Category Archives: Travel

Eastern Europe, Micro Travelling, Travel

No Radiation but a Sombre Historic Moment Nonetheless – Kiev (Part 2)

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Today should of been the day when we were gonna throw it back to Chernobyl, by now we should of somehow realised that nowt ever goes right for us, as despite having emailed the hostel 3 days in advance to book it for us (and the government require 3 days advance notice to sort out your documents etc) they didn’t reply until a day later when it was too late. Factoring in our as yet unresolved cash flow crisis this was probably for the best. So over a spot of breakfast and beers in the hostel we decided the only thing for it was to head into Maidan Square to soak up the aftermath of an historic event – how often is history happening right up close to you, like an onion?

Now being experts at the Kyiv Metro Location Unit, we jumped on the metro for the two stops to Maidan and headed up the infinite escalator, quite unsure as to what we would find at the top. The metro emerged slap bang in the middle of the protesters encampment – a desolated square, covered in khaki tents with fires on the go, banners with patriotic slogans and Ukrainian flags, huge barricades of debris, tyres and burned out vehicles, the charred remains once-grand international bank headquarters and literally MOUNTAINS of flowers and candles for the people killed during the most violent couple of days of the riots. Words can’t describe the atmosphere – it was very sombre and triumphant at the same time. Someone we met later that day summed the feeling up very well – “We have won our freedom, but the cost was very high.” Continue Reading

Eastern Europe, Micro Travelling, Travel

Helmets on Fire (Terraced House!), Street Drinking, Absinthe and Mini Giant Kiev Island Police Station – Kiev, Ukraine (Part One).

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We arrived at Kiev with the bouquet intact where we resisted the harassing offers of taxis into town (with the aid of our cunningly scribed hand dictionaries) and decided instead to make our own way on the little old rickety mini bus that took about an hour to get to the train station. From there, our hostel had given us directions of the various Metros we needed, so we (upon finally locating the underground station and having a quick beer next to it – after Lithuania’s non-street drinking/no kiosks with booze on the street corner, we were very relieved to find the streets packed with little shacks selling cheap booze for the thirsty traveler) we bought tokens for the metro and attempted to put what we thought were the tokens into the turnstile, only for it to spit them out and the security man shouted at us until we sussed out that we were actually putting our loose change into there instead of the plastic tokens. Michael Bayed that right up like! We then descended down into what seemed like the core of the earth on the massive escalators and pushed our way onto the packed Metro, trying to perfect our non-standing out, dour Eastern European demeanour of not smiling at anyone when making eye contact.
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Eastern Europe, Micro Travelling, Travel

Your Two Girls Become Comic Book Authors, A Reunion and Killer Hangover – Vilnius, Lithuania.

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You find us one week ago, on Susan’s birthday, stepping groggily off the luxury bus from Riga to Vilnius. Bedraggled and hideously hungover. Susan’s friend Laimonas met us at the bus station (with a lovely birthday bouquet for Susan, that is still with us on our travels!). He drove us to our hostel (which was fortunate as we would never have found it on our own), which was a very bizarre little place that seemed apart from us, to be occupied by lone male travellers, all of whom were wanting to stick their man parts in the little blonde receptionist who was git loving the attention and treated our arrival as a bit of an inconvenience breaking up their worship of her. Plus we had to take our shoes off, just to check in, and then put them back on again to walk back over the road to the building where our room was and it was a TILED FLIPPING FLOOR so what the fup damage would shoes do? And we didn’t get our welcome beers!!! 
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Eastern Europe, Micro Travelling, Travel

No Latvian Anthea, NO!!! Fish Charts, Marketing Martin and the Finding of the Fisk – Riga, Latvia.

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So where did we leaf off? Sitting in a camper van bar in Riga drinking Fisk! After an afternoon spent boozing it up on the amazing hemp and ginger beer that was 7% and writing our hilarious blog that NONE of you could even be bothered to comment on (not that we’re bitter or owt), we finally found our way through the bookcase into our dorm room where we came upon our roomie, German Marketing Martin, who would become our endearing third Privvy Leg for our time in Riga. He didn’t take much persuading to join us in a beer or ten and offered to show us the sites of Riga which he had found the evening before. We fuelled up with some fisks which inspired Susan to teach the Latvian bartender the joy of Austins (fisk bombed into cider) and force him to drink some with us (Katie you are spreading across the world!!). Unfortunately, as it was a Sunday night, pretty much all of the bars that Martin took us to were closed, so we ended up in generic tourist bars rather than dubious dives where random old Latvian men would talk to us, which was what we had requested from our tour guide. We still managed to have a great time as Marketing Martin had some good craic and would do owt. We went back to the hostel around midnight and realised it was Susan’s birthday, much to the joy of our new nemisis, Latvian Anthea, who from then on insisted on plying us with as many black balzams as possible, despite us shouting at her “NO! Bad Latvian Anthea!” and “Fup off Latvian Anthea I dinnit want it!!”. We have no idea what her actual name was but she looked like our friend Anthea (damn pages again not letting you tag people in it anymore!!) and was Latvian. Turned out they were having a staff party and we had inadvertently lucked into/had the misfortune to get stuck in the middle of it. Put the rest of this in your face

Eastern Europe, Micro Travelling, Travel

Lards of the World, Soviet Soldiers, Danish Angel and the Start of the Soup Tour – Tallin & Saaremaa, Estonia

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Let us take you back…back to Gatwick, where it all began.
After an emotional reunion (involving many bottles of wine and a big bucket of ice, and we’ll say no more about it) we made it to the airport on Friday morning in time to brave the hideous queues for beer. The 2 hour flight passed in to time, mainly due to the delicious 40 Euros worth of wine and nibbles.

