Next stop

Au revoir Nice! Dinner is waiting in St Tropez tonight.

Ajaccio

Some pics from Ajaccio last week.

Street Fair in Kathu

Kathu district covers a large part of Phuket from Patong to the edges of Phuket Town. It's an old area of Phuket with lots of history, where the Phuket Vegetarian Festival originated and was the center of the tin mining industry in Phuket for 200 years. And it's where we live, as do thousands of other people. There are older streets and lots of new housing in Kathu. Lots of shops, schools, hairdressers, temples and the odd aircon dealer and vet. You know, normal everyday life. From Patong to Kathu takes 10 - 15 minutes by car. Patong is tourism central. Kathu is where people actually live!

On the way home from work last week, I had noticed tents and a small stage being erected along the road between Ket Ho junction and Kathu village. So on Friday night we went to look at what was going on. This was a very small local fair for the local community, the municipality basically blocked off half the road for a few hundred metres and in came food stalls, games for kids, and the first thing we saw, dance performances by kids from the local schools.





We watched a few of the dances and then took a little walk along the street. It was pretty crowded, given that everything was packed onto one side of the road and there were stalls lining both sides. The kids had already seen that they could do some painting, so we dropped them at the painting stall where they could entertain themselves for 20 Baht and get a canvas and paint, sit down and create a masterpiece.



Many of the stalls were selling food, everything from spicy sausages to grilled squid and spicy salads. We actually went back on Saturday (the fair was on for 2 days) and bought up a whole load of snacks, back to our house with some friends, pick up some cold beers on the way and whaddaya know, an impromptu party!







It was a fun thing.. very Thai... "Oh what the heck, lets close off the road and have a party!". And a LOT of people were there, or it seemed like a lot in the narrow space. I liked this bunch of kids all dressed up and painted dancing with bamboo poles.. I think this is a Northern Thai tradition actually, but given the number of immigrant workers in Phuket, no surprise to see it here.



Meanwhile, our son had completed his Ultraman painting, and our daughter had done a cute cat. Our kids like these events, in fact they seem to enjoy doing pretty much whatever we do. I am thinking of writing a "Phuket for Kids" page, but from my point of view, I say just take your kids along to whatever you do, except maybe shopping and massage. It's different as residents but wherever we go, our kids see something new, and learn something I hope. On Saturday we took a little detour and drove round some back roads in the center of the island passing huge fields of pineapples. We stopped to show the kids - this is what pineapples look like when they're growing. Now they know, and I tell you, kids enjoy knowing things. I had no idea how pineapples grew until I saw them here! Anyway, here's Ultraman:



And a quick word for our sponsors... it needed a good bit of support by the local constabulary to run the event, to keep traffic flowing since the fair took up half the road! This guy below is a local policeman who we see often, sometimes on duty, sometimes in local restaurants. I have also seen him with pierced cheeks during the vegetarian festival - check the scars...



Here he is... this photo from 2006:



The vegetarian festival starts October 7th this year - details here: Phuket Vegetarian festival 2010 Schedule. You'll always find something going on around Kathu during the festival.

I realise this kind of very local street fair will pass most visitors by, but I know some tourists do like to explore, rent a car, drive around, find some back roads.. where the real Phuket is found. Welcome.

Freedom

What an absurdly luxurious thing it is, to live on a boat. When the winds finally decided to cool down outside of the bay of Girolato and we decided to leave Corsica, we asked each other 'So, where are we heading next?' 'France, but where?' 'Let's wait with St Tropez for a while and let's start a bit more up North and take it on the way home?' 'I know there is a really good anchorage in Cap Ferrat, Nice - should we go for that one? 'Why not!' So we left the bay, pointed the gps towards Nice, trimmed the sails and kicked back to enjoy one more beautiful, sunny day on sea. With a book in hand, a peaceful lunch, watching the dolphins jump around the boat and later on we had an early dinner in front of the waning sun's final meltdown in the Mediterranean sea. 19 hours and a quick sleep later we got closer to the French coast where the Riviera was laid in front of us like miniature cities in the horizon, leaving us with the last chance to choose our landfall destination.

And here we are now, having a very French lunch in the marina of Cap Ferrat and thanking each other, for the day we decided to move aboard and gave ourselves the wonderful opportunity to have the whole world as our beautiful home and garden.. /T

Guest Post: Volunteer Vacations

This is a guest post from the wonderful and talented team at My Dog Ate My Blog.  I’ve been wanting to volunteer for ages but didn’t even know where to start so thank you to Estela for writing and Emily for arranging this post!

