Old Fat Dirty – Bogota, Colombia

“Bogota has very colourful street life, as you can see. Unfortunately there are also many homeless people on the streets in the city. During the tour, homeless people may come and stand near our group. Don’t worry. They are just curious because we speak English. They will not do anything bad…”

Plastic Monks – Ayuthaya, Thailand

  Facing each other across the Chao Phraya River, in Ayuthaya, Thailand, two temples present a stark historical contrast. Wat Tha Ka Rong is a bustling modern complex, something between a strip mall and a church. A stone’s throw away is Wat Chaiwattanarm, a crumbling ruin dating from the early 17th century. (Top photo: what…

Saddle Sore – Angkor Wat, Cambodia

…There is a vertiginous weight about the structures.  Passing through the gates into the temple enclosure, struggling up the endless steep stairways, I am acutely aware of the intention of Angkor’s architects: impress the bollocks off people – make them feel very small… Me and J-man get on the slow train out of Bangkok.  Actually,…

Last Stop Lion Palace – Granada, Spain

…Europe is intense.  I like the cheese.   I like the noisy little cars.  I like the pastry, the architecture, the museums, the people, the fashion, the weather, the diversity, the pashing (it’s an Aussie word for what Parisians do), the colours, the countryside…  I’m not so keen on the dog shit situation… My time in…

Tarragona, Spain

…The area formerly housing the Roman circus was turned into a slaughterhouse, and the catacombs of the amphitheatre were gradually filled with rubbish by the city’s inhabitants, who used them as a convenient refuse dump… We wait a while for a ride out of Callafel, Spain.  Finally Nick offers to take us to Lleida. On…

Pope-Ville – Avignon, France

The city of Avignon was home to the Pope for a period in the middle ages.  The Papal Palace is built on an island between two large rivers. Tip for trampers:   there are excellent opportunities for camping discreetly on the small island west of the old city, only a few minutes walk from the…

Gold Mine – Brusson, Italy

  Guido picks us up in the Aosta Valley, in far north-west Italy.  Guido is 33, tall, lean and has a winning smile.  He is the sheriff of his small village. The name of Guido’s village is Brusson, which means “gold mine”, but all the gold ran out centuries ago. As we wind along the…

Super Hospitality – Mont-St-Michel, France

I feel like a pilgrim to a palace from Lord of the Rings. The island is completely covered in medieval stone structures, walled around with soaring battlements, and topped with a sky piercing spire adorned with a gilt statue like an angel. Sea birds circle the island, and here and there men are walking across the sand flats barefoot, with baskets, collecting shellfish…