Arrived in Tallinn to find it bracing but sunny and set about demolishing a couple of cans of local cider from the kiosk before getting the bus to the city centre. Which we stayed on until the last stop which was actually a ferry terminal nowhere near where we had to be. So we walked in the general direction of the church spires, hoping that would be some kind of central square, and with the help of Google Maps managed to locate our hostel (The Red Emperor) which was on the top of a nice pub called The Beer Garden which served a nice range of local beers and the food that the table behind us were eating looked quite nice so we decided to get some dinner. Susan had a smoked cheese, mushroom and sun-dried tomato soup with a pastry lid that was basically an Estonian fondue and fupping delicious. Jill had a platter of lards of the world, with gherkins and a shot of vodka on the side. The soup was definitely the winner, but you cannit be having the option of a lard platter and not try it!
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Central America, Micro Travelling, Travel

Ow pet, don’t knock over me fish cart, ooooo-oooh!! Margaritas, Mariscos and Maudlin Moodbyes – Panama City, Panama

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We were up and about in good time to catch our flight to Panama City (with only mild hangovers and slight lack of sleep due to the lairy drunken young men and women that had rolled in at god knows when and continued to drink and splash about flirtatiously in the pool and were still going when we got our taxi to the airport – oh the exuberance of youth!

On arrival in Panama City our first stop was of course the Panama Canal, where we had a couple of overpriced beers on the viewing terrace on the roof of the visitors’ centre hoping to see some ships coming in and going out again. A few little boats came through, but we really wanted to see a massive ship going through the huge lock. We retreated down to the next level where there was a posh restaurant (where the waiting staff eyed us with suspicion/disapproval as we trundled in with our scruffy backpacks) and a proper terrace with seats on as we’d both just been paid and fancied treating ourselves on our last day. Unfortunately there was no menu on, only a buffet which we didn’t really fancy (and the whole roast piglet sat on the table as a centre piece offended Susan’s vegetarian sensibilities) so we just found ourselves a table out on the terrace and enjoyed a couple of bottles of prosecco while keeping an eye out for some big ship/lock action. Unfortunately we were big ship denied, and as we were getting a bit peckish, we got a taxi to the next stop on our itinerary – the Mercado de Mariscos (the fish market),
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Central America, Micro Travelling, Travel

Splashing Around, Funfairs and Car Shows. A Joyus and Way too Short Evening – David, Panama

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Our bus journey to David was long and uncomfortable – the bus itself was nice enough (typical big coach), but alas there was no air conditioning and it was an absolutely sweltering day. It was supposed to be a 10 hour journey to start with, but road works on the Costa Rica leg meant that we were sat there moving maybe an inch every ten minutes in the traffic, in the scorching heat for a few hours. Opening the window was no use when the bus wasn’t moving as the air outside was just as hot, and even though we could step off the bus while it was stuck if we wanted, that was pointless too as it was just SO HOT. It was a horrible, restless bit of the trip  – we tried to get some sleep but couldn’t due to the stifling heat and being soaked through with sweat. Finally we passed the road works and got moving again and the open windows offered us a slightly cooler (but still pretty warm) breeze.  We really wished we’d managed to get onto that night bus!

Thankfully there was a stop at a little service station (well, there was a little shop/restaurant with lots of food on hot plates that looked nice but we couldn’t face hot food in the heat so just grabbed ourselves several cold beers (for now and for the bus), and had to hide the bus beers as the driver had been glaring at us and shaking his head when we came out of the shop with our arms full of bottles, so we assumed that you weren’t allowed to drink on the bus.
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Central America, Micro Travelling, Travel

Zip Lining Adrenaline and More Adrenaline when our Night Bus Plans are Scuppered – Monteverde – San Jose, Costa Rica

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We were up early the next day and were relieved to find that Aaron’s money had gone into Susan’s bank (so we could go to the zip-lining ball), so celebrated with our tasty free taco breakfast (we got a token to use at the kiosk next door) before wandering up to the bus station and buying tickets for the 3pm bus to San Jose. The woman at the hostel had said we’d EASY be back from the zip-lining by then and have no problem catching the bus. There was no sign of Gabriella, and we even walked by her hostel to see if we could see her but just assumed she had met some new friends there and decided to go zip-lining with them instead.

