Delivered the “Gang” to Posh Pets in Alhaurin – Their new Holiday Camp – Then a five hour drive to Merida.   Relatively painless apart from a slow patch around Seville.   Nothing new there then !!

Merida

Arrived in Merida and checked into the Merida Palace Hotel on the main square where I had stayed before some years ago whilst on a cultural adventure.    An old historical Spanish town (aren’t they all ?) with some amazing Roman remains (arenas, stadia, temples etc). No time for much sightseeing as this was just an overnighter, but did manage to visit the old Roman bridge and Moorish Fortress.

Next morning onto Viseu (Portugal) for another night.

Viseu

Portugal a very different and greener vibe than parched Andalucía.    Some of the rivers even had water in them !!     Quite a lot of scorched forest however due to the latest wild fires.      Good roads, though a ruthless toll system that seemed to go “beep” (and cost money) every few Km.    Got to Viseu and very nice hotel next to the Cathedral.   Time for a bit of sightseeing before Sushi (very Portuguese !!) and early night before the final drive of this phase into Porto.

Arrival in Porto

A two hour drive up to Porto and eventually found Grand Hotel du Porto thanks to Sat Nav. and a very patient concierge who talked me into the heart of the pedestrian area and a car park where I left the Toyota for the next week or so.      A spot of sightseeing around Porto (Train Station, Churches and Cathedral etc).     An amazing city on the banks of the Duoro on many levels so lots of hills and steps.     Lots of walking and aching calf muscles !!    Plenty of Catholic guilt and gilt – Loads of Baroque architecture and interiors but very impressive with great views (if somewhat hazy) of the Douro river.

Next segment is the 7 day cruise up and down the Douro River.    Serious wine and port country, so I sense a spot of will power will be required as am firmly back on the wagon again.    A good time to go on a Wine Tour but more of that later ……….

Will publish this while the Wi-Fi holds up.    Expect a few days of radio silence as history has proved that rivers and Wi-Fi are an unreliable combination !!

Am leaving for my Douro Adventure today.       Am driving to Porto where the cruise embarks, stopping off in Merida and Viseu on the way and Cuidad Rodrigo and Segovia on the way home.    Internet and WiFi permitting, I will be updating my blog.    So feel free to follow it at your peril !!

The “Kids” have gone off to a new Summer Camp in Alhaurin, so now just have to get my shit together, close up the House and hit the Road.

More to follow

R

 

 

I should have learnt by now that Rivers and Wi-Fi are rarely compatible!!   Certainly the Dnieper is no exception, so will try to post this as text only and when we get back to the joys, (or are they perils ?) of Internet access I will upload an avalanche of photos etc.

I suspect that some of you may need a “nudge” to let you know that I am up and blogging again.   Apologies if you get it more that once and feel free to ignore it etc…..

Flew from Malaga to Instanbul on Thursday with Turkish Airlines – whom, I have to say, have some of the most miserable and unfriendly crew that I have ever encountered.   They make EasyJet ground staff (a distant memory for me since they dumped me in Madrid Airport overnight on my birthday a few years ago without so much as an apology) positively welcoming!!

Anyway, I arrived at the new Istanbul Airport, which in April, replaced overnight the old one.    A logistical feat that makes anything that RWP may have achieved in the past seem relatively insignificant!!     A magnificent facility which once they can work out how to use it, should be a huge improvement on its predecessor!!    Cavernous terminals with every sort of electric vehicles zooming around in all directions – Buggies, Wheelchairs, Seways, scooters, luggage carts, etc – potential for total carnage once they add pedestrians to the mix  !! All driven/ridden by young volunteers wearing purple “Can We Help You ?” tee-shirts, which of course if you manage to stop one and ask, without getting run over – they can’t,  as they don’t know how it all works either !!     Plenty of room for improvement and I am sure – as with Terminal 5 at Heathrow a few years ago – will get better with time.    No lounges open yet so took refuge overnight in Yotel (an offshoot of Yo Sushi but without the fish !) another brainchild of my old mate Simon Woodroffe – compact, clean, comfortable and inside the terminal.

