Category Archives: Travel

Countries visited

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Countries visited as of May 2025

Countries visited, 34 (or 35*) so far:

CountryFirst visit
1UKN/A
2France1976
3Germany1976
4Italy1980
5Belgium1980
6Luxembourg1980
7Netherlands1980
8Switzerland1980
9Zambia1984
10Zimbabwe1984
11India1986
12Nepal1986
13USA1997
14PRC2003
15Ireland2007
16Austria2008
17Czechia2008
18Vatican2008
19Belarus2010
20Mongolia2010
21Poland2010
22Russia2010
23Vietnam2015
24Philippines2016
25Finland2017
26Malaysia2018
27Thailand2018
28Denmark2019
29Sweden2019
30 ROC*2023
31Laos2024
32Singapore2024
33Cambodia2024
34Japan2025
35United Arab Emirates2025

*I’m not getting into the PRC/ROC debate

I’d highly recommend: pony trekking in Mongolia, taking a mini-cruise down the Mekong in Laos, walking across the Knife-Edge Bridge at Victoria Falls, fishing on Lake Kariba, taking the Trans Mongolian railway, trekking on (but not all of) the Annapurna Circuit, buying a regional eurail pass, camping at Tuolumne Meadows Lodge, Yosemite National Park, the Via Appia Antica, the Plzeňský Prazdroj (Pilsner Urquell Brewery), take a drive across the Golden Gate, march march march across Red Square, do all the things you never dared…

Take time to see the wonders of the world
To see the things you’ve only ever heard of
Dream life the way you think it ought to be
See things you thought you’d never ever see

Penguin Walk

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The Penguin Walk at Asahiyama Zoo occurs twice daily during the Winter months. It’s a popular event. Since the entrance fee oisonly 1,000JPY (approx $7USD/€7) I can see why.

The Penguins process slowly along a route around the zoo allowing visitors to get very close to them. As you can see from my video:

Asahiyama Zoo, Hokkaido, Japan

Video not loading/playing? try this link.

The penguin walk event usually starts in December depending on snow cover and is held twice daily: at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. It is usually only held once at day at 11am in March until around mid-March when the snow melts. The penguins can only do the parade if there is snow.

Getting there: Take bus numbers 41, 42 or 47 from Asahikawa Station. The journey takes about 40 minutes and costs 700 yen (about $3.50USD). Normally, there are 2 buses per hour. To take the bus, board via the door in the middle of the bus, take a ticket from the yellow machine and pay on exit by presenting the ticket to the driver.

Alternatively, driving takes about half an hour, the taxi fare is approximately 7,000 yen (just under $50USD).

Handy websites:

Asahiyama Zoo @ Asahikawa City web site https://www.city.asahikawa.hokkaido.jp/asahiyamazoo/index.html

also:

https://hokkaido.a4jp.com/asahiyama-zoo

Location:

Tags: Travel, Travel-pics

Angkor National Museum

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The Angkor National Museum, is located on Charles de Gaulle Avenue also known as Preah Sihanouk Avenue in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

The main galleries focus on the art and culture of the Khmer civilization, with collections mainly dated from the Khmer Empire‘s Angkor period circa 9th to 14th-century. So they contain examples from the earlier Hindu period as well as later Buddhist ones.

A buddha at the Angkor National Museum
A buddha at the Angkor National Museum
Hindu frieze at the Angkor National Museum
a delicately carved Hindu frieze
Seated statue at the Angkor National Museum
Seated statue at the Angkor National Museum
Scale model of Angkor Wat
Scale model of Angkor Wat
Hindu deity at the Angkor National Museum
Hindu deity at the Angkor National Museum

See also their website:

https://angkornationalmuseum.com

and

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_National_Museum

The wikipedia page wrongly states that the museum has a strict no-photos policy. This is out of date, you may, as I did, take photos but flash photography is forbidden.

Reflections: pools at Angkor Wat

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The moat around Angkor Wat seen from the south
The moat around Angkor Wat seen from the south
Pool at Angkor Tom, Siem Reap , Cambodia
Pool at Angkor Thom, Siem Reap , Cambodia
A different view of the pool at Angkor Thom
A different view of the pool at Angkor Thom

These GIFs of the pools at Angkor Wat were taken using the ‘Live’ option on my iPhone. They can be saved as GIFs although this does increase the file size (about 15MB), please be patient and let them load.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat

Mekong cruise, Luang Prabang to Pak Ou

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Journey from Luang Prabang to the Park Ou caves, Lao PDR

Mekong Cruise

A lovely day for a relaxing cruise and travel on the mighty Mekong River, all you have to do is lie back put your feet up and watch the world go by. Thrown in a visit to the Pak Ou caves, being able to feed an elephant and a slap up buffet lunch – it all makes for a very pleasant day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pak_Ou_Caves

New Header Picture: Bangkok sunset

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Chao Phray River Bangkok
Sunset over the Chao Phraya River, Bang Sue, Bangkok

The Chao Phraya is Thailand’s major river flowing 372 km from the confluence of the Ping and Nan rivers through Bangkok and into the Gulf of Thailand.

