We visited some awe-inspiring ruins today, just outside the city of Trujillo on the coast. It's one of Peru's biggest cities and the ruins were fascinating. I finally got to put this song into context! We were driven by our guide to some stunning desert temples to learn about the civilisation which built them. The … Continue reading Going back in time
Just before sunset, baboons climb up the trees to roost, stay warm and get away from predators. Ancient Egyptians thought this was an act of devotion to the sun; that they watched it set and rise again. To protect it and show it affection.That is how the baboon became the protector of the sun.I have … Continue reading Sun worshipping
Today was the last day of a fellow volunteer, and we spent the evening at the small town beach on San Cristobal, Playa Mann.Earlier in the evening, we had gathered ingredients from across town so that we could make our own empanadas, a common food here. We had cheese and ground beef inside, vegetables, salad … Continue reading Last sunset at the beach
Today I am on the biggest Galápagos island - Isabela. It's appropriately shaped like a seahorse and is the most beautiful of the three islands I have visited so far. It's got a tiny population, no proper roads and the animals are bigger and more plentiful; the beaches are broad sweeps of white sand and … Continue reading Lava tunnels and volcanoes
Galápagos sea lion or Lobos marinas ("sea wolf") are regularly seen hanging out by the harbour. I was dozing on a bench when this one crept up on me
OK, not quite the deepest. The record has just been beaten, in fact, by a new pool in Italy. But Nemo 33 in Brussels, Belgium, was the world's deepest swimming pool for 10 years, at 34.5m deep. And it was pretty spectacular. Along with my diving club, we travelled to Brussels for our Christmas "party" … Continue reading That time I went diving in the world’s deepest swimming pool
Tweet The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is one of the most life-changing, life-affirming books I have ever had the pleasure to read. I recently rediscovered my love for it, via an intensity of feeling in which I recalled some of the potent wisdom which is written among its pages. I first whipped through The Alchemist when I … Continue reading A book I once read in Croatia
Tweet September 20, 2014 It is evening. I blink through bleary eyes as a hazy, shimmering skyline emerges: tinged pink in the setting sun, and monstrous. Istanbul is not high-rise; the only things you'll see peaking (peeking?) above the slanted rooftops are the hordes of elegant minarets. But it is a sprawling city. While the … Continue reading ☾ Istanbul
Tweet So this evening it was off to the doctor's to get my vaccinations. I got hepatitis A&B in my left arm (which left it numb for about five minutes) and typhoid in my right (which felt fine at the time but has left it feeling heavy and sore today). You have to get them about … Continue reading Vaccinations
Tweet Note: I am having to write this retrospectively, because my plan to use hostel computers didn't work out. Above is a rough plan of where we ended up going - not too much of a deviation from the original, in the end! And what follows will be posts I've made up from notebook entries I … Continue reading A little history
no cash on the highway 