World Traveler

(Photo from www.freefoto.com)

I’m from England and have travelled there a fair bit but generally if I want a holiday I head straight to somewhere else in Europe as I always thought that they have nicer beaches. That was until I was introduced to Norfolk!

I went to a tiny place in the middle of no where called Sea Pauling but the beach stretches on for miles so there are plenty of other towns to choose from if you want more excitement. I was told that when you see the beach you think you’re in India or something, I laughed at that comment and thought that the person was just exaggerating. I walked up the huge sand dunes and when I reached to the top I was shocked. The beach was stunning and I never imagined that there was a place so beautiful just three hours from London. Obviously the sea is freezing but the sunsets were amazing! Plus you can go sand dune surfing – its so much fun but very tiring walking back up!

If you head to Norwich, you can hire canal boat and cruise down the river stopping at little towns along the way and there are even small boats that drive you to you and seel drinks and ice-creams, random! Norwich also has a fairly good nightlife. I never thought I would say it but you can actually have an excellent holiday in England and the weather there in the summer gets really hot (I don’t know if it’s ever going to be quite hot enough to go in the sea though!)

Read more about where to go in England……

(Photo by Eric Rougier www.fromparis.com)

Personally I hate Christmas, I always have and I always will and I will do whatever I can to get away from it! So I decided to take my mum to Paris for Christmas, ha ha, that was my excuse! I booked the hotel and flight online and it was only for five days so we would be back for New Years Eve (one of the few celebrations that don’t hate me!)

We arrived and jumped in a taxi and gave the taxi driver the address, he blatantly drove us a round in a circle three times before dropping us off and thought that we wouldn’t notice! The hotel was nice, at least that bit wasn’t a nightmare and we went out straight away to explore and set off on foot without a plan. Immediately we found shops, lots of them and the shopping in Paris is absolutely brilliant, very low cost too (in comparison to London, where wouldn’t be low cost in comparison to that!) After a great shop we needed a drink and hit the nearest bar. It was a very strange bar, like most of the bars in Paris that we came across. Ordering drinks is where the language barrier comes in, I did french at school but my pronunciation is not understood by anyone that speaks French! I managed to order a grapefruit juice and vodka; unfortunately I got a whole glass of each so I had to down half of the neat vodka so I could mix the drinks myself!

We set off to do the usually sightseeing activities; the Eifel Tower which was very small compared to how I imagine it; The Louvre which was huge and I ended up lost for hours; Notre Dam Cathedral, very nice but a lot like many other cathedrals. We ended up not taking all the advice we had been given and to check out the real Paris, which worked much better for us, and also stopped in to see a show at one of the famous cabaret’s (careful which night you go on as some are nude – my friend accidentally took her mum to one of those shows!) Paris is a beautiful city and the architecture is excellent, but something’s are very strange. You can only buy tobacco in cafes and tobacconists, not in supermarkets. When you want to have dinner, everything is shut and then opens much later in the evening and there were rarely women anywhere!

Read more about European getaways……

I was in the Croatian capital of Zagreb, at the train station trying to get to Pula. My train was due to arrive at any moment, according to my watch, and sure enough a train pulled up at the platform. I hoisted my huge backpack and suitcase on to the train and made myself comfortable.

The train set off and what I thought was the ticket man was walking down the isle so I got out my ticket but he was actually checking passports. Strange I thought as I was off to somewhere within the same country. I didn’t really think anything of it, then a second passport control check was done, a third, to which I thought it was getting a bit crazy and then finally the ticket man. I showed him my ticket and he shouted at me in a language I didn’t understand and I was told to stand by the door. I waited for ages and then he returned with another man. I told him where I wanted to go and apparently I was on a train that was about to cross the Slovenian border – whoops!

They two men stopped the train, made a phone call to get another train to take me back and shoed me off the train on to the tracks (with no platform!) and the train drove off. Meanwhile I am stood by the train tracks with my giant luggage in the middle of the night in the middle of know where with no idea what was happening. Eventually another train came and collected me and dropped me back off where it all began.

