Backpacking in Kyrgyzstan: My Stay at Apple Hostel – The Best Hostel in Bishkek

At the end of 2015 I was sitting in the Almaty Backpackers in Kazakhstan trying to plan my trip across the border into Kyrgyzstan. I had no idea where to stay in Bishkek, no idea where to even go next, but then I saw a flier in that hostel for the Apple Hostel in Bishkek. Read more about Backpacking in Kyrgyzstan: My Stay at Apple Hostel – The Best Hostel in Bishkek[…]

Backpacking in Tajikistan, Gorno Badakhshan, Afghanistan And Uzbekistan: A Few Weeks Off Social Media

I’m posting this now, live, but it is subject to change and my blogs and Facebook and Twitter feeds are all scheduled to go out as normal so pre-written posts will still appear and I whacked out a few while staying at Apple Hostel in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. However I am now backpacking in a region Read more about Backpacking in Tajikistan, Gorno Badakhshan, Afghanistan And Uzbekistan: A Few Weeks Off Social Media[…]

bed clothes sighnaghi

The Price You’ll Pay for Love This Valentine’s Day

This post was posted by The Hipmunk on Hipmunk’s Tailwind blog on 21st January 2016. By: Hipmunk Staff It’s a fact: on Valentine’s Day, romantic items are more expensive. Flower shops sell roses for two to three times their usual price. Restaurants replace their normal menus with special prix-fixe (read: pricier) options. And of course, nice hotels Read more about The Price You’ll Pay for Love This Valentine’s Day[…]

Backpacking in Ukraine: Chernobyl Tour Part 7 – The Abandoned City of Pripyat, Top 10 “Sights”

“There’s silence in the air, there’s silence in the ground. A presence moving through the rivers in the moonlight. Desolation all around. The wind blows through abandoned buildings, photos scattered on the floors, possessions of a vanished population. Safe haven for my soul.” – Tim Wheeler (Ash) Of course, it wasn’t the song from my favourite Northern Irish Read more about Backpacking in Ukraine: Chernobyl Tour Part 7 – The Abandoned City of Pripyat, Top 10 “Sights”[…]

World Travellers: Ben Prosser From Modern Travelling

The latest in my World Travellers series is Ben Prosser From Modern Travelling. Ben is a top English lad who could also have featured in my Backpacking Buddies series in fact as we were out in Brazil together in 2014 and stayed in the same hostel in Iguacu during the 2014 World Cup. Ben is Read more about World Travellers: Ben Prosser From Modern Travelling[…]

Friday's Featured Food: Lagman in Almaty, Kazakhstan

Friday’s Featured Food: Lagman in Almaty, Kazakhstan

I had heard about a food called Lagman and never tried it until 2015, strangely I’ve now eaten it about 10 times! At the Almaty Backpackers in Almaty Kazakhstan, my hosts here Ginara and Rahat cooked it for us on the last night before I crossed the border into Kyrgyzstan. There was myself and Oliver from England Read more about Friday’s Featured Food: Lagman in Almaty, Kazakhstan[…]

Day Tour of Nazi Concentration Camps with Mosquito Hostel in Krakow, Poland: Part 2 - Touring Auschwitz II, Birkenau Camp

Day Tour of Nazi Concentration Camps with Mosquito Hostel in Krakow, Poland: Part 2 – Touring Auschwitz II, Birkenau Camp

It was one of those travel days with a more dark and sombre tone. Certainly not the type of place to take selfies at and feel completely happy about. But if you read the first part of my day tour of German Nazi Concentration Camps with Mosquito Hostel in Krakow, Poland: Part 1 – Touring Read more about Day Tour of Nazi Concentration Camps with Mosquito Hostel in Krakow, Poland: Part 2 – Touring Auschwitz II, Birkenau Camp[…]

Three Days in Madonna's Island: La Isla Bonita, San Pedro, Belize

Touring Madonna’s Island: La Isla Bonita, San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize

“Last night I dreamt of San Pedro” – Madonna Ciccone. I’m a fast mover. I’m a fan of pop music. I loved Madonna in the 1980s and can still remember playing ten pin bowling in Bangor for the first time when Like a Prayer was number one single in the UK. “Life is a mystery. Read more about Touring Madonna’s Island: La Isla Bonita, San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize[…]