In Bangkok the Chap Phraya is a transport artery for a network of river buses, cross-river ferries, and water taxis. The river buses are cheap and are an excellent way for tourists to see Bangkok.

According to wikiyoyage the prices currently are around 30 Baht (roughly one US Dollar) and there are a confusingly large number of different boat lines:

The photograph was taken in November 2018.

Global Golden Hour: Sunsets around the world

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Amateur Hour presents: Global Golden Hour

The Photos app that comes bundled with MacOs periodically produces slideshows. Normally, these are themed around places or dates. One caught my eye though – it was called ‘Golden Hour’ and included photos I’d taken from many places. Usually, photos taken around sunset are better because the quality of light is better.

Sunsets from

China: Tianjin, Beidaihe, Sanya

Thailand: Bangkok

Ireland: County Roscommon, the Irish Sea

UK: Leeds

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to export it so it could be edited. I had to re-create it manually using iMovie. This is the result I call it Global Golden Hour: Sunsets around the world.

The soundtrack is “In Memory of a Free Festival Part 2” by David Bowie which I thought was appropriate. All rights remain with the original artist blah, blah blah, no profit is being made, blah blah, fair use, blah blah.

Click here to open in a new browser window

New Header Picture: Pingdingshan

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Nei Mengu
The extinct volcanoes of Pingdingshan, Xilin Gol, Nei Menggu

平顶山, 锡林郭勒盟，内蒙古

Pingdingshan in Xilingol League in Inner Mongolia has a very distinctive landscape. There are many extinct volcanoes from a time when this was the sea floor. This photo was taken in early October and the lush green grasslands had already faded to their winter brown. Even so you can see a flock of sheep in the foreground.

The interactive map is a new feature which I’ll maybe use again now that I know how to do it.

For tourist info click here

“Travel and change of place impart new vigour to the mind.”

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 – Seneca

11 reasons why Roscommon is the best county in Ireland

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https://www.irishmirror.ie/whats-on/arts-culture-news/roscommon-best-county-ireland-gaa-8457417

  1. Lakes – Lough Allen and Lough Ree
  2. Great Towns – Boyle, Frenchpark, Roscommon, Castlerea, Strokestown, Athlone and Ballaghaderreen
  3. Historic houses
  4. Golf courses – if you like ruining a good walk that is…
  5. Nature – Rivers teaming with fish, woods and forests and don’t forget the bogs!
  6. Roscommon Lamb – pass the mint sauce please
  7. Roscommon Castle – looks lovely doesn’t it
  8. Good nightlife – okay so this might be over egging the pudding…
  9. Mining experience – visit the coal mining museum in Arigna
  10. Home to Chris O’Dowd
  11. Primrose and blue steel Roscommon football team

Overland Odyssey to the Orient – The Prologue

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The Prologue

The cliche that a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step is misleading. Before I took that first step on my 5,150 mile journey* I felt like I had run a marathon.  The list of tasks to be completed seemed endless at first. Obtaining a CELTA qualification and quitting my awful job was the easy part. Sorting through a lifetime’s accumulation of bits and pieces and miscellaneous crap, throwing away what was not required and putting the rest into storage was hard. Everything had to be moved, as much as possible was recycled.  The St Gemma’s Hospice and St George’s Crypt charity shops both accepted a lot of my stuff hopefully, they will make some money from them.

Getting my house into a good condition where it could be rented out was even harder.  Planning my journey was fun but getting the tickets and visas was less so.

A Citycabs black and white taxi

Before I left I managed to fit in a day at Headingley to watch a county cricket match between Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire with Percy, Chris and Cousin Martin.  Yorkshire had a bad day at the crease but went on to win the match. A sunny day , the sound of leather on willow, good company, good food and plenty of ale – life doesn’t get much better than this.
The last few days were hectic but on August 7th at 13:00 British Summer Time I found myself standing outside my house waiting for a taxi that would take me on the first part of my journey.
* That’s as the crow flies the actual distance travelled was much greater.

John Mock & Kimberley ONeil

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http://www.mockandoneil.com/

John Mock PhD and Kimberley O’Neil, a husband-and-wife team, are consultants, award-winning guidebook authors, and avid mountain explorers based in Yosemite National Park.

John Mock and Kimberley ONeil have 30 years of experience of trekking in the Hindu Kush and other mountain ranges. If you like mountains then I’d recommend this site as it lists a lot of resources.