Edinburgh
My introduction to Edinburgh was inauspicious, to say the least. Arriving at our Edinburgh Hotel after a three hour drive from the highlands, my friend Sue and I were greeted by a note blu-tacked to the door reading, HAD AN EMERGENCY. CHECK-IN AFTER 8.30PM. LEFT...
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Lorna and I hopped off the train at Gare du Nord Station in Paris only to realise we had to catch another couple of trains if we were ever going to be out of the below-freezing conditions and safely in our relatively cheap hotelroom in Montmartre. For those of you...
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Bruges
It’s impossible to see a white christmas in Australia. But we still get a glimpse into what it’s like because of American and English movies. Where people hug each other wrapped in big-jackets and scarves while snow floats down from the night sky and...
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Amsterdam
There’s only two reasons you’re an Australian and going to Amsterdam. A) You’ve been offered a job. B) You want to party and you’re curious. Lorna and I were not offered a job. Lorna had been before but didn’t want to tell me too much...
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Istanbul
The overnight-bus from Goreme to Istanbul was even more brutal than we could have imagined. Sheer hell. Not only did the driver insist on cranking the heat, but the bus broke down and we had to make a swap in the middle of the night. It was about two-degrees outside....
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Wadi Rum
Frankly, I’m surprised Lorna and I lived to write about Wadi Rum. Something seriously needs to be done about the quality of driving and enforcement of the driving rules in Jordan. And don’t even get me started on Egypt, because they’re way-worse. And...
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Petra
Finally, after talking our heads off about it for weeks, months before we even left for our ten-month world adventure… Lorna and I sat in a mini-van, driving along the Kings Highway in Jordan with a very exciting destination in mind… Petra. We made a few...
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Mt Nebo, Dead Sea, Madaba, Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan, Hammamat Ma’in Hot Springs
Madaba should be your next stop after Amman on your way to Petra and the hotel you should check into is called the Mariam Hotel. It’s about a ten-minute walk to the town center where you can grab a bite to eat. There’s free wi-fi and the pool area is...
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Amman
Let’s face it, the main reason you’re in Amman, Jordan’s capital, is because you’re on your way to experience the magic of the once-lost-but-now-found ancient city of Petra. You should also want to visit Mt Nebo where, according the bible,...
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Luxor
If you say you’ve visited Luxor to an American, chances are they’ll reply, “Oh no, we didn’t stay at the Luxor in Las Vegas, we stayed at the Palms!” But they wouldn’t be too far off, because, the Palms is way better than the black...
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Luxor
If you say you’ve visited Luxor to an American, chances are they’ll reply, “Oh no, we didn’t stay at the Luxor in Las Vegas, we stayed at the Palms!” But they wouldn’t be too far off, because, the Palms is way better than the black...
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Aswan
We started our Egyptian adventure off in Cairo and after visiting the Pyramids of Giza, The Sphinx and the Egyptian Museum, we had a quick rest at the hotel before piling onto a train bound for Aswan. Aswan exists on the east-bank of the Nile and is generally the...
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Cairo
When deciding on a travel destination, it’s easy to choose somewhere in Europe or America. If you really want to push your character to its next level, try visiting the Middle-East! I’ve got to take credit, for the first time on our trip, and mention that...
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Folegandros
Folegandros is a tiny Greek Island about nine kilometers in size and less than an hour’s ferry-ride from Santorini. With that in mind, you shouldn’t be visiting the island with a party mentality, but rather a relaxing and introspective mood. That being...
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Santorini
After the disappointment of missing out on the Samaria Gorge in Crete, (the only negative thing we’ve experienced for being out-of-season), we were looking forward to seeing the most iconic Greek Island . . . Santorini. First up I got majorly ripped-off on the ferry...
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Crete
My wife Mel and I hiked the Samaria Gorge in south-western Crete at the end of summer in 2009. The Gorge is a tough but enjoyable 16km trek through ever-changing terrain from the mountaintops to the seashore at Agia Roumeli. It should be an essential part of any Greek...
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Athens
Lorna and I were looking forward to Athens. Especially since we’d had to first catch a train from Montenegro to Belgrade in Serbia, then a flight from Belgrade to Athens. The flight was a weird one though. As we were preparing to land, with the landing-gear...
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Istanbul
The overnight-bus from Goreme to Istanbul was even more brutal than we could have imagined. Sheer hell. Not only did the driver insist on cranking the heat, but the bus broke down and we had to make a swap in the middle of the night. It was about two-degrees outside....
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Gallipoli
From Istanbul in the tourist area of Sultanahmat, Turkey, Lorna and I used a company called New Deal Travel Agency to book our tour of Gallipoli. They also arranged a stay at a nice budget hotel called Serenity Hotel (where you can also access the internet and...
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Goreme
I write this article on a plane bound for Egypt after having spent 18 days in Turkey. Although I have a few more articles to write about this surprisingly magical country, I can tell you right now… Goreme is going to be hard to beat. As with most of Turkey,...
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Olympos
I’ve got to say, straight-up, that I would never have thought to visit Turkey if Lorna hadn’t suggested it. Even then, I said I wasn’t all-that interested but would go if she did all the research and planning. She did just that and I will forever be...
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