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:
Where the mountains meet the sea
15 Jun 2026…or another title: Asturias take three. This time was to be a fairly short trip based around the seaside town of Ribadesella. It’s a five hour drive so we decided to stop for lunch half way in Ribadeo, at a previous favourite restaurant, the Marinero. Another couple of hours and we were settling into our cottage, Casa Cantero. It is situated just outside Ribadesella but a short walk brought us to an attractive little park with a bar and a…
City break
25 Apr 2026We’d been wanting to visit our friends in Paris for quite some time and as luck would have it our time had come. Our pet sitter from a few years ago would be happy to stay and look after Betty while we were away. So preparations were made. We’d always wanted to go by train but didn’t realise how difficult, or expensive it would be. I will spare the details but it turned out many times more expensive than flying…
Diu – the end of the line
25 Feb 2026INDIA 26: Gujarat Stage 7. So I clambered aboard the bus for the final leg on land, the relatively short hop from Sasan Gir to Diu. We passed through a lot of scrubby forest and I kept my eyes peeled for lions, as I knew they were there, but all I saw were a few deer. We did actually stop at one point, in the middle of nowhere, I think it was just for the driver to get some paan…
The lions of Gir
23 Feb 2026INDIA 26: Gujarat. Stage 6. The Gir National Park was another place I visited in 1994 and very different now! I could tell that in my research for the trip. In 1994 the only place to stay was the Government rest house. Now there were hundreds of places. Obviously due to the success of the lions. There were 284 in 1994 and almost 900 today. So, like in 1994, the chances are I would get to see at least one…
Junagadh
20 Feb 2026INDIA 26: Gujarat. Stage 5. Another bus trip. This time more traditional in that we went down old, secondary, tree lined roads with crop fields on either side. An added bonus was that I sat up front with the driver (who was a surprisingly careful pilot) and he dropped me off right in front of my hotel. The Click Hotel (3700Rs/£30 per night) Strange name but I believe part of a chain. Either way it was very comfortable and highly recommended….
Random posts:
Old Nicosia
29 Dec 2008The day we explored Nicosia was the worst weatherwise of our holiday. Cold and dreary – just like a typical British weekend! It didn’t dampen our spirits though as there were plenty of things to do. Old Nicosia town is completely encircled by a number of bastions, built in the middle ages and as you can see from the map below still pretty much intact. It also means that the old city itself has been relatively untouched by development and…
Goodbye River Cottage
3 Aug 2021One of the joys of living in central Portugal is to go up into the hills in the summer and swim in the lakes and rivers. Not just for us but also our dogs Betty and Jussi. Although it was only a half hour drive we sometimes camped on the side of the Cabril Reservoir. Near one of our favourite spots we heard that there was some land for sale so in May 2013, almost on a whim we bought…
Ksour
1 Jan 2004Our second Tunisian holiday was between Christmas and New Year. The weather was awful in Tunis so we headed south in the expectation of a bit of warmth and sun. We were in for a rude surprise – we got a bit of sun but it was bitingly cold. The region that dips its toe down into the depths of the Sahara between Algeria and Libya is known as the Ksour and throughout history has been known for its lawlessness…