Up at dawn for the onward flight to Kiev – more unsmiling Turkish Airlines personnel – who I managed to navigate without any frustration induced strangulation!!!    Arrived in Kiev and connected with the Viking Cruises Team and Viking Sineus {which I am sure means something in Ukrainian} – my shipboard home for the next 10 days.     All excellent although with 200 passengers – my largest yet, and a reminder of my Southampton induced vows never to “cruise on large ships” – and, for my liking, slightly too many fellow passengers.    Its taken a couple of days to identify and target a couple of dinner companions – hopefully for the remainder of the cruise who hail from somewhere called Fargo {N or S Dakota?} in the US – great company so far and a taste for fine wine and the good life.   Needless to say I can’t remember their names so will need a memory jog when we reconnect later!!  OK it’s a fair cop I have has to slide “off the wagon” for a few days, though fully intend to clamber back on board when I get home in a couple of weeks !!

Kiev was – as expected – amazing.    Golden domes and mosaics – also the holiest Lavra (monastery to you and me) in the Russian/Ukrainian  Orthodox Religion with caves full of dead saints and monks.

Am starting to realise that any exploration of matters historical, seldom avoids some pretty gruesome stuff – and Kiev is no exception – with WW2 German and Russian atrocities including the horrors of the gorge at Babi Yar.     Once I get this blog up and running there will be a posting dedicated to Babi Yar which those of you of a squeamish nature may want to avoid.   Suffice it to say, that for someone who recently got back from the Cambodian killing fields, it makes them seem like a “walk in the park” which of course is how all these atrocities seem to start out !!!     Man’s inhumanity to Man never ceases to astound, and reinforces my belief and appreciation that my lifespan has indeed been blessed – never having to deal with, or witness any of that shit !!

I have decided to forego today’s shore excursion in Kemenchuk as it was destined to be a day of “home visits” (think Dachas and Dumplings) which with 5 x 40 seat coaches crammed to capacity, is my idea of hell !!!    So have stayed on board to catch up on blog text and sorting out photos etc.     Also hoping that Wi/Fi may reappear now that 200+ iPhones and iPads have “left the building – though not holding my breath as the crew will probably give it a good hammering now that the “guests” have pissed off for the day !!

It looks as though I may be about to get this text version posting so watch this space and I will attempt a more photo inclusive version later………..

R

Doesn’t seem that long ago that I was getting back from Vietnam in February.    Memories still linger – Thanks to Rehahn’ amazing photos……..

Quite a lot has happened since, including a hernia operation (BIG Ouch !!!!) and various other medical stuff.     Other news includes that I have been virtually alcohol free since November.  A major shock to the system and, though I hate to admit it, has made a huge improvement to my health – both physical and mental !!!    No more anti-depressants and many other ailments (blood pressure etc) have normalised which can only be good !!

Also it means that I don’t trip over the dogs as often which is also a good thing !!!

Anyway am off on my travels again later this week.     Off to Kiev and then a cruise down the Dnieper through Ukraine to Odessa

Then 5 days in Istanbul

with a side trip to Ephesus (Amazing Roman and Greek city and also where St John looked after Mary (Yup Jesus’ Mum) in AD37  where she spent the last years of her life).

Trying to book a day trip to Chernobyl whilst in Kiev but scheduling may restrict me to a visit to the Museum in Kiev so may have top come back for that one !!    Should be interesting in Ukraine, now that the new President is a comedian, and also since the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has broken away from the Russians who have always considered the “Lavra” in Kiev to be their holiest site and are well pissed off about it !!

So should be much to report and blog etc.   Always Wi-Fi permitting of course but it is getting globally better, especially with the help of those clever Chinese chaps at Huawei who have some great SIM charged gadgets that enable internet access almost (and I stress almost !!) anywhere these days !!

So log in and “follow” if you can be bothered.   feel free to “comment” etc.    And stay in touch ………….

