Mark Baker - Year 39Examples of kindness
This morning I had a knock at the door and it was the postman. He returned my documentation and passport, but almost as importantly my passport contained the visas for Russia and China! I can now travel to my first destination of St Petersburg on the 10th of July. The plan is coming together, then […]
Travelling alone and not really liking Selfie Sticks, a feeling which was increased on my recent trip to London when walking across Westminster Bridge, I had to decide on another solution. I would like to introduce you to ‘Happy Hippo’. I like Hippos because they make me laugh, and yawn ;-). I particularly like this Hippo […]
With my two day pass for the hermitage, I gained access to the Hermitage General Staff Building too. It was an amazing building on the inside (click image above to open gallery) with a balanced mix of modern and traditional. The pictures on display were amazing . There were lots of Monet’s, Renoirs, Van Gough’s […]
Good old ‘Lonely Planet’ pointed me in the direction of this most unique of markets. I was looking through the top 10 things to do in Moscow. I have now done most of them, so it was now down to visiting this Market or having a man hit me with birch branches called a ‘Banya’ […]
I had no real plans to visit the Ballet whilst in Moscow, however when Ali, a new person in my hostel room said he had a ticket to go yesterday evening, I thought why not go too! So whilst walking back from the english bookshops, I need a paperback book for the train in case my […]
Leaving Moscow seems a very long time ago. 5 days on train with only a few 15-30 minutes stops each day can do that I guess. Add in to the equation that the train has no WIFI for passengers, there is internet on the train but only for the conductors, and you have a very […]
Having arrived in Ulan Bator at 6:15 in the morning and not being able to check in until 2pm. I though I would explore a little to get me bearings. Using a fantastic app called “Ulmon” (Thank you Paul for showing me this) which allows you to download maps of your destination when you have […]
Today I decided to explore, but before I did ask the owner of the the hotel for some tips. He suggested the Gandantegchenling Monastery, The Mongolian Natural History Museum and Bogd Khaan’s Palace Museum. This worked for me because I needed to pick up my Beijing Train ticket from near where the The Mongolian Natural History Museum. […]
This 29 hour trip from Ulan Bator to Beijing had much more variation than the 4 night journey from Moscow to Ulan Bator. The Scenery changed more often, as too did the wheels on the train as you can see from the photos above. The width of the railway track differ between Mongolia and China by only 10cm […]
Waking at 6am I decided to, once again, explore the town early. I am really pleased I did. I got to experience something I would never have seen had I not been up early. I had been walking from the hostel for 20 minutes when I heard drums and bugles. I was expecting to walk around […]
I have been looking forward to exploring the Haeundae beach for a few days now and although I preferred the one at Gwangalli, I still liked the area especially the cliffside walk and the views. I have noticed the kindness of the Korean, they could not be more helpful, smiley and kind. If a person […]
Finding a place to stay in Busan on booking.com was easy because the Welcome Busan Hostel had a 9.1 rating which is very high. I can understand why, the owner is friendly and helpful as to are the other members of staff. The facility is quite new, very clean and well maintained. It is located […]
Getting to the Gwanhga bus terminal on the 3000 bus from Sinchon took around 2 hours, 30 minutes longer than I had anticipated after reading an online article. Either way it was quite simple, except for working out how to pay. It turns out I needed to, at the start and end of journey, swipe […]
My biding memories of Korea will always be staying with Master Kim, The Temple Stay, the food with oval metal chopsticks and the modern architecture. My final night in Korea was spent at the zzzip guesthouse which I have to say is one the best I have stayed in. The Korean couple that own it, […]
I have spent the last few days in Manila and an interesting stay it has been too. With the APEC conference and world leaders with in a few miles of my hotel the main roads were closed off, making for an unusually very quiet city. I have explored the Bay area, The National Shrine of […]
I had a stop over in Hamilton on my way back to Toronto from Niagra Falls. Hamilton is lovely little city with quirky art galleries and shop and I am really please my friend James suggested I pay it a visit. My first night as I explored the city I decided to get a falafel […]