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:
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….
Bijapur
20 Feb 2023Sun 19th Feb 2023. I was up and about early and off to the bus station. I’ve often found in the remoter parts of India, bus timetables are a fickle thing. The guidebook may say one thing, people at the bus station say another and then the actual buses confound them both. Today I was told there was a bus to Bijapur at 9.30 but someone else said it was better to get the bus to Gulbarga and change there….
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…
Damascus
21 Dec 2007Here’s a short video of our trip to Damascus. Before exploring the souk and the old city of Damascus I thought I’d include one of the most familiar sights of all our time in Syria – the Syrian breakfast which was completely unchanged in every hotel and guesthouse we stayed. Was it enshrined in law that all guests must be served boiled eggs, olives, white Syrian cheese, lebneh (a delicious cheesy yogurt) and arabic bread? All washed down with sweet…
A short hop across the border
21 Mar 2011Portugal is rather a thin country so it’s a similar distance from our house to the sea, or to Spain. Mostly we go to the sea but occasionally we have hopped over to the other side for a few days change of scenery in Spain. This was such a visit. Although the border is long, there are only three or four crossings and the population on the Spanish side at least very sparse with only a few towns of interest….