Rwandan landscape by Gareth Codd

If you are yearning for a vacation and would like to do something helpful while you're away, look into volunteer vacations. Not only will you be serving the world, but you will get the opportunity to experience something different and likely eye-opening. Save rhinos from being extinct in Borneo, build homes in third world countries with Habitat for Humanity, preserve American national parks for the posterity, alleviate the AIDS and HIV problems in Africa, or transform the agricultural system in Asia. Whatever your passion or interests may be, there is an opportunity for you to make a difference. All you need to do is browse through informative volunteer vacation sites and find a cause that gets you excited to do service.

The first thing you need to know about volunteer vacations is that you are not getting paid to go on them but are rather paying to get involved. Cost for going on these service trips range from a few hundred dollars to a couple of thousand (for example, from $100 to $4,000). Again, this all depends on where you are planning to go and how long you are planning to stay. But know that there is always a way to lessen the challenges of funding. There are nonprofit organizations looking to sponsor interested volunteers, or at least pay for some of the expenses, so tap into these resources and see how they can help you go on these trips.

New Mexico by Wolfgang Staudt

A volunteer vacation that will costs you as low as $200 and bring you into the heart of nature can be sought with Wilderness Volunteers, a nonprofit organization that seeks to maintain the the U.S. national parks and forests. From the Grand Canyon in Arizona to Kenai in Arkansas or Yosemite in California to Cibola in New Mexico, parks all over the nation are within reach. You can help with revegetation projects, creating new trials, maintaining camping sites, and so much more. This will not only get you into the great outdoors but help you see the beauty of living and being in nature. You will breathe fresh air, you will marvel, and simply enjoy a more simpler life even if only for a moment.

While working is a key aspect of volunteer vacations, service work is more enriching and enjoyable than the normal work you do in your day job. You will even have some time off in the evenings and weekends to explore the land, seek out new activities, and be the kind of traveler that gets in tune with the locals and the culture of the area. You can learn to do something you have never done before, like make a hand-woven basket, or you can photograph fascinating local tourist spots. All this and more is offered to you during volunteer vacations and the more aspect is all up to you and what you make with your time.

El Capitan Spring - Yosemite National Park, California by PatrickSmithPhotography

So take that plunge and go on a volunteer vacation. These service trips will leave you with photographs, memories, and, most importantly, an experience filled with helping others and learning about yourself. You will make friends while doing work and even on your day off that may be part of your life for a long time. You may even get so hooked on service that you decide to take more volunteer vacations to different places and sometimes to the same ones.

It is adventures like these that leave you feeling rejuvenated with life. With all the hustle and bustle of twenty-first century living, vacations filled with service are the means to de-stress and give back to humanity.

Here are some pictures of volunteers being one with nature. Check out some more pictures of volunteers helping orphans in Thailand.

Estela Go is a guest blogger for My Dog Ate My Blog and a writer on online schools for Guide to Online Schools.

Girolata

We're stuck in Girolata. A small fisherman's town located in the North Western parts of Corsica. We found here a very well protected mooring on 27 Euros/buoy and night. Our plans to leave towards the French Riviera before heading back home, had to be changed due to the mistral that is blowing hard outside of this bay. Last night we had winds up to 29 knots inside the bay and there was a steady F 9 with 4 meter waves, just outside. They're expecting the wind to increase even more for tonight, so we will pretty much stay here until the winds decides to cool down a bit. And why not, Girolata appeared to be the best place we have seen so far in Corsica. Pics coming soon. As we're stuck here, and I'm able to connect to a wifi from the marina (even though an incredibly slow one) I guess I will be bombarding you with some of the 3000+ photos we have produced in the last couple of weeks. Stay tuned. /Taru

Corsican delicacies

Ok it's not entirely Corsican what we have indulged in, lately. It's more likely the French produce that are easier to get hold on here than in Spain and we can't get enough of the cheese (Camembert, Brie, Roquefort etc..), the pate's, the french butter, freshly baked baguettes, blettes, yoghurts, the wine and so on...

