercise!
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Mar 05, 2010 09:00 PM Warwick - Shepherd's Pie and the Castle
For a number of reasons, I found myself in Warwick. It is a small, very small town in the Middle England, dominated by one of the country's greatest castles.
The Warwick Castle was built in 1068 by William I (William the Conqueror, or Guillaume le Bâtard), the Duke of Normandy, who conquered England and Wales. And whose impact on those two nations was so great, that its true nature is still being disputed. However, his rule brought irreversible changes to the English language, way of life and architecture.
I made time to visit the castle properly. I paid the £18 for the ticket, explored the residential areas, walked on the ramparts, climbed the towers and peeked into the dungeons. There were a few large groups visiting the grounds and it was clear that families enjoyed the grounds as well. Especially the playgrounds and the medieval rose garden. The interior was kept very well, and the expositions were rather impressive, including the saddle and a handkerchief of Queen Elizabeth I, who visited the castle in 1566 and 1572.
The small town itself has spectacular examples of Tudor architecture, but there is not much to the place apart from the castle. I tried to grab late lunch in town, but it was hard. Most of the restaurants were closing at 2:30 pm and were only re-opening at 5:30/6 pm for dinner. I eventually found one of the oldest cafes in Warwick, had the chef's special - the shepherd's pie.
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Feb 20, 2010 09:00 PM Saint-Martin - Caribbean Fortnight appeal - continued
Ooops! It seems as though I will not be able to submit photos from the French Saint-Martin (St. Martin), as there appears to be an error. I reported it, and I hope Andy will be able to identify the problem. By then, I guess you can see a few photos in the report on Marigot, the capital of St. Martin.
http://www.globosapiens.net/travel-information/Marigot-2772.html
In the meantime, I will try to finalise the selection of the photos from Cuba (which I omitted so far, due to the volume of shots I had to go through) and move to the last island of this appeal series - Trinidad.
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Feb 19, 2010 09:00 PM Sint Maarten - Caribbean Fortnight appeal - continued
Sint Maarten was yet another island/state for which I managed not to submit any photographs. But I did write a travel report, and there were a few photos there. I submitted them now to the main gallery, and I will dig out some more. I hope I will find interesting shots to show you all. It was a great place, which really felt like a Caribbean island - much more Caribbean than the islands of Aruba and Curacao, which I visited before landing in Sint Maarten. Then, I will 'travel back' to Saint-Martin, the northern part of the island, belonging to France, and post a few pictures from there, too.
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Feb 18, 2010 09:00 PM Saint Lucia - Caribbean Fortnight appeal, continued
It has been over a fortnight ago, when the Caribbean Fortnight expired, but I have not quite finished with my submission. I realised that for Saint Lucia, I had not submitted a single photo. And I know why - weather prevented me from taking any good ones. Yet, I thought it was worth it to submit a few, even if they were not too good. There are a couple of the famous pitons (like this picture here) and a couple of one of the famous beaches, near the spot where I was staying.
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Feb 15, 2010 09:00 PM Tunisia - flights booked!
It was a long time coming, but finally the tickets to Tunisia are booked. I wanted to fly out of my London's favourite airport (LCY) but flights from there are usually too poor value for money. And for such a short trip, it was not worth paying a few hundreds of pounds more.
The preliminary itinerary for the escapade is:
1. Tunis, Carthage
2. Sousse, Karouan
3. El Jem, Sfax
4. Tataouine
5. Ksars, Madenine
6. Gabes, Matmata, Douz
7. Douz, Tozeur
8. Tozeur
9. Le Kef
10. Bulla Regia, Dougga
11. Bizerte
12. Tunis
With time, and in situ, the plan may change. Depending how interesting or how boring the places are going to be.
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Feb 14, 2010 09:00 PM Cappadocia - the plan
For now, the plan is to land in Kayseri in the afternoon on Thursday, and then make the move straight to Göremë. If possible, book a flight in the hot-air balloon and then relax on one of the terraces.
Then..
Friday - all day in Göremë and the immediate vicinity
Saturday - Ortahiçar and Uchiçar
Sunday - Devrent and Zelve Valleys and Avanos, end up in Ürgüp
Monday - Ürgüp and transfer to Kayseri for the flight back
Now, is that a good plan? If anyone has suggestions, let's have them!
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Feb 13, 2010 09:00 PM Happy New Year of the Tiger!
Happy new Chinese Year, everyone! It is the Year of the Tiger, so hopefully everyone will be prosperous and will afford all that travel one wants to make!
Be it very exotic and far flung, a dream destination one always wanted to explore or a favourite place to come back to every now and again, or just a weekend escapade to try something local, like food or beverage, or a concert or even just for shopping!
All the best, Globies!
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