Paphos, Cyprus

I have visited Paphos three times, now I am not usually one for going back to the same place twice, but a good friend of mine has an apartment which allows me a cheap and cheerful break in the sunshine. I tend to go out of season when flights are ridiculously low and I get to experience warm sunny weather before we either start or lose our summer.

This year Paphos has been named Culture Capital of the year. So there has been a lot of work involved, mainly in the Old Town where most of the roads have been dug up and new pavements have been replaced. The town is very quiet and slightly eerie but I can imagine by the time the summer arrives it will bring with it a great bustling and thriving atmosphere. 

The apartment I stay in is located in the Old Town where it is nice to stay away from the more touristy harbour, and there are plenty of lovely restaurants within walking distance. My favourite bar/restaurant is the wonderful Muse Bar. A trendy type modern bar with stunning views, a fantastic atmosphere and an extensive menu. The portions are huge and the cocktails are delicious. If you do prefer to be more into the harbour scene, you can catch the most wonderful sunsets, this is worth a trip on it’s own.

If you want to explore further afield and visit a lot more of what the island has to offer I think renting a car would be a really good option. The prices are reasonable and gives you the flexibility to do your own thing. However there are plenty of buses that can take you around that are all cheap and reliable. 

Paphos has a couple of great archaelogical parks to visit, so if you are looking for some culture as well as topping up your tan, I would highly recommend The Tombs of the Kings and The Archeological site situated down by the harbour. During the springtime these are both covered in the most beautiful flowers, including stunning red popppies. 

Here is a collection of my photo’s from my recent visit in March, where the weather certainly didn’t disappoint. 

India Part 8 (Jodphur)

We didn’t really do much on our only night in Udaipur as we were so shattered from our horrendous couch journey, we had no energy to leave our room and once more we had an early start the next morning. I really could have had a day around the pool if I’m honest with you, but we had to keep to schedule, plus I was very much looking forward to going to Jodphur and visiting the blue city, so i could take photo’s like the ones I had saved on pinterest and admired on instagram.

Jodhpur was one of the locations where we actually treated ourselves to a stay in a 5 star hotel. It felt so luxurious and miles away from sleeping on that bus ride. The first thing I did was run to the balcony and see the fabulous pool which we were finally going to lay by within the next few minutes. I could not wait. I know this isn’t the typical traveller scenario but I was so grateful at that point for some rest and relaxation and some cheeky sunbathing.

Later on in the afternoon we made it our mission to find the blue city before sunset. It was a struggle to find the energy and leave the pool area but it proved to be definitely worth it. It took us a while to find it as we thought every house and building would be painted and they would all be grouped in one area. But mostly they were sporadic. We walked up little streets which were sweet and rustic, dogs barking and sleeping everywhere, we met locals and took thousands of photographs. It was really a wonderful experience. One boy who was probably about fifteen, invited us back to his house to meet his family. They were so endearing and welcoming. The young boy proudly showed us his foreign currency collection and talked about his school and his ambitions. I was really impressed by how bright and smart he was.

After exploring the blue city and riding around on crazy fast tuk tuks we stayed at our hotel and watched a puppet show and a funny magician who performed for just the 4 of us. 

The next few days, just 3 of us ( the other was, sadly, very sick) ventured out and ticked a few more of the tourist spots off our list. These included The Mehrangarh Fort, one of the largest forts in India, Umaid Bhawan Palace, a luxury grand palace and hotel, and Jaswant Thada, a centoph in Jodhpur built in 1899. 

 

 

India Part 7 (Udaipur)

After the Taj Mahal, where we spent the whole morning taking in every magical moment we headed back to our hotel, for some much needed relaxation and sunbathing by the pool. It was so nice to finally do nothing.

