Travelogue
Kampot and Kep - Salt ‘N’ Pepper - 20 December 2024
I’ve been to Kampot in southern Cambodia a few times over the years but this was my first trip back there since the pandemic. I was interested to see what had changed and more to the point what had not, because Kampot has historical charm that you wouldn’t want to see gone. What you would want is that charm maintained and hopefully restored in keeping with the character because Kampot has appeal and you would want that appeal to continue. It’s quiet and it’s quaint, and there’s nothing wrong with either of those. Less a city more a town really albeit with a village feel.Kampot is 150kms southwest of Phnom Penh on National Route 3. These days the rehabilitated train service will drop you there en route to Sihanoukville. The road from Phnom Penh is now much improved as are many in the country. In my time visiting Cambodia, the country’s national roads have gone from being; under construction, unsealed, sealed, dilapidated, resealed, widened, and others newly constructed. For about 100kms route 3 is a dual carriageway complete with a median strip and two lanes each side. For the last part it’s a single lane in each direction on a good surface of mainly straight road with little traffic. If you’re not going in your own vehicle, there are two services daily with large buses or nine in minivans. You can also splash out and hire a private car with a local driver if you’re flush. Once upon a time it was 4-5 hours by bus or more depending if the driver went first to Kep along
The Aswan High Dam and the Temples of Philae - 10 November 2024
The city of Aswan in Upper Egypt is home like many of that country’s cities to much ancient history. Aswan though has something different, something other Egyptian cities do not have; a monument of more recent times which, like those from antiquity, is an equally awe-inspiring feat of engineering. I find some examples of engineering fascinating
The Valley of the Kings and George Bush - 1 September 2024
My first visit to Egypt was to the Sinai Peninsula a journey down the coast as far as Sharm El Shiekh. The second trip a couple of years later was across the Suez Canal to the largest city by population in Africa, Cairo (if you count its neighbour Giza) and from there south to Luxor one of the oldest most continuously inhabited cities in the
George of Tahir Square and the Pyramids of Giza - 28 June 2024
The Suez Canal is just 193kms long and one of the world’s key waterways, a strategic asset, and also a choke point, a bottle neck. The canal connects the “Med with the Red” seas and separates two continents, Africa from Asia. The canal saves maritime traffic the 8900kms journey around Africa which takes most ships on average about 10 days, quite
Dahab, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Meaning of Cool - 30 May 2024
The Sinai Peninsula is a land bridge between Africa and Asia and is the only part of Egypt in Asia. Originally called Arabia Petraea it sits between the Mediterranean and Red seas and was once called Rome’s Arabian Province when annexed by the emperor Trajan. Trajan was famous for pushing the Roman Empire to its greatest territorial extent
Newcastle-upon-Tyne - 2 April 2024
I once spent time living in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the very north of England. What is today the city of Newcastle and the surrounding area of Northumbria has history going back centuries. It was under Roman occupation for 300 years marking one of the northern most extremities of Roman rule, the remains of which can still be seen today. Later
Byker in Newcastle - 2 March 2024
Byker is a suburb of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the northeast of England which is not to be confused with Newcastle-under-Lyme which is much further south in Staffordshire near to Stoke-on-Trent in the area of England known as the Potteries. The northern Newcastle, much larger than the southern namesake, was once famous for its heavy industry, most
The Shetland Islands - 31 January 2024
The Shetland Islands are 170kms from Scotland, 220kms from Norway, and 360kms from the Faroe Islands. They lie on the border between the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea on the same latitude as Helsinki and Anchorage; far enough north that with clear skies the aurora borealis are visible. Just 16 out of the more than 100 islands of the Shetland
The Famous Sons of Botafogo FC Part Two (1962 - Present) - 25 November 2023
While Pelé of Santos was Brazil’s most famous, most respected player of all time, arguably it was Garrincha of Botafogo who was the most loved and admired. Of mixed race with Indian blood, he was deformed from birth with his left leg curved outward and the right leg bent inward. His career and life sadly were marked by tragedy and ruination and
