Well guess what? I went to the midday mass again today and the botafumeiro lit up and swung up and down the aisle. Absolute perfection. I smiled this time. I lined up an hour before and once inside standing room only. I went down near the altar and sat on a step at the base of one of the marble [….]

Completion of Christine’s First Camino  I will do my best to describe an extraordinary, overwhelming day. 7degrees when walking into the Cathedral. The day turned out to be sunny but at times cool. We met up with Sam, the lady Michael had taught, had coffee and went to the Cathedral for the Pilgrims Mass. We arrived at 11.15, standing room [….]

Day 4, Melide to Arzua, 15kms, 4hrs. Left at 8am not quite light, not so many walking today, quite a few push bike riders.Once again thru semi dark stone road canopied by trees, at times all to myself. A quaint old bridge in a small village, not so many cafes, birds singing, lots of corn growing looking so fresh and [….]

There is always an element of excitement landing in Kathmandu this time I flew with Malayasian Airlines as they had such a fantastic deal. When I checked in at Sydney airport I thought that I would treat myself to a paid upgrate, no such luck I missed out on the last seat,being a promotion deal of $750 the were snapped [….]

Today is our last drive in Mongolia. Leaving Ulaanbaatar we drove through the heavy city traffic to the main highway heading towards the Hustai National Park. This park is world famous for its successful reintroduction of the Przewalski’s horse, the only living wild horse in the world called the Takhi roaming freely in their land origin again, thanks to the [….]

No 1 Our flight to the Gobi Desert departed at 630am so it was a 4 am start. Our flight took us over vast steepe to the Gobi, Mongolia’s southernmost province in situated in semi arid desert. We were met and transferred by air conditioned 4WD to the Yole Valley in Gurvansaikhan National Park situated in the lap of the [….]

Our Travels to the North of Mongolia  Naadam is a traditional festival and is celebrated nationwide. Although Mongolians have celebrated it fir thousands of years , the festival has been organised in honour of the victory of the people’s revolution since 1921. The threes main  games wrestling, archery and horse racing, were consider to be the essential skills that men [….]

Arriving at Ulaanbaatar airport after the chaos of Beijing was like arriving in paradise. We were so happy to see a friendly smiling face holding a sign saying Lyn Taylor’s Adventure Travel. It was such an easy stress free exercise passing immigration and collecting our luggage. Now with all the stress and tension of our nightmare journey with Qantas and [….]

The Mongolian Ger The correct name for the Mongolian nomadic dwelling is called a “ger.”It is well suited to the country’s extreme climate and nomadic way of life. Its wooden frame, covered by wool felt, can easily be collapsed, transported to another location and put up again, fully preserving its original shape. During the Mongol Empire, Mongolians sometimes built their [….]

Ayubowan – may you be blessed with long life! With this lovely traditional welcome greeting we were met by our Sri Lankan guide at the International Airport which is located between the seaside town of Negombo and Colombo. We arrived at our hotel around 130am after a long flight via Singapore, fortunately most of us scored 3 seats to catch a nap and [….]