I have now imported (not without untold glitches I might add !!) my two previous blog sites into this one.     The other two will sit there on their “cloud” until WordPress notice that I have not renewed the subscription at which point I imagine they will disappear.

I still need to learn a few tricks to make “navigating” a bit easier.   But for now if you keep scrolling down the Home Page the past 3 years of travels should flash before your eyes.     A shortcut to the earlier stuff, is to select a month from the archives box on the left.

I have realised that this blogging lark serves two purposes.   Firstly so that I can remember where I’ve been and what I’ve seen.  Secondly so that you can see what I have been up to.    If you can be bothered that is !!!

You will no doubt get a nudge (if you are a follower) when I am on the move again.     Next up is a trip down the Dnieper in May, from Kiev to Odessa, followed by 5 days in Istanbul.

Then a week on the Duoro (Portugal) in September with a side trip to Salamanca (Spain).  No airports – and hopefully no selfie-sticks.   yehaaa !!

Then in November off to Myanmar (Burma to you and me), and two weeks cruising up the Irrawaddy with a week of land based exploration before and after…

So watch this space………….

I almost forgot…..There is an amazing French photographer called Rehahn who now lives in Hoi An and has captured the soul and spirit of Vietnam and the Vietnamese people.   Needless to say I bought several of his small prints and one of his books, and now just need to find some space to hang them on.      They come in a range of sizes from postcard to ginormous.    Here are some of the ones that I had, but his full range can best be seen by clicking on (or pasting into your browser):

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=rehahn&tbm=isch&source=hp&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj5-uzRicPgAhWwg-AKHcnxA0MQiR56BAgDEBM&biw=1904&bih=923

Otherwise just google Rehahn.   Its an amazing story and the photos are breathtaking!

Some of these photos have “gone viral” – whatever that means,  and the subjects are now some of the most famous images to come out of Vietnam in recent years.   He has put a lot of the the money that he is making back to the “models” and their communities and all in all is a good egg !!

Anyway back in Hanoi we visited the History Museum but by this time all eyes were on the airport and it has to be said that our little group of seven was now a group of four and another of three as after 3 weeks together things had become somewhat fractious !!

One thing that we all agreed on though was the fact that Jules Verne (our travel agent) had not done us or themselves any favors.    Since returning home several outraged missives have been fired at their head office (so far no reply of course).    I have already contacted the trusty Abercrombie & Kent to plan my next Asian adventure.    But more of that later…………

Home via Bangkok and Heathrow and needless to say a rapturous and very waggy reception from the kids when their jet lagged Dad arrived at the Kennels to collect them and take them home !!

So that’s the end of this adventure.    Thanks for the various comments and for making it to the end.    Watch this space for news and plans for the next adventures – The Dneiper (Ukraine) in May and Irrawaddy (Myanmar or Burma in my history books) in November are on the horizon.    As you may have gathered by now I am thoroughly enjoying this travelling and River Cruising lark !!    Long may it continue, before the Chinese tourist hordes make it to unbearable, or I run out of funds, and while I still can !!    Oh yes Selfie Sticks should be banned !!

Its just the airports that suck !!

Well a two-day cruise around Ha Long Bay was supposed to be the climax of the trip on board the Paradise Luxury. Paradise it certainly wasn’t – apart from anything the weather didn’t help as it was cold and misty. Luxury – well I’m sorry but a dingy cabin in the bowels of the ship, stinking of sewage and having to endure what has to have been the most incompetent Crew & Staff that has ever set sail anywhere. We almost had to storm the galley in order to get fed. I could rant on but suffice it to say that the freshly baked pastries that were advertised for breakfast, may have been freshly baked at some point, but not in this millennium. Everything else was of a similarly disappointing nature. Various excursions around the bay, that is an extraordinary series of limestone “lumps” rising out of the sea, were somewhat limited in their scope though we did get to visit some pretty impressive caves.

Then a quick glimpse of the boat that we should have been on and back to the mainland and a bus ride back to Hanoi.