We were picked up in a little minibus from the tour company (that was doing the rounds of all the hotels in Santa Elena picking up zip-liners) and drove further up some more windy mountain roads before we arrived at the zip-lining place, where we were harnessed up and sent on our merry way to zip between platforms in the forest canopy. It was great fun and the scenery was stunning  – we did buy the DVD of us doing it (they must have had cameras around the forest at various points) but we’re sad to say you probably won’t get to see it as we both decided that we look too fat in it for it to be shared on the internet. There are photos though! And I do believe that rascal Mandible turned up and made a spectacular superhero entrance! Put the rest of this in your face

Central America, Micro Travelling, Travel

Farewell Volcano Land, Hello Massive Mountains – Ometepe, Nicaragua to Monteverde, Costa Rica.

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We woke up in the morning, refreshed after a nice sleep (…well Jill was refreshed but Susan had an upset tummy and was feeling decidedly fragile) and enjoyed a nice Central American breakfast (egg, rice and refried beans), coffee and breakfast beers on our own personal little patio outside the hotel, enjoying the fabulous view of the lake and plural volcanoes and using their wifi to see if we could find a later bus to catch to Monteverde so that we could enjoy a bit more time on this beautiful and friendly island. PS and find some monkeys to touch.

Unfortunately our quest was in vain and we’d wasted quite a bit of time on it, so had to hurridly pack up and flag down a taxi to the ferry. We managed to flag one down, sharing with a lovely American stoner (who was there with a load of his mates – they’d hired a 4×4 to see the island and upon boarding the ferry this lad had realised that he’d left his passport in the hotel so had to leave his mates with the car on the ferry and get a taxi round trip to get it) and got to the ferry terminal, bought tickets from a dubious little cafe and sat outside intently watching everyone else to see when they started moving (we’d already headed to the ferry only to be shooed away), drinking beers and swatting away all the zillions of flies that seemed to like us.
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Central America, Micro Travelling, Travel

IN WHICH LADY LUCK IS ON OUR SIDE FOR ONCE, AND WE GET BACK ON SCHEDULE (LIKE A BOSS). LEON TO OMETEPE (NICARAGUA)

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Adventures continued (sorry for the delay, we both have back at home depression!): after the volcano boarding we arrived back at the hostel looking like black and white minstrels, we were so covered in ash. Had a quick chill in a hammock and a mojito before going to find the bloke who was sorting our car hire out, only to find that we couldn’t get one from Leon to drop off at the border and would have to go all the way to Managua for one. This wasn’t really an option as it would have taken forever and we were already half a day behind schedule! Instead the hostel man sorted us a shuttle to the ferry port and said we had to leave NOW in order to make it to San Juan del Sur in time for the last ferry to Ometepe at 5:30! Susan had time to grab a quick shower while Jill was packing up, and we were again bundled into a van with seats down the side for the next leg. Despite our rush we of course made time to stop off for some road boozes and stretched out on the long seating (Jill firmly pressed up at the front end while Susan had fun luxuriating in leaning against the back door and scaring Jill (what with her fear of falling out of car doors, at her time of life and with her knees) enjoying a few cold ones and delighting our eyes with he gorgeous volcano dappled scenery along the route. We had sewious weservations (Paul Bawwon) about making the ferry, as the roads were horrendous and our bloke was driving like a nana (despite Susan banging on the window yelling “Vamos! Rapido! Rapido!”) and we had pretty much written it off as a failure and started rejigging our proposed trajectory when we arrived at the port shortly after six. To our amazement though, the ferry still hadn’t left, and our van screeched into the landing spot beeping its horn and yelling at the ferry men, and we made it on board just as they were pulling up the gang plank to shouts of ” Chicas! Chicas! Vamos!”.

The ferry ride itself was absolutely gorgeous! We parked ourselves on the front deck, opened our last two beers and relaxed enjoying the amazing view of a hazy sunset over Lake Nicaragua and the spectacular twin volcanoes of Ometepe. It really made all the day’s stress worthwhile and we couldn’t believe our luck and that we had actually made it! Our smiles have never been wider.

We’d decided on a hotel in Chaco Verde, a beachy place between the two volcanoes, so grabbed some more beers from a kiosk and jumped in a taxi. It took about 45 minutes to go the 10 miles down the road due to them being tiny cobbled tracks, having to circumnavigate volcanoes and more impressively, we had to stop as a tree had fallen blocking the road and within fifteen minutes the driver and a load of local lads had set about it with their machetes and cleared us a path. Susan offered to help, informing them she was a qualified lumberjack, but they were adamant that it was ‘mens work’. The comaradary of the whole thing was lovely, and the more we saw of the island (lots of poky little bars by the roadside and always something going on even in the middle of nowhere) the more we loved it!

Our hotel was lovely and right on the lake (complete with swan shaped towels and a complimentary gecko) and after a much needed shower and nap, we found a nice little beach bar for mojitos and fresh (but fiddly) fish for dinner before walking back having a paddle in the lake. Our luxury room even had a little TV and a DVD player so we settled in to watch the 1 DVD provided, curiously titled “Resident Elvis”. To our dismay it was neither Resident Evil or anything about Elvis, but some forgettable romantic comedy. Being the troopers that we are we still watched it and then fell asleep to the sound of the waves lapping against the lakeshore. Tomorrow – we try to touch some monkeys!

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