In 2001 I took the train from the shores of Lake Titicaca to the Andes Mountains. It is one of my most memorable journeys as we traversed wonderful landscapes.
Having just watched the brilliant Paris 2024 Olympic Games on TV, my mind wandered back to attending my first ever Games in the flesh. I had always wanted to go to the Olympic Games, so when my wife’s home city was awarded the 2004 Games, plans were hatched. Athens went into a building frenzy to […]
As we drove towards the Uzbekistan border from Mary in 2018 we spotted this train heading in the same direction. We could even have been in it but our guide had told us it may not run as trains are often subject to cancellation at short notice. As we were on a tight schedule we […]
Mention Japanese trains and most people will immediately think of high speed Shinkansen/bullet trains. However there is also a vast network of suburban trains, slower inter-city versions & street cars throughout the nation. We stayed at Narita Town before our flight home and I captured the airport train below framed by vivid cherry blossom this […]
Chocolate Production in Cuba “It takes ten large cocoa pods to make a lump of chocolate the size of a cannonball,” so said the nice lady with her English speaking interpreter, demonstrating the art of chocolate making at Arquimides Borges in the countryside just outside Baracoa in Eastern Cuba. This wasn’t Hollywood ‘Chocolat’ style sickly-sweet chocolate […]
Trinidad de Cuba There is another Trinidad in the Caribbean – the subject of my post is the Cuban city situated on the South East coast. Trinidad de Cuba is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a more colourful place is hard to find. Its cobbled streets are awash with bright American classic cars, its […]
Once more we attended the jazz, soul & blues festival at Glynde Place in Sussex, as usual held across the first weekend in July. It was good but lacked the wow moments of previous years provided by the likes of Chick Corea, Snarky Puppy or Mica Millar. The Music The organisers have followed a formula […]
Cuban Trains I wanted to take a scheduled train in Cuba, but as they were said to be extremely unreliable our itinerary with G Adventures did not include one. Travelling by train from Havana to Santiago rather than flying as we did would have been my idea of fun, but at just under nine hours […]
Cuba’s got rhythm. Being a race made up of African, Spanish, Latin American, Cajun & indigenous Caribbean blood, that is hardly surprising. Think reggae meets flamenco meets jazz meets gospel meets tribal meets Latin and you start to get the picture. Modern Cuba has its roots mixed in with the Spanish colonialists and the slaves […]
Back in 2010 I took an overnight train from Bangkok in Laos. We crossed the Peace & Fruendship Bridge between Thailand and Laos before alighting in a new country. From there it was a 30-minute tuk tuk ride into Vientiane.