Oh yes and a floating village that was really a fish farm !!

 

 

 

 

 

A flight from Danang to Hanoi and straight into a city tour which included the inevitable French Opera House, the never ending competition of how many people can you get on one motor scooter ?    A lot of very thin “tube houses” and a flower market.    Of yes and a very blingy Hummer……….

Then onto a the Temple of Literature which is the oldest university in Vietnam.    A huge series of Temples and Pagodas, a gold turtle surrounded by bank notes, lots of incense and some very big drums and bells….

There was some sort of graduation ceremony taking place in the main courtyard:

Then onto the Museum of Ethnology – not terrible exciting but the History Museum was still closed for Tet New year.

Some ladies doing yet another photo op, the history of Egg Coffee and the local Railway station.

We then headed into the labyrinthine Old Quarter and its various markets etc

The chickens with the Roses up their bums are en-route to one of the temples as an offering !!   All too much for the chap with the wellies !!

Then another temple, this one on an island on a lake, a huge turtle who is much venerated and dead !

Then onto Ho Chi Minh’s house and mausoleum with very smart soldiers changing the guard.   Why do they always try to outdo John Cleese and the Ministry of Silly Walks ?

Then onto Ho’s House and some of his cars.   He refused to live in the Palace that they build for him, preferring a simple stilt house in the garden.   Likewise he did not use the Limo much !!

 

The One Pillar Pagoda and that was it for the day.

 

 

Now of course I don’t have a son, so just to explain, it is the name of a very old group of temples in the jungle outside Hoi An.    Unfortunately the Americans reduced most of the sites to rubble, along with huge swathes of this wonderful country.    However there is enough left standing to be quite impressive !!    Built by the Cham dynasty as a religious center between the 4th and 13th century.    The Cham arrived in Vietnam from Indonesia and worshipped Hindu Gods including Shiva, Ganesh etc.   See previous posting for examples of Cham sculpture and carving.   Lots of rounded breasts and dancing girls !!

There is still a lot of unexploded ordinance in the surrounding area and the statuary is displayed with a couple of US bombs that fortunately did not go off.    Also a rather stunning butterfly amongst the rubble !

And a colourful lizard on the way out !

Then we headed back to Hoi An for a very unimpressive pottery display and then a short boat ride along the Thu Bon River to our hotel.    A rather tedious set menu dinner in a local restaurant and they back to pack for a flight from Danang to Hanoi.   The luggage has expanded and am hoping that I can get away without paying too much  excess baggage !!

Next stop Hanoi……….

We left Hue bright and early for the 4 hour drive to Danang over the Ba Na Pass which afforded us great views of the misty mountains and down to the South China Sea with spectacular white sandy beaches.   Unfortunately the misty bit meant that no good photos were forthcoming.     We stopped briefly at an oyster farm and then into Danang with its rather spectacular Dragon Bridge.

Danang is the 3rd largest city in Vietnam and is very different and modern with a large harbour and lots of sandy beaches.     Including China Beach (of TV series fame).     Danang also has the Museum of Cham Sculpture which has many statues and carving salvaged from the My Son Hindu temple complex (more of that later) and other sites.

We then drove along the coast towards Hoi An, passing numerous enormous new hotel, resort and condominium developments which, when completed and occupied, will unfortunately probably swamp the entire area with millions more Chinese Tourists with their bloody selfie obsession.     Hoi An is or was a lovely old town which was an important trading port, attracting traders from China & Japan and even Europe from the 16th to the 18th century.     Many of the old buildings still remain and it seems to have avoided being bombed during the Indochina and Vietnam Wars.     My favourite town so far with loads of street life and shops and restaurants which finally, after Tet, are reopening their doors.    Fab hotel on the banks of the Thu Bon River but heaving with tourists !!

An ancient covered bridge which used to be the link between the Chinese and Japanese quarters.    And a couple of dogs having a love-in on the pavement…

A good Vietnamese restaurant for dinner and then a stroll back to the hotel.    Off to My Son in the morning.