What is Corsican though, is the delightful little Canistrellis (more or less like Italian Biscotti) and the smoked wild boar meat (even though the meat they call sanglier, in fact is 30% boar, 70% pork)

If you ever wondered how we can be so fit, after all we're eating. Well... I can tell you that those well shaped days are now officially over! /T

Wordless Wednesday ~ 35: Inside the Madinat Jumeirah

Click here for more Wordless Wednesday participants

Another photo from the archives.  Garry from London Is Cool wanted to see what the Madinat Jumeirah hotel looked like on the inside.  As you can see, it is as opulent and fancy as you’d expect from the photos of the outside.

Campomoro

It is a wonderful feeling, to stroll around on the streets and towns of Corsica. The gentle, aromatic scent of rock roses grabs a tight grip of your lungs wherever you go. The fragrance is different, the air is different, the colors, the sounds, the shades of the water... While Alex spent many of his childhood summers in Corsica, it is for me the first time around here - and I must say, I have fallen in love. It is such a colorful, rustic, romantic and delightfully adorable island which I would recommend for anyone to visit. /T

Postcard from Ajaccio

Hi there!

We're in Ajaccio, the capital of Corsica. Due to the light winds and calm sea, we've decided to stay here for some days. We're so incredibly lucky to be able to enjoy all of these beautiful cities and small towns from both the sea and land. Invaluable!

Don't forget to add us as friends on Facebook if you want to keep up with the latest news of our journey!

Love from Corse

A Sunday Morning in Greenwich

My in-laws arrived from South Africa on Saturday and yesterday morning we went to Greenwich.  I usually take visitors straight to Greenwich Park which is one of my favourite places in London but we’d already all gone there together in 2008 so this time we decided to go into Greenwich Town Centre.  We started off by having breakfast at Wetherspoon’s The Gate Clock and I’d really recommend Wetherspoon pubs if you are looking for an inexpensive eating experience in London.  Breakfasts range from £1.49 for a bacon roll and cup of tea or coffee but we usually have their traditional breakfast with bacon, egg, sausage and beans.   I do love my cooked breakfasts!

Following breakfast we went for coffee at Starbucks and I bumped into Jon and Jennifer.  With 8 million people living in Greater London and who knows how many more visitors, it is so random that you could bump into anyone!!  I met Jon and Jennifer on the evening I went for the Sunset Flight on the London Eye and Jon was one of the prize winners.  It was nice to see them and they gave us a couple of tips on what to do in Greenwich.

After coffee, we went along to Greenwich Market on Jon and Jennifer’s recommendation.

Greenwich Market is one of the nicest markets I have visited in years.  The first part is a food court and the food was absolutely mouth watering!  There was food from many different corners of the world including Poland, Spain and local delicacies too.  From what I could understand, the food section is under threat and the owners of the market want to reduce the food stalls from 12 to 6 to make way for more arts and craft stalls.  You can sign a petition to save the food market.

I really enjoyed the arts and crafts section of the market.  South African markets have a very definite focus on African and ethnic items so it was lovely to see a more cottage-like or retro look in this market.  Don’t get me wrong, I love South African markets but I liked seeing all the unique items in this market.

 

Stephen saw me looking with great interest at the Steam Punk outfits above and asked if I would fit into them.  How sweet.  The man obviously has no idea of how big I really am as those dresses would not make it past my shoulders or my knees.  Still, they are rather gorgeous and I would have loved to wear something like that 15 years ago.

After the market, we took a walk through the streets of Greenwich.  I loved the look of this old sweet shop and it was next to Gourmet Burger Kitchen which I wrote about two years ago.  GBK still do the best burgers on Earth and you can often find 2-for-1 specials if you search on Google.

We bumped into the Pearly Kings and Queens of St Pancras which I thought was all very exciting as we had just seen one of the Pearly Kings on television the night before.

Only in England…

 

We walked down to the piers as we were going to take a boat ride on the Thames.  It will be quite pretty there once they have finished working on the Cutty Sark but it looks like a building site at the moment!  They do have Lewin Gate in front of the Old Royal Naval College which is a lovely little garden.  That is where  I took the photo of the monument above. The domed structure is the entrance to the Greenwich Foot Tunnel.  I had never even heard of the foot tunnel before but Jon showed me a photo of it and you can walk under the Thames and come out just in front of Canary Wharf!!  I really wanted to take the walk but my in-laws and Stephen weren’t so I shall have to do that some other time.

I shall have to tell you all about our boat ride on the Thames next time!