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:
Sumba
12 Oct 1997I’d been in Bandung for about six months and I’m not sure how it happened (my diary says nothing) but I decided to go to Sumba for three weeks on holiday. Back in 1997 it was way off the beaten track and saw very few tourists. It was apparently famous for slavery, fine ikat cloth and horseback fighting festivals. It was also famous for its megalithic tombs – not just from the past, they were still erecting them and I…
Bangkok ‘burbs
20 Feb 2007Around the outskirts of Bangkok there are many interesting nooks and crannies to explore. This page covers three: Chatuchak Market in the North, Ko Kred even further north and a walk around Thonburi, on the other side of the Chao Praya river to Bangkok, so close but yet relatively undiscovered. I’ve got another page: Bangkok wanderings which include further walks more in the centre of Bangkok. The first is Chatuchak Market, one of the biggest markets in Asia. It is…
Surfin’ USA
25 Feb 1996This is the first leg of another of those trips down memory lane. Between February and April of 1996 I hopped from Hawaii to Las Vegas and then southwards through Mexico and Central America to Colombia. I’ve scanned the photos from my dusty albums and tried to match the photos with entries from my old diaries. Being from pre-digital days one thing I’ve noted is how few photos there are. Developing reels of film was expensive in those days. I…