 I got off the train and then freaked out as I thought I would have missed the train that I should have gotten on and that I would have to wait 24 hours till the next one. I tried to communicate with someone who worked at the train station to when the next train was and he just keeps pointing at another train. That’s when I realised I forgot to wind my watch backwards 1 hour!

Read about more mishaps……..

I was In Europe and from some of the lesser known cities it can be really hard to find a flight to another lesser known city without having to change planes three times. The journey that I wanted to do was from Croatia to Greece but it was proving a nightmare, in the end I decided to get a train. The train was supposed to take 33 hours but we had a bed on the train and brought a lot of alcohol to last us so I thought it would be ok.

The train had no buffet and didn’t make any stops long enough to buy food, we had brought a little though. We immediately started chatting to other travellers on the train and had a great time, by the end of the evening there was the steward and a few other people we met, playing accordions and guitars in our cabin and we had a blast. My mum went to sleep and so not to disturb her I went in the cabin next door to continue chatting the night away, then went to be a few hours later.

When we work up my mum couldn’t find her wallet anywhere, we had waist pouches to be secure and that’s where we put our money, however, I had no cash on me as my bank card had snapped so was borrowing off my mum but we looked everywhere and the wallet must have been stolen. That was all her bank cards, all the money we had. I had money in my bank account but I couldn’t get it out because of the broken bank card and banks wont send replacement cards abroad.

Luckily one of the other passengers lent us some money so I could phone home and get money wired to us but the whole process was a nightmare. We couldn’t even report this to the police as the train crossed borders neither the Croatian or Greek police wanted to hear about it. We then had to wait around for our bank cards to be sent to our home addresses, and then for family to courier them out to us. It was such a nightmare, so now I always make sure I have at least three different bank cards in three different places!

Read about more mishaps……

Everyone all over Europe raves about Croatia and how amazing it is so I had to go and see what all the fuss was about, I’m curious like that! I planned to visit quite a few places in Croatia but only ended up seeing the capital; Zagreb and then Pula and Dubrovnik.

I arrived in the capital city Zagreb on a Sunday and the pace was like a ghost town, most businesses were closed and there wasn’t a person to be seen anywhere, it was really strange. Just trying to find a café that was open was difficult, what do the people that live there do on a Sunday? How boring! After reading about it in my guidebook I didn’t plan on staying there anyway but I had to wait all day to catch a train that departed at 1am, again very strange!

The Train was overnight and arrived in Pula the next morning. Pula is a pretty town and there is a huge ruin of an amphitheatre in the middle of the town which looks amazing and it’s a beautiful town to walk around with little cobbled streets, a market and a ridiculous amount of ice cream and pizza eateries, in fact, it was actually har5d to find anything else! It was so hot when we arrived that most girls just walk about in bikinis and even drive motorbikes in bikinis!

I moved on to Dubrovnik, again a small town but very beautiful. Most of the town is inside a huge old castle and the architecture is totally amazing and it looks like new. The “castle” (I’m sure it has a technical term but I have no idea what that term might be!) was surrounded by the sea and there is a drawbridge that you enter through. Apart from that there wasn’t a huge amount to do.

Coastal drives in Croatia are fantastic, but watch out as the water is freezing even in the high of summer! There is never any sand either, just rocks that you have to jump off to get in the sea. The sea is very clean though. Croatia was a nice place but I don’t get what all the hype is about, its not like its Turkey, or Thailand!

Read more about Europe……

London can be an amazing place to shop, if you know where to go and there are loads of fantastic markets with a great ambiance. Oxford Street is London’s main shopping Mecca and it will keep you busy for a good few ours as the street stretches from Marble Arch all the way to Tottenhamcourt Road and has high street shops, budget shops, designer wear and loads of department shops. Its packed everyday of the week so it can be quite stressful! Regent Street near by is good for designer brands and upmarket high street shops, plus there is Hamley’s toy shop which is huge and definitely the place for toys (adults will love it too
though!)

