Travel Blog | April 10, 2013 | 12 Comments
We had never considered Dubai to be a flashpacking destination and it wasn’t very high on our must do list for this round the world trip. However with some very reasonable airfares from Sri Lanka to Dubai, and a fly Dubai bargain back into Europe, we decided to give it a try. By breaking up […]
Travel Blog | April 5, 2013 | 5 Comments
The change in weather had spoiled our plans to go diving and sunbathing on the south coast of Sri Lanka so we decided to head back to Negombo to give this place a second look (it was our first stop in Sri Lanka) and to see if the clouds would clear for us. We decided […]
Why I Hate Taxi Drivers Around the World
Travel Blog | April 3, 2013 | 18 Comments
Now hate may be a strong word, but in this case I think the choice of verb is perfectly acceptable and its how I feel, I have had enough of them. After travelling for well over a year across Australasia, Asia and now into Eastern Europe I cannot think of a single group of traders […]
My Travel CV: Adventurous Kate
Flashpacking Travel | April 1, 2013 | 10 Comments
This week we have the great pleasure of talking with top travel blogger Adventurous Kate. In 2010, Kate quit her job and gave up her life in Boston to travel the world. 2.5 years and 35 countries later, she’s still traveling and has no plans to stop. Hear about her being shipwrecked, her best night-life destination,and […]
Travel Blog | March 31, 2013 | 3 Comments
We had enjoyed the cool air and mountain views of Ella, but it was now time to get back to sea level and hopefully a bit of sun. Ella is in the centre of Sri Lanka high in the mountains and the journey down to the coast was going to take around five to six hours […]
Travel Blog | March 28, 2013 | 3 Comments
Visiting Galle in a day by bus from Mirissa (or Columbo) If you get fed up Mirissa beach (who would) or want a change of scenery there is plenty to occupy you within an hours bus ride of Mirissa. We had mistakenly sunbathed sans protection the day before as the sky was filled with […]
Sri Lanka: Mirissa Whale Watching
Travel Blog | March 25, 2013 | 7 Comments
One of the main reasons to visit south Sri Lanka is for the Mirissa whale watching. Every guest house and shop on the main road will be able to sell you a boat tour, but it pays to shop around as whale watching experiences vary in price. We found most wanted to charge 3000 -4000 LKR […]
Sightseeing by Scooter in Ella
Travel Blog | March 22, 2013 | 3 Comments
After our memorable train journey we got down to business in Ella and went in search of somewhere to stay and plan our Ella sightseeing itinerary. Like most of the smaller places here in Sri Lanka there is absolutely no sense in booking ahead unless you are staying in one of the more expensive luxury […]
Train from Kandy to Ella via Nuwara Eliya
Flashpacking Travel | March 18, 2013 | 12 Comments
The Best Train Journey in Sri Lanka and possibly the World? The train from Kandy to Ella, in Sri Lanka, is supposed to be one of the most scenic and beautiful journeys in the world. If you’re a regular reader of our travel blog you’ll know we are both particularly fond of train travel and […]
Flashpacking Travel | March 15, 2013 | 6 Comments
This week we speak to Mr Talon Windwalker of 1 Dad I Kid. Talon tells us about why he writes a travel blog, his worst travel experience, how long-term travel with his son has changed their relationship, future travel plans, romantic love and more. Travel Blog 1dad1kid.com is fairly eclectic. I blog about travel, budget travel, […]
India Car Rental and Driver Hire
How to Rent a Car and Driver in India We’d like to share our experience, and a few of the stories we learned about renting a car and driver from our two week tour of Rajasthan. Like arranging other things in India, it is not always as simple or easy as you may first imagine. […]
Photo Flashback – Kerala Kathakali Dance
We are not really ones for the cultural shows that you regularly find in travel destinations. Often they are a thin representation of the actual song or dance traditions of a community, overpriced and leave you feeling a little bit cheated. This was certainly the case in Waitangi doing the Haka with some actors. Sometimes […]
Goa Retirement, Revamps and a bit of Home Cooking
We hang about in Goa for our remaining time in India sampling foods from home and join the large expat community and retired folk enjoying what is on offer. We had decided in Udaipur that it was time to invest some time doing some work on the blog. Our traffic has been growing steadily over […]
Udaipur And A Break From Travel Blogging
For those arriving at this travel blog post hoping to find out detailed information about our experiences and things to do in Udaipur, leave now, as you’ll need to look elsewhere instead. The hectic schedule of our last two weeks on the road with our driver had wearied us a little. The thought of seeing […]
India Rajasthan and Golden Triangle Itinerary
Two Week Itinerary for Rajasthan and the Golden Triangle You can get to see some of the top sights in Rajasthan and the Golden Triangle in India in fourteen days or less, it will not be a restful experience, but you will gain a lifetime of memories and images from the magnificent Taj Mahal to […]
Jodhpur and the Road to Udaipur
Jodhpur – The Blue City It was a long drive to Jodhpur, our second to last destination in Rajasthan, before waving off our driver. The three restful days in Jaisalmer and our separation from each other had allowed driver and passenger relations to be restored to more friendly less tense mood levels. So we set off […]
In our last travel blog post I mentioned that I had done another diving course. I’ve included some underwater photographs and videos taken whilst I was on this course. We stayed in Bohol, longer than anywhere else in the Philippines, because of the excellent diving sites at very reasonable prices. Bohol is a magnet […]
A delay in this post has been caused by very slow internet connections throughout the last part of our travels in the Philippines. Apologies. However, it now means you have a fun packed bumper blog of travel frustrations, cute monkeys, the chocolate hills and a small slightly disappointing beach. Weather Retreat Given the weather we […]
Donsol, Whale Sharks and Legazpi
Reluctant as we were to leave the beauty of Saud beach we had a lot more Filipino treasures to explore. From the relaxing, serene shores of Saud beach, we headed south towards Donsol in search of some whale sharks. The weather proved challenging, but the wildlife made it all worthwhile. From Pagudpud we reversed […]
Ilocos Norte, Pagudpud and Saud Beach
The ‘Borocay of the North’ is the strapline trying to attach itself to this beautiful part of Ilocos Norte in the Philippines. While I cannot make the comparison yet, I believe Saud Beach in Pagudpud really is a little hidden gem that may eventually give its more famous southern cousin a run for its peso. We […]
Manila and the road to Pagudpud
We arrived in the Philippines on board another Jetstar flight at around 8pm on a Saturday. Having left Bali we had a brief layover in Singapore before our arrival in Manila. The immigration, customs and baggage pick up went like a dream and we were out of the airport within half an hour of touching down. This […]