Tag Archives for blogsherpa
“I don’t know where that is,” says the guy, poring over the address I’ve hand-copied. “Just walk.” “Walk?!” I say. I mean, I know we’re walking distance from Cihangir, but… “But I don’t know where it is. I’ll take a taxi.” “The taxi driver won’t know it, either,” he says. “Yeah,” I say, trying to [...]
Getting Istanbul All Wrong – Again!
Our cunning flat plans don’t go entirely, ahem, to plan – there are any number of reasons why a flat might appear as available on the internet and not be, not least among them that the owner has forgotten to update its availability and/or gone on holiday – and we spend our first night in [...]
Cappadocia: It’s a Wrap…
We leave Cappadocia with, as the cliché has it, heavy hearts. But also some excitement. Yes, even with a hellish overnight bus journey ahead of us. Because our next stop is Istanbul, the capital of world empires for around 1500 years, a city bigger than New York or London, and somewhere we pretty much fell [...]
A Bit of Green Without The Greenwash
Out of my ever-expanding portfolio of “THINGS ON THE INTERNET THAT MAKE ME REALLY SHOUTY AND CAPS LOCKY”, my current number one has to be greenwash. Because, oh boy, there’s a lot of it about. Especially in the blogosphere. But also in resort holidays and, umm, adventure holidays packaged as ecotourism. Which is why I [...]
Göreme, Cappadocia — Definitely Worth It
It’s around 6am when we get into Göreme, Cappadocia, and I have that baleful air that’s only acquired after a long and painful overnight bus journey. But, as I open my eyes for probably the hundredth time that night and try, yet again, to shrug the ache out of my back and shoulders, I hear [...]
A Spotter’s Guide to a Turkish Waterpark
Who’dathunkit? Turkey has some seriously amazing waterparks. Yet they also have some, ahem, unique features… Here’s a handy, cut-out-and-keep spotter’s guide. 1: The Putin-Alike Should you have an aversion to busload upon busload of Russian package tourists, then Turkey’s Aegean coast is (whisper it!) not for you. At least, not during summer, where, after stiff [...]
“Hey. Let me take that for you,” a voice comes from behind me. We live our lives, Zac and I, out of a backpack each – with a camera bag and tote bag for daytimes/flights/bus journeys – and, FUNNILY ENOUGH, my pack always ends up being the one with all the really heavy stuff in. [...]
How To Entertain A Ruined-Out Child #1
After Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, it would be fair to say that my spawn is a little ruined-out. The Middle East does that to you, you see. In the same way that after a few months in South-East Asia, you’re pretty much over wats, and approaching max tolerance for jungle and fascinating tribal peoples, or [...]
A Very Small Atheist Does the Holy Land
“You know, I think the least workable argument for the existence of God is the ontological argument,” spouts my spawn from the back seat. (He has abandoned all the kids’ books on various religions I bought him in favour of The God Delusion, which he borrowed from his grandparents, and has now read several times.) [...]
Welcome to Israel!
Baggy of eye and saggy of face, I drag myself out of bed, still feeling the impact of farewell drinks the night before, and gear myself to begin the godawful process that is getting my spawn out of bed, and packing. Our possessions seem to have multiplied, like replicating amoebas, into every nook and cranny [...]