You can’t miss Portobello Market with its buzzing vibe, funky music blaring out and general funkiness. The market continues for about a mile and you can buy antiques, retro and second hand wear, up-and-coming
designer wear, the coolest clothes and some brilliant music. The main days are Friday and Saturday and there are loads of cafes and bars so you can make a day of it. Look out for the crazy man that caries an
8-foot wooden cross on his back - I always see him around everywhere and I have no idea why he does it!

Camden Market is another cool place to hang out, there are loads of different markets all in the same place, plus shopping on the main street, though nearly all the shops are shoe shops, crazy I know but great if you are looking for shoes! Camden is a very different area, you will see what I mean if you go there! Loads of punks and goths and generally people who look and dress very different, I love it as no one
has to “fit in” its more about fitting out! Camden is also a great place to go out with cafes, restaurants on the lock, bars and clubs.

Other markets include Spital Fields Market with is mostly hand made items like bags, clothes and jewellery. Covent Garden is good for some of the latest trends and Kilburn is good for bargain hunters.

Read more about London……

Snowboarding never really appealed to me, I always preferred a hot holiday rather than a cold one, probably because I’m from England so I don’t get to see the sun much. I was eventually persuaded to go on a snowboarding holiday in Scotland, in a small town called Avimore, near Inverness and I had the time of my life!

I was pretty scared at first and neither me nor my friend had been before and decided to do it the cheap way and not get an instructor. We hired out the boards and a few other bits, but forgetting the goggles so I spent the whole day squinting to try and get the snow out of my eyelashes, unsuccessfully!

We arrived, fully kitted out in our snow gear (minus the goggles of course!), and the first hurdle came as soon as we got out of the bus – getting up the slope! Instead of chair lifts there were T-bar’s, everyone else made it look easy, just stand, swipe the t-bar between your legs and glide up the mountain. My male friend went first and failed miserably getting dragged face down in the snow, while I stood back trying to conceal that fact that I was wetting myself with laughter he continues, making the same mistake each time. By this time I am finding it hard to breathe as I am laughing so much, luckily I get an offer from one of the instructors to help get me up the slope so I didn’t have to go through the same embarrassing face-in-snow procedure as my friend.

I found snowboarding fairly easy but had no idea how to stop so just threw myself back in the snow, obviously that’s not the proper way of doing things but it seemed to work for me, I also didn’t realise that people zig-zagged to ensure they didn’t go to fast – I’m pretty sure I must have come close to breaking the land speed record and was scared I was going to run someone down! My friend continued with his difficulties and even lost the board from his feet which knocked me off mine! How can you loose the board from your feet?? - Its attached!

All in all I had a great day and I would definitely consider doing it again, but maybe with a lesson or two next time!

Read more about the UK…….

Notting Hill Carnival happens once a year in the August Bank holiday (about the third week into August) and runs for two days, usually about 10am till 8pm but the times vary each year. The Sunday is supposedly the kid’s day but there are usually way more adults and it’s my preferred day as it isn’t so scary! Monday is the adult’s day and prepares yourself fully! There are two million people packed into a few small streets so a lot of the time there isn’t enough space to put your feet, there are crushes, pick pockets, fights and a lot of queuing, having said that there is also some fantastic music, dancing in the street, a huge variety of culture, loads of yummy food stalls, amazing costumes and a street parade.

It can be a brilliant day out, but it can also be absolute hell! Make sure you don’t carry any bags and have everything you need on your person, make sure you have cash – getting to an ATM is mission impossible, bring a carnival map even if you know the area as some streets are blocked off and then you get trapped because of all the stampedes of people trying to push through crowds, try to avoid roads like Ladbroke Grove as there are so many people in such a small space that its really scary because of all the pushing and shoving. I find it best to have a brief walk around and then find a spot where I like the music and stay there. Some of the music is part of the parade but there are various stages set up that don’t move, these are mainly around Westbourne Grove.

Read about more parties….