 That evening we had to catch our train to Udaipur. However, when we got to the station we discovered once again that the protests hadn’t stopped and all the trains were still all cancelled. We really were truly stuck, as Udaipur was an 11 hour train ride away we had no idea how we were going to get there. After exploring all options and some well sort after advice from the locals, our best bet was to catch the bus. Little did we know this bus would take well over 16 hours to reach our destination. The bus was dirty, dusty and fully cramped with people and luggage laying practically anyway there was a space.There were literally people sleeping on the floor so everyone had to step on them to get past.There was no toilet facilities either, so it was legs crossed all the way. Three of us had a sleeper bed to share and the other who was suffering from the horrid delhi belly was sat squashed with a family on another sleeper bed. Luckily a very kind man looked after her and kept her company.At first we laughed about it and amused ourselves for part of the journey, but the second half proved to be a lot more arduous as tiredness and hungar set in. It felt like we were on that bus for a week it simply took forever. 

When we did eventually arrive we were exhausted, filthy and bedraggled. It was still quite early in the morning and we only had one day in Udaipur, which was probably one of our biggest regrets as not only were we extremley fatigued but Udaipur was possibly one of the most beautiful places I had ever been. It almost felt like we were in the mediterranean, our hotel over looking the Lake Pichola, which resembled the beautiful lakes of Italy. It was such a welcome surprise and one place I really would like to go back and re-explore properly.

With the remaining hours we visited the City Palace and The Jagdish Temple and took in the film location of the bond film Octopussy. 

 

India part 5 (Agra)

So our next destination, which we were enourmously excited about, was to Agra. We were finally off to see the Taj Mahal. Eeeeekkkkk!!!!

Unfortunately, our trip didn’t get off to a good start when we were told there was news of protests throughout Rajasthan resulting in all the trains being cancelled. After much waiting around and debate the easier option was to take a taxi there. This actually ended being quite fun, well despite the moody driver who hated us.The drive though allowed us to see monkeys which climbed all over the car, and beautiful painted elephants just casually being rode down the street. It was spectatular. As we had decided that the next day would be dedicated to visiting the Taj Mahal, we would spend the afternoon visiting a few other tourist spots. These included the Agra Fort, a historical fort built in the 16th Century, also known as The Red Fort due to the red sandstone with which it is built. Here we were able to glimpse our first sighting of the Taj Mahal in the distance. We also visited Tomb of i’timād-ud-daulah which is a mughal mausoleum often described as ‘jewel-box’, it reminded me of a mini Taj, but I later read it is often regarded as a draft of the Taj Mahal. Then to finish the day just as the sun was setting and you get that nice warm glow on everything, we went to Mehtab Bagh, which were the gardens overlooking the Taj Mahal and where we got to see the back view of it.It was such a breathtaking moment. It was peaceful there and as there were hardly any tourists around at that time of day it really was a special moment for the four of us to enjoy. We had finally reached our destination.

India part 4 (More Delhi)

The next day we decided to go to the Sikh Temple, Gurudwara Bangla Sahib. This is the biggest Sikh place of worship in New Delhi. 

Here, again, we were asked to remove our shoes and were given bright yellow headscarfs to wear. We found it very funny that the first person we had an encounter with was our tour guide from yesterday. We couldn’t stop laughing as he had asked us if he could take us there himself but we had politely refused as we wanted to do the rest of a tour by ourselves. How bizarre that of all the people living in this over crowded city we would bump into him again.

Sikh temples are called Gurdwara’s, meaning “Doorway to God” Unfortunately inside the temple photographs are forbidden but we took some outside and met some wonderful people who wanted to have their photo taken with us, which was very sweet and made us feel like movie stars. 

Everyday in Sikh temples, volunteers and workers cook free vegetarian meals for anyone who wants a meal, regardless of class, religion or background. It was such a beautiful place, welcoming, friendly and extremely calming. We left feeling refreshed and ready to face the noise and bustle from the streets once more. 

The rest of my photos are just a random selection of our final day in Delhi.

 

India part 3 (Delhi contd)

The rest of our afternoon was ours to do as we chose. Our tour guide was sweet but we had a hard time understanding him and was actually pleased we could just go for a good old roam and not be such tourists. We headed out the hotel and just walked, we were actually just a stones throw from Delhi train station which then lead us to the main bazaar at the entrance of the Pahargani area. Here there were shops and market stalls selling everything from clothes and jewellery to fruit and veg. It was so busy, noisy and chaotic and being careful not to get run over by one of the many tuk tuks or carts being led by cows. But it was simply fantastic, this was right up my street. Just walking and exploring with no plan and getting lost in a completely different world. I think this set of photos are probably my favourite from my whole trip.

