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. We are now renovating our second house and that story is told on a blog called The House on a Hill. We also run the podcasting site podcastsinenglish.com for learners and teachers of English as a foreign language.
Latest posts:
Picos de Europa
18 Sep 2024Ever since watching a stage of La Vuelta de Espana some years ago we had wanted to go to the Picos de Europa and this was the year. We had booked an AirBnB and were all set when the hairy member of our family had a medical emergency. She had a growth on her leg which burst requiring surgery. It wasn’t all bad as our host was agreeable to postpone our stay for a week, when the weather was also…
A Coruña
30 Sep 2023I can’t believe we’ve been living up north (Ponte de Lima) for over a year already. As we are still in rented accommodation and waiting for our new house to be built, our traditional September getaway is restricted to just a couple of nights away. Of course, the whole point of living up north is the ease of travel to Galicia so it is no surprise that we chose to spend a couple of days in the Rias Altas, near…
Goa
5 Mar 2023So I got the overnight train from Hubli to Goa. My ticket was to the end of the line – Vasco da Gama station arriving at 6am. However, I utilised a top tech tip that had been a real boon on this trip. Maybe not so new to more tech savvy readers, but this India trip was the first one I had made really good use of google maps on my phone. I could have been completely lost but when…
Hampi
27 Feb 2023Unlike most people’s conceptions of India, there are plenty of areas with a thinly spread population. Northern Karnataka is one such place. Subsequently public transport is rather sporadic, something I had already experienced. So for my next leg I decided to splurge 3500Rs (£35) on renting a car (with driver) for the 150km/4hr trip to Hampi. The first part of the trip was along narrow potholed roads across agricultural land – mainly sugarcane but also jowari which I found out…
Badami
24 Feb 2023My previous post starts with the problem of getting a bus from Bidar to Bijapur and the fickleness of non existent timetables. this post will be no different. the previous day I’d been told there was a bus from Bijapur to Badami at 6.45am. Arriving at the station at the appointed time I was then told there was no direct bus but I had to get the 6.45 bus to Kerur and change there. That would arrive at platform 4….
Random posts:
Weekend in Ayuthaya
11 Feb 2006Ayuthaya was the Siamese royal capital from 1350 to 1767, when it was destryoed by the Bumese. In its prime it was home to over a million people and international commerce flourished. In fact most of the evidence of its splendour come from accounts of European travellers who described it as the most splendid city on Earth. Those days are now well gone and Ayuthaya, the ruined city, is a pleasant excursion from the traffic clogged streets of Bangkok which…
Paul de Arzila
27 Mar 2010Paul de Arzila is a little known conservation area near Coimbra and the Mondego river. We spent some hours down there observing birds in March including the Marsh Harrier and herons. The villages nearby are also quite interesting with a number of old churches. Marsh Harrier Purple Heron Grey Heron More photos here
Chittorgarh & Bundi
23 Feb 2019Getting the bus from Udaipur to Chittorgarh was no problem. Semi-deluxe, that’s a laugh but I got a seat. The journey was pretty boring, just views of major road works everywhere and dust. The station in Chittorgarh is across the river from the old town so I managed to avoid the trishaw drivers and just walked across the bridge observing the hill fort in the distance. I found my designated hotel, Hotel Ganesh, pretty easily. Their website describes it as the best…