In Cairo, the ancient clashes with the modern in an extraordinary way. Cows chill out underneath a motorway overpass. The ancient remains in the Egyptian museum are right next to the burnt out ruins from last year’s revolution. The burnt out remains of Mubarak’s headquarters behind the museum. The trip from Cairo to Giza is half […]
Read more "Bus Egypt: Cairo"Remember the icy climax of Die Another Day? James Bond speeds across a frozen lagoon filled with icebergs, fighting off the baddies and saving the world. Welcome to Jökulsárlón, Iceland. A real-life glacial lagoon. You can reach it in about 5 hours from Reykjavik. I was sold on Jökulsárlón even before hearing about the volcanoes, glaciers and waterfalls […]
Read more "Road-Tripping Icebergs, Volcanoes and Waterfalls (in Photos)"Flying over Iceland, you could be forgiven for thinking you were looking down on the moon. Vast stretches of the countryside are reclaimed land from some of the largest lava flows in history, and the resultant cratery desolation is as beautiful as it is bizarre.But any geologist will tell you there’s a lot more to […]
Read more "First Impressions of Iceland"Helsinki is just two hours from Tallinn by ferry. But, if you’re planning on making the trip, I really must tell you two things.Firstly, Linnanmäki, the wonderful-awesome-looking amusement park is really easy to get to from the centre of Helsinki. But don’t make this trip unless you’re sure it’s open. And, even if the big illuminated […]
Read more "Life Lesson #49 – What Not to Do in Helsinki"Tallinn is what I wanted Prague to be. Pastel-coloured. Medieval. Charming. But whereas Prague has been considered a gem of Eastern Europe for long enough to have reached British stag-party destination saturation point a decade ago, Tallinn has only been featuring on bucket lists for a few years. So the people are welcoming, it’s easy […]
Read more "Tastes of Tallinn"If your knowledge of the Emerald Isle consists mainly of Guinness and leprechauns, you need to check out Shamrocker Adventures’ Southern Rocker trip. In three packed days, you get the chance to discover why everyone says they love Ireland.For such a superstitious country, what better number than 13 for a list of things to check […]
Read more "A Weekend in Ireland"I had a dilemma back in June. How can you possibly explore a city as vast, as cosmopolitan and as interesting as Istanbul in just a day?I decided you couldn’t. So I didn’t try to. I was fortunate enough to know I was coming back for another day a few months later. So I ticked […]
Read more "Istanbul in Two Days (part 2)"