India Part Two (Delhi)

We arrived in Delhi with so much excitement and were welcomed almost immediately from stepping off the plane. Even the toilet attendents were friendly. Haha. Andrew had bought all these silly marigold garlands from amazon which he made us wear but they made many people smile and want to help and talk to us. 

Once we were through passport control and baggage reclaim we were then hit with the reality of the real India. Our taxi ducked and dived through the craziest traffic I think I have ever witnessed, it was fast and furious, noisy and chaotic. 3 lanes of traffic became 6 lanes and the sound of a thousand car horns rang through our ears definitely waking us up from any jet lag we might still have. It was absolutely brilliant though. God I felt alive and ready to conquer this insane travel experience I had awaiting for me over the next two weeks. We arrived at our little hotel quite late so we ordered room service, I am sorry to say I am part of the small percentage of brits that dislikes Indian food and therefore ordered chinese, which was extremely tasty, and also eventually turned out to work in my favour as I was the only one who didn’t get the dreaded delhi belly. 

The following morning we were up nice and early as we were to meet our tour guide for the first part of the day. Our first stop of the day was the Jama Masjid, one of the largest mosques in India, built in 1644-1656 costing 1 million rupees. With a mixture of Islamic arcitecture and serene surroundings it was some what calming and peaceful, even though we were in the heart of such a hectic city.

Here we were made to take off our shoes and us ladies given a floor length robe to wear, even though I thought we were modestly dressed, it seemed it was required of us. 

Our next three stops on our tour included Humayun’s Tomb, the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun, built in 1570 by a persian architect. Which actually looked like a very luxurious palace. Qutb Minar, the tallest brick minaret in the world, standing at 73 metres high and built in the 13th century, and India Gate, a 42m high war memorial which almost looked like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

India 2016 Part 1 (Oman stopover)

Back in february this year I was extremely lucky to have been given the chance to go to India. Well basically it was another one of those, you’re coming it’s booked moments. Which I suppose I should be grateful I have friends who do this, but I swear they will end up bankrupting me one day. 

It was fantastic to be able to escape part of the UK winter and explore some beautiful winter sun. On route we had a 24 hour stopover in Muscat, Oman. First impressions were how surprised I was how busy the roads were. We were stuck in thick heavy traffic for most of our journey to our hotel and the jerky movements from our taxi driver meant I arrived with extreme car sickness. This was a shame as I missed out on the luxury buffet breakfast. Despite my nausea I did have time to notice how clean and pretty the city was and how most of the buildings were white and low rise, not a skyscraper in sight. The streets were also lined with gorgeous colourful flowers, which after a long winter back home was refreshing and lovely to see. To be honest we didn’t really have much time to explore as we also wanted a quick 2 hours by the pool just to feel some sun on our bones and defrost from the cold back home. After our quick sunbathing session we headed into town where our taxi driver gave us a quick tour of the city. It was actually too quick to take anything in but nevertheless gave us a little taster. 

Gambia 2015

Last year I was luckily enough to visit Gambia on the west coast of Africa. Going in february it was the perfect winter sun getaway.
After leaving a rather chilly London and a quick 6 hour flight, I stepped off the plane to a sunny and blissful temperature of 35 degrees.
Gambia is a slight culture shock, however it is colourful, vibrant, exciting,  friendly and most of all exotic.
I never thought this was somewhere I would go but to be honest I never really had a choice, as one of my best friends booked it and said “you’re coming” and I am so glad he did.
Here is a selection of photos that sums up my trip.

Tower Of London and the Poppies.

At the weekend a friend and I went to see the ceramic poppies that were installed all around the Tower Of London to commemorate 100 years since the first day of the nation’s involvement in the First World War. They continue to be added to this day, until there are 888,246 ceramic poppies each representing a British or colonial military fatality during the war. They were simply breath taking.