Glastonbury Festival is one of the largest festivals In Europe (third largest and about 100,000 people) and it was the first real festival that I have ever been to so I had no idea what to expect. I had heard a huge amount of stories about it being so hot, or so muddy, or so packed, so big but I still didn’t really know what was coming. The first hurdle is getting the tickets! Tickets sell out in a matter of seconds and the phones are constantly engaged, I have never managed to get through but tickets are usually on eBay and there is often people selling tickets at the gate (but I’m pretty sure that’s not allowed!)

Glastonbury is a few hours drive out of London so you can drive or take the train (train travellers are supplied with regular buses that ferry the festival visitors between the festival and the local train station (ticket holders only). The festival is absolutely huge and there is plenty of space for parking and camping. The festival itself runs over three or four days but many people arrive days before and start partying early, many people also stay on a few days after the festival as well

There are usually at least 6 stages all playing a variety of music from rock to dance music with loads of well known bands and DJ’s, mainly continuing the whole time through out the festival so you don’t have to sleep if you don’t want to! There is a place where you can charge up your phones, loads of amazing food stalls that even cater for vegans, some fabulous clothes stalls, shops and ATM’s - honestly, you can buy anything you want there

It can get really hot and there is no shade, it can also rain a lot and can get ridiculously muddy and slippy, I saw a good few people fall face first in the mud! My sister’s had been before and told me to wear the oldest raggiest clothes I had, but when I arrived everyone was dressed in fancy fairy costumes etc so I felt really under-dressed but, surprise, surprise, you can buy costumes there too

There is so much to see and just roaming around takes up most of your day so its pretty hard to get bored, although if its raining and your not prepared it can be a little trying at times, especially by the end of the weekend so make sure you go prepared. Its a crazy and fabulous festival to be enjoyed by all, children and dogs are welcome too!

Read about more parties…..

Budget Airlines in Europe are great value and you can get to so many places for as little as £1 one way (excluding tax). There are loads of budget airlines to choose from as well, giving you a wealth of choice for price and destination. There are quite a few airlines that do budget flights, the main ones that pop to mind are Easy Jet (www.easyjet.com) and Ryan Air (www.ryanair.com), just between these two airlines, there are flights all over Europe, to anywhere that you might possibly want to go. I generally find that Ryan Air’s flights are cheaper but they fly to random places that you haven’t really heard of rather than capital. Cities.

If you are visiting Europe its actually really low cost to take a quick visit to another country while you are there. Flights can be booked online or over the phone and an e-ticket is issued so you don’t need to have tickets delivered to a postal address. There are always special deals available and last minute options too. Both the above airlines also offer not quite as low cost options for hotels, hire cars, insurance and airport transfers. Skiing deals are also available and generally you can read about the area you are thinking about going to on these websites too, to help you get a better idea of where to go and when.

I have flown with Easy Jet plenty of times, flights are generally on time, there is no free food on-board but you can buy food. There is only a small selection of things available like sandwiches and cakes - watch out for the prices of these as they often cost more than the flight did!

More travel deals…

There’s one thing that you notice immediately when you visit London, everything is grey; the sky is grey, the buildings are grey, everyone wears grey and the people are grey! The next thing you will notice is how rude many of the people are, you’ll be lucky to get the time from someone in the street, most people just totally ignore you, some simply show a hand for you to talk to! And getting directions, oh, for that one you will get a reply but you wont ever get anywhere near where you asked to get to! Politeness and London are rarely found together, there is no “sorry” or “thank you”, “excuse me” yeah right! Everyone just pushes there way through, in their grey clothes, with their grey miserable faces.

Its generally less hassle to look people in the eye as you’ll either get someone try and start a fight with you, or some lunatic following you around all day. No one speaks to strangers, or even looks at them for that matter and London has more than its fair share of rudeness. Its a brilliant city with loads to see and do, so much so that you’ll never get bored, unfortunately its filled with rude people that make it feel like such a depressing place to be. When a shop assistant says “Hi” back when you enter the shop you get a shock and don’t even think about asking the bus driver if he has change as you’ll get shouted at!

http://www.worldtravelerjournal.com/what-to-do-in-bangkok/

I caught the bus to Egidir from Cappaddocia, which took about 8 hours. Whilst on the bus, coming into Egidir was absolutely beautiful and it really took my breath away. As you drive down from a huge hill you get a brilliant panorama view of the whole town. Egidir has Turkeys biggest lake (at first I forgot it was a lake and thought it was sea it was that big!) The whole lake is surrounded by mountains so its an awesome view and the waves on the lake were bigger than in the sea.

