In mid-late February, London woke up with the news that one of its most famous and legendary buildings was on the market for sale. And this was the fourth time, uncomfortable déjà vu. Almost 30 years after its operational closure, the mythical Battersea Power Station languishes in a wasteland by the river Thames in what could perfectly be an image from a post industrial apocalypse movie. The biggest brick building in Europe probably feels abandoned and orphaned while it dreams with sharing the glamorous fate of her little sister the Bankside Power Station, reinvented as the Tate Modern to an unbelievable success for over a decade now.

It is hard to believe that English people, always proud and respectful with their heritage, have left a building that was charismatic since its birth (in a survey in the late 30s it was voted as the second favourite building in London after St Paul) to rot slowly but inexorably without finding the way to avoid its deterioration. Only the absence of the roof and the presence of scaffolding in one of the colossal concrete chimneys proves that there have been an attempt to do something to help the weeping giant to find again a purpose to exist and to continue belonging to the city to which it has given so much through the years. There were many of us who thought that the injection of money and dynamism linked to the celebration of the 2012 Olympics Games in London could finally and for good change the destiny of the BPS, but the time passed, the Games are almost here and nothing has changed in Battersea area.

In the last few weeks several surveys have appeared in different British media asking if the BPS should be demolished or not. Some 40% to 55% of the voters (depending on the media) supported the idea of the demolition (this would require the building being removed from the protected heritage list) and gave green light to start from scratch in the development of the 15 ha of  land surrounding the building. This shows a big change in general public opinion and it seems that the current global economy crisis has made Londoners lose their hope that it is actually possible to conduct any project related to the BPS to a successful end. Just a few years ago the idea of wiping the building would have been considered unthinkable and even sacrilegious.

Views of the South facade from Battersea Park Rd

A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY

- In 1925 the British Parliament decides that the power grid should be a single and unified system. As a reaction to this, a few private power companies merge together to form the London Power Company with one of their priorities being the construction of big power stations capable of supplying energy to wide areas. Battersea is chosen for its proximity to the river Thames (needed for both cooling down the water and easy delivery of the coal) and for being in the heart of London, the main targeted supply area.

- The project comprised two phases (A and B) and Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (designer of the no less iconic red telephone box among other things) is hired as “architect for the external appearance”, what is done in Art Deco, trendy at that time. Construction of the first phase (A) begin in March 1929. By 1933 the A station (that had just 2 chimneys) is working and generating power although is not completed till 1935. The total cost was £2,141,550 and 6 people died in different accidents during the works.

View of the North facade from Grosvenor Rd, north side of the Thames

- In 1945, once WWII was finished works for phase B began. The new phase would be identical and symmetrical in the exterior aspect to phase A. Station B became operational in 1953 and it was completed in 1955, giving the BPS the current layout. When finished the BPS was the third biggest power station by capacity in the UK, the most efficient in the whole world and it generated up to 20% of all the electricity used in London. The building measures are 160 x 170 m, with the roof reaching up to 50 m and the chimneys towering up to  103 m.

- In 1948 the UK nationalized the electric supply industry and the London Power Company (including the BPS) is absorbed by the state-owned British Electricity Authority, which will change names a few times during the following years.

- Station A is closed in March 1975 after more than 40 years operating. A campaign was then launched to try to save the building from a potential demolition. As a result the BPS was declared part of the national heritage (EH) listed sites in 1980 as grade II building. The last day of October 1983 production is stopped in Station B and the BPS finally ceases operations.

- In 1986 is approved a plan to turn the BPS and the surrounding land in a theme park