Vietnamese Whirl Part 4 – Escape to the Country Cat Ba and Tam Coc, Vietnam – November 2025 Extolled as being one of the best kept secrets of Northern Vietnam, Cat Ba Island lies just south of the more famous Halong Bay. We had the luxury of time during our stay in Hanoi, and wanting …
Vietnamese Whirl Part 3 – City Life – Hanoi Hubbub Hanoi, Vietnam – November 2025 In another life, and if I were 30 years younger, I could see myself living and working remotely here in Hanoi. Despite the frenzied traffic and the occasionally heavy smog, this place has a vibrancy to it that I loved…and …
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Vietnamese Whirl Part 2 – Halong the Bay Halong Bay, Vietnam – November 2025 One of the must-sees in North East Vietnam has to be the UNESCO listed Halong Bay and photos of its towering limestone casts and emerald waters placed it firmly on my bucket list. Unfortunately, like many beauty spots, it was becoming …
Vietnamese Whirl Part 1– Ahoy Hanoi! Hanoi, Vietnam – November 2025 Narrowly avoiding Typhoon Kalmaegi by a matter of days, we felt our luck was in, as we landed in a balmy, hazy and slightly chaotic Hanoi. We’d chosen to return to the Far East for our winter sojourn this year and after a quick …
Aztec Trek – Part 15 – Marking the Date – In the Sunshine State Florida – February 2025 As it was Ian’s BIG day the following week (yes, the 40th anniversary of his 20th birthday!), I suggested as a special treat that I take him to one of his favourite haunts, Orlando. As avid adrenalin …
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Aztec Trek – Part 14 – (Jude) Law and Disorder in New Orleans New Orleans, Louisiana February 2025 As we “touched down” at our next stop – the appropriately named Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans, we noticed an air of anticipation. On every billboard were signs signalling the coming of “the superb owl”. …
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Axtec Trek Part 13 – From “Heaven” to “Hell” Biosphere Sian Ka’an and Isla Holbox, Mexico – February 2025 The World Heritage site of Sian Ka’an (from the Yuatec Mayan language, meaning ‘gate of heaven’) is home to a large variety of flora and fauna and it certainly looked “heavenly” in the photos I’d seen. It’s …
Aztec Trek Part 12 – La Isla Bonita Caye Caulker, Belize January 2025 On my previous visit to Caye Caulker, a small coral island in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Belize, I was greeted by a huge stingray floating by the pier, and a nice young man who carried my hefty backpack along …
Aztec Trek Part 11 – Ain’t No Sunshine! Bacalar and Chetumal, Mexico – January 2025 Put off by the party crowds at the popular resorts along the Gulf of Mexico, such as Cancun and Tulum, we were attracted by photos of the stunning inland lagoon of Bacalar. Hailed as the “next Tulum”, its clear blue …
Aztec Trek Part 10 – Comparing Ce-notes Mérida & Valladolid, Mexico – January 2024 A long day of travel was made even more stressful by roadworks, heavy rain and landslides causing our bus to crawl along the winding road back to Oaxaca. What should have been a leisurely transfer from the bus station to the …
