Poland: Krakow

🇵🇱 🇵🇱 🇵🇱 This is a very short visit to Krakow on my way to Slovakia. Arrived in Krakow late night on Wednesday 1st March. Public transport was not avaialble at that time , so I asked the hotel to arrange a pick up. I stayed in Globtroter guest house. The stuff was very nice and waited for me to arrive. Next morning I roamed around Krakow. Rynek Glowny, the largest medieval market square in Europe, dazzles with its medieval, Renaissance and baroque architecture. When warm weather heralds the arrival of café…

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Aberdeen, Shetland and Inverness

Shetland is an island archipelago between UK and Faroe island in Norway. There is a cluster of 100 islands only 16 of which are populated.  So it was a long journey from mainland UK. Day 1: London - Abardeen This was long day started at morning in Hemel Hempstead. We had to travel all the way Kings Cross and then take the train Abardeen. It`s one of the longest train journey in UK ( longest one is  Aberdeen to Penzance) of more than 7 hour . We reached Abardeen in late afternoon…

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Isle of Wight

So finally its time for a relaxing family holiday. Getting to Isle of White is starightforward . There are mainly three Ferries from UK mainland, Southhampton - East Cowes, Portsmouth - Fishbourne and Lymington - Yarmouth. We took train to Southhampton and then the Ferry to East Cowes. From East Cowes we took bus to Sandown beach . The place we were staying is inside a holiday park and pretty close to beach .   We were staying there for 3 nights. I went for an afternoon stroll in and around the…

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Annapurna base camp

🇳🇵 🇳🇵 🇳🇵 Trekking in Nepal was always a dream . Nepal is a tiny country, which has 8 out of 14 8000M peaks in the world. However I was not considering trekking in Nepal.  My original plane was to travel in India and spend some days in Uttarakhand / Himachal , but my cheap return ticket from LOT air has been cancelled and tickets to India were very costly. So I bought a ticket to Kathmandu instead. Annapurna base camp trek is probably the only trek with all the glamour and…

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Spain : Andalusia region – Granada

🇪🇸 🇪🇸 🇪🇸 Seville to Granada is 3 and half hours by train. I reached Granada late afternoon. Granada is in the foothills of Sierra Nevada mountains and famous for its Moorish influenced architecture. Weather was not great on first day , it was cloudy and misty in the morning . I wanted to trek Beas De Granada but finally abandoned it due to bad weather and lack of GPS waypoints. So I travelled up to Beas De Granada village but then returned back. Latter I visited Palacio de la Madraza, Royal…

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Hiking in northern Albania

🇦🇱 🇦🇱 🇦🇱 Albania is a diverse country . While southern part has sunny  coast lines, north Albania has vistas liberally scattered with deep river valleys, alpine lakes and national parks, the towering limestone gorges of the Accursed Mountains, or Albanian Alps. Day 1 I reached Tirana airport in the morning. The Shuttle from Airport took me to my hotel which is not very far from the Citi centre . Spent the rest of the walking around city. Day 2 In the morning again I roamed around . I tried Byrek (Traditional…

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Abu Dhabi in 3 days

🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪 Visiting Abu Dhabi was not in cards but the offer from Etihad was tempting , they were offering free stay for 2 nights  in 5 star hotel. I was on my way to India anyway, so it was a good deal. I arrived at the airport around mid day . Immigration barrier was mostly automated and getting a local SIM in airport was easy. I took a bus from airport to now defunct city terminal and then took a cab to my hotel. Day 1 Today I reached the hotel and…

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Slovenia : Hiking around Kranjska Gora

🇸🇮 🇸🇮 🇸🇮 Sept 2020. Lot of countries in Europe were either in lockdown mode or not encouraging foreign travellers . However in Italy first wave had just receded and Slovenia was still open for UK residents. Amid those uncertainties I decided to travel in Slovenia . My flight was in the morning to Venice. Robin who was travelling in a campervan picked me up from airport. It was about 5 hour drive to hotel špik at Kranjska Gora. We spent afternoon walking nearby around the hotel and with a great dinner…

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Eridge Circular – ancient Rock formations and Manor Houses

🇬🇧 🇬🇧 🇬🇧   We started off in the idyllic village of Eridge, nestled in the northern borderlands of East Sussex next to Kent. Following the picturesque views across the Kent and Sussex countryside. Our trail revealed and abundance of lush countryside demonstrating why Kent is known as the Garden of England. Bright and open woodlands including Broadwater forest are home to abundant wildlife. We then hiked to the impressive Harrison’s rocks - a collection of rock outcrops that date back about 135 million years but that owe their dramatic and striking…

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Eden Valley – Garden of England. Ancient woodlands and medieval landscapes

🇬🇧 🇬🇧 🇬🇧 We started off in Tonbridge village, with its idyllic manors and picture postcard castle. As we reach Haysden Country Park, our hike opens up to the breath-taking greens across parkland, woodlands, open fields and low hills. The High Weald is considered to be one of the best surviving medieval landscapes in Northern Europe. The area boasts the highest proportion of ancient woodland in the country and is one of the most densely wooded landscapes in Britain. Following a sunken lane, we start treading in the steps of Saxon drovers.…

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