At the beach (on the lake) I rented a pedalo and took cigarettes and drinks with me, stupidly, thinking that I would be able to smoke! I had no idea how to steer the thing so nearly ran down a four year old (she looked petrified) and then almost crashed into a boat. Finally worked out the steering and lit up a cigarette but the waves were massive and one went straight over my head. Ended up really far out at sea and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get back in but after a tiring journey managed it - without hurting anyone!

There is also a small market in the town but the evenings are very dull as its not a tourist town so the Muslim people don’t have any bars to go to. I then traveled back to Istanbul after a ride on a bus called Kamil Koc, ha ha, I love the Turkish names for things!

http://www.worldtravelerjournal.com/category/turkey/

http://www.globosapiens.net/travel-information/Egirdir-768.html

Pamukale has one of the most beautiful sights that I have ever seen, is another wondrous place that Turkey has to offer. There a huge snow-like looking cliff that is made of calcium and its about a ten minute walk to the top  When you walk up there are loads of white calcium pools and chalky water trickling down.  When you reach the top there is an amazing panorama over Pamukale and you can see all the different levels of the calcium pools and its a fabulous sight. I stayed up there till sunset and it was absolutely beautiful as it made all the white cliffs go pink. It was such a stunning sight and just one of the many natural wonders of Turkey.

If you walk up further past the calcium pools there are also loads of ruins of roman amphitheaters which is pretty impressive and is free to walk around. There is also a restaurant area which includes and a big pool of mineral water with loads of ruins in that you are able to swim in. 

The town of Pamukale is fairly small but there is a fair bit of choice of hotels, hostels, restaurants and bars. Most of the hostels and hotels also have swimming pools with Calcium water in, its great for your skin apparently, and if you are lucky you might get to go to one of the underground hot calcium pools with the local people! Pamukale is like no where else on the planet so its not to be missed!

http://www.worldtravelerjournal.com/category/turkey/

http://www.bitez.net/turkey/pamukkale/

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From Fetiye we decided to take a 4 day boat cruise to Olympus. There were about ten people in total on the boat and it was amazing. We could just jump in the water whenever we wanted and we slept out on deck under the stars! We stopped at loads of different places along the way and there were loads of water sports and finally I tried the tubes! I’ve been dying to for ages (its where there is a giant swim ring attached to the back of a speed boat by the way). The driver was crazy and was going really fast in all different directions so it was really difficult to hold on, then I realised that my bikini was struggling to stay on as well, I was trying to hold on to it but then the driver took a sudden turn and I flashed my day glow boobs (they have never seen the sun in their lives) at a passing boat which was pretty embarrassing and then I toppled backwards out of the ring and half drowned!  It was exhilarating but would recommend doing it with a t-shirt on!

The boat sailed on and we passed a sunken city (happened after an earthquake and it about 25 meters under sea level) which was fab as bits of ruins were jotting out of the water. We got off the boat to explore passing islands and saw loads of mountain goats and there was also a full moon while we were on the boat which was the most amazing moon ever - it was massive and bright orange! We arrived in Olympus where the boat terminated and it was quite cute there, very natural and they had loads of tree houses that you can sleep in and some woods and a beach where there are loads of ruins.

 At nighttime we climbed up, what seemed like a huge mountain, to see one of the incredible natural wonders that Turkey has to offer. There are flames that naturally come out of the rocks at the top of this mountain, it was lovely and apparently years ago the flames were much bigger, but it occurs as a particular type of gas (cant remember what) comes from under the rocks!If it was in Thailand there would have been a load of sellers up there with marshmallows!

http://www.worldtravelerjournal.com/category/turkey/

http://tropicalsails.com/BodrumKaracasogutHalfWeek.pdf