Globalwanderings is the personal photoblog of Richard Cain showcasing some of the amazing places I have experienced while living and working throughout Asia and more recently, Europe. In 2009, me and my wife Jackie left Asia to renovate a farmhouse and live a new life in deepest Portugal. Our continuing story is told on the blog called Casa Azul. We also run the podcasting site podcastsinenglish.com for learners and teachers of English as a foreign language.
The latest at Casa Azul
The heat and the dust (19 Jun 2017)
So let’s start with the bad news: 61 dead, so far, in the worst forest fires in Portugal for many years. Fires continue to blaze since Saturday in some places and new ones pop up all the time. The firefighters are exhausted, their heroism is extraordinary. I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures and videos yourselves. […]
Hens back on track (3 Jun 2017)
After the disappointment of our Orpingtons, we happened to meet an old friend who told us that she bought her chickens from Miranda do Corvo market (not far from us) and that they had a wide variety on sale. We had not been to this market before so we decided to give it a go […]
Orpington blues (23 May 2017)
It’s rare that we start a post with a heavy heart but here goes… I have been wanting to get some different breeds of hens for some time now. The standard brown ones are fine but they don’t lay for very long and they’re… well, standard brown. When we bought the chicken plucker a few […]
The latest at podcastsinenglish.com
Level 1.134 Whoops! (15 Jun 2017)
We all have minor accidents. Listen to Richard talk about something that happened to him
Level 2.134 Four-legged friends (1 Jun 2017) 40% of households in the UK have pets. Listen to Jackie and Richard talking about their pets, past and present.
Level 3.134 The light fandango (25 May 2017) Are LED bulbs the bright future, or a dull headache?
The latest at Globalwanderings
Delhi 20 Jun 2017
I got a train for the short trip from Bharatpur to Delhi no problem at all. In contrast to Agra, the Delhi air was fresh and the city looked quite green - New Delhi anyway, as I had arrived in the south and was tuk-tukking north to my hotel in Pahanganj, near the main railway station and between New and old Delhi. This is the main backbacker centre and packed with hotels with a price to suit everyone. I usually choose a fairly decent hotel if I'm in a big city and the Hotel Godwin Deluxe was pretty good. Good enough for me to be really decadent and have a blueberry muffin and coffee on arrival. It's never straight forward however, as the wifi only worked in the stairwell which was a bit of a pain but there you go. What do you expect for £25 a night? Actually more than you get in India but that's another story.
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Palmyra
We visited Syria and Palmyra over Christmas and New Year 2007/08. We encountered a fantastic country and tremendously hospitable people. It will long remain in our hearts and we only hope that the country and people can once again rise from the ruins. During that trip we discovered Palmyra for ourselves and here is what we found.
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River Beaches of Central Portugal
One of the best things about Central Portugal and amongst the first things we discovered since arriving here were the river beaches. All over Central Portugal the local municipalities have selected a local beauty spot and improved upon it. In the main they have dammed a river, or partially dammed it to make a swimming area and then included some facilities, a cafe usually and picnic areas and places to lie out in the sun. All are unique in their own way and a fantastic way to cool off during the hot summer months. Below are a few of our favourite ones.
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Cambodia
This page is a bit of a cheat really as the photographs are of only a few square kilometres of the whole country. But these few square kilometres contain one of the top ten historical sites in the world. Most people just think of Angkor Wat but actually within this area are about a hundred temple complexes built over a period of a few hundred years (9th to 14th Century). Of these I've included photos of just four: Angkor Wat itself, identified by the famous 'beehive' towers; the many faced Bayon; and Ta Prohm - famous for sharing its space with the encroaching jungle and enormous trees.
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week 4 - The Sundarbans 21 April 2016
As I had a few days spare on my Indian holiday, I decided to book an overnight trip to the Sundarbans. It was possibly the best decision I made all holiday. I did a bit of research and decided to go on a tour with tourdesundebans.com and they were fantastic. December and January are their peak months when their tours get packed but at the end of February it was only me, Yogish, an Indian guy from Mumbai and two Canadians Jake and Jordyn along with our guide AJ. It took all morning to get there. A few hours in a minibus followed by a very small, rickety ferry, a trip on the back of a strange hybrid three wheeler along narrow paths and through local villages and another rickety ferry. But then we had arrived at "eco village". "The brothers" as the three blokes who set up the tour company like to call themselves had purchased a bit of land just outside the Sundarbans National park and set up a half a dozen cottages. It was actually much more comfortable than I imagined. And, as an extra bonus there were very few mosquitos. We had some tea and a lie down but then in the late afternoon we were on our first recce. AJ got a small boat and we explored a number of the tributaries of the mangrove forest.