Scotland Part 2 and it's still raining

It was a short trip but a happy one.  We took an Air bnb in Edinburgh to be close to the visa office, good food and friends.  We even had a friend from the US came to visit with us.  And it rained and rained and rained.

We spotted the elusive Deep Fried Mars Bar, I don't personally know anyone whose eaten this but it's certainly available for the brave or foolish who want to give it a try:

Scottish optimism was very evident in the tables set on the streets outside restaurants, cafes and bars.  Some of the popularity of this comes from a complete ban on smoking inside and some from an inbuilt aspect of the Scottish character that believes, no matter how crap the weather, that it'll brighten up soon.  It seldom does:

There were big doses of nostalgia. It's been ten years since we left Scotland with only two brief visits back.  Greyfriars Bobby is one of the icons of Edinburgh, a dog so loyal to his owner that, after the master's death, he set up a vigil on his grave in Greyfriars Churchyard.  You can see his own dog memorial stone inside the churchyard and his nose gets worn away by visitors rubbing it for, well, whatever reason they rub it.  He's on nose number two now:

We came back loaded with haggis, mustard, oatcakes and few other delicious bits and pieces.  The oatcakes and English mustard are long gone and the haggis is getting doled out very sparingly in the form of an IndoScottish fusion which pays tribute to both countries enjoyment of a deep fried snack. Haggis Pakora:

Scottish Summertime

We took a very rare visit to the homeland this summer.  Leaving just as the monsoon broke over Mumbai and arriving in Scotland on a day so hot and still that we were able to sit comfortably in pavement cafes and marvel at the weather.

It wasn't to last, every day since has been cold, or wet, and more often cold and wet. However, it does make for a lot of fresh looking greenery.

The ducks like it.

But really, summer?

3:30 pm, June, Princes Street, Edinburgh

It's been great catching up with people we haven't seen for years and stuffing ourselves with food we can't get in India but I'm looking forward to getting back to warm rain and not having to dress in multiple layers to cope with the weather.

Indonesian postcards

I'm in Indonesia, one of those places I have called "home" as I spent my High School days here.  It certainly has a comfortable feel about it as so much is familiar.  I'm able to get by in rusty and grammatically simplistic Indonesian, it makes me ashamed of how little Hindi I speak - about a dozen phrases and two cuss words.

However I feel I'm missing out on the usual tourist pictures, yesterday I saw a group of Dutch tourist clicking away merrily at a becak - a cycle rickshaw and I thought "why, it's just a becak?" However, with apologies for  not showing the usual sights - so far not even a paddy field or a water buffalo although I've seen plenty of them, a few pictures from my holiday in Indonesia.  Things you can buy:

You could buy an owl in the bird market

 and caterpillars, presumably to feed to birds.

 

You might fancy a painted, live, hermit crab as a pet.  I had no idea that this was a thing until I googled it, I can't imagine that a hermit crab makes any more interesting a pet if it happens to be spray painted with an angry bird or a hello kitty.

You can buy bubbles in the park, I nearly did that.

You can buy fruit everywhere.

Or a ticket on a twelve hour bus ride to Jakarta complete with live karaoke and a dedicated smoking area.

I have not bought any of the above.  as I've mentioned before I am not a good shopper.

The end of an era?

For the last two years me and the man have been happily trundling down to Goa a few times a year for some fresh air and a recharge. 

We have a favourite beach.  It's not much to speak of really, just under three kilometers of clean sand, a few friendly cows and a few more friendly dogs. 

Accommodation on the beach is mainly huts.  Some are a little swankier than others, I've heard tell that some even have hot water.  There are restaurants dotted along the beach with very decent food and lovely cocktails to be had all for prices that would make a Mumbaiker choke with delighted surprise.

That's it though.  There are no beach hawkers, no fire twirlers, no dance parties and precious few sun loungers. There's a road that runs through the village which is pretty bumpy at one end and might entertain the thrill seekers.

It's one of the most relaxing and friendly places I have every stayed and one of the few I've returned to time and again.

However, I'm writing this with a little sadness.  Tripadvisor have just named it Number 1 Beach in India and Number 2 Beach in Asia.  Bugger! I sense change afoot.

If anyone knows of a similar spot please drop me a line.  I promise I'll keep the location a secret.

Beach time

Agonda Beach, South Goa, India


Simrose Shacks, quite upmarket beach huts with a lovely garden restaurant attached.

There's not a lot to do. Accommodation is very simple, mainly just huts. Seafood is served in shacks. There's minimum shopping or entertainment. The beach is quiet, barely a soul in sight. Take a pile of books and prepare to relax.

Bacuit Archipelago, Philippines

Following on from an earlier post here are some more pictures of the trip to Palawan. I'm taking a very close interest in the Philippines' weather patterns so I can plan a return trip.

The best meal we had during the entire trip.

Rock harvesting, part of the beach beautification project outside Four Seasons Resort (I don't think the other Four Seasons knows about this one)

Post lunch entertainment, watching the palm fish and bird bob in the light breeze.

A beach so lovely it barely seems real.

This is the same type of geographical feature seen in Halong bay, it might be even nicer in El Nido but I can only judge on that after I "do" Halong.

El Nido, Palawan, Philippines

We're just back from Palawan and Manila in the Philippines. I took far too many photographs to post here but just for a taster here are a few.

Day two of island touring in the Bacuit Archipelago, we saw a starfish, presumably dead but still pretty.

And a very alive hermit crab.

We were picked up from the front of our hotel, we had to walk back a fair bit at low tide but it was an unexpected luxury.

Meanwhile in El Nido town the local children indulge in the local equivalent of hanging around outside the corner shop.

Or chilling out, but check the hair, that quiff surely didn't get there by accident.

There are more, lots more, I know you'll be desperate to see them so will post more in the next day or two.

Badly dressed tourists Part 2

Faces on one dress and images of Ancient Egypt on the other, it almost makes you feel sorry for the girl in the plain black dress.



There they are again, the tourists in the non la, I'm not going to rant, just growl quietly, my reaction is tempered because the hat clearly isn't keeping him the slightest bit cool

Nha Trang again

I accompanied a class of students to Nha Trang for the annual school trip so there wasn't much time to enjoy myself and wander off for photo opportunities that weren't full of students making their special camera poses.

I unexpectedly liked the Oceanographic Institute with the exception of the too small enclosure they have for the seal. The specimen room was stunning, I expect places like this exist in every research establishment but doubt they are open to the public. Row upon row of pickled sealife of all types.



You can never have too much plankton in my book.



Vinpear Land, apart from the animal show mentioned in an earlier post, was fun. The major hit was the Pirate Ship alternatively dubbed "The Seasickness Machine", you can see why.



Also on Vinpearl I saw a particularly Vietnamese take on Snow White:



She was accompanied not only by the dwarfs but by a tribe of small bouncy animals:



There were a few moments of peace at Po Nagar towers





But mostly it was wiping off bird pooh, prying students out of cafes and headcounting, headcounting, headcounting. I think we all had a good time of different sorts.

Mui Ne for Christmas

We escaped the city for a few days and couldn't get ourselves organised in time to go anywhere outside Vietnam so Mui Ne provided the perfect answer for a couple of days doing very little.

Saw a couple of sunrises:


Ate a couple of fish and fish friends:


Drank a couple of beers at the latest incarnation of Hoa Vien Brewhouse:



Found a couple of ruby slippers on a yellow brick road:



Good beach, good fish, good beer. The flip flops didn't fit.

Phu Quoc

Phu Quoc. It's a Vietnamese island in the Gulf of Thailand just a few miles off the coast of Cambodia. It has clean beaches, warm waters, lovely scenery and incredible sunsets and you'd beter get yourself there now before the international airport the cruise ship docking facilities and the mega casino do.













A fifty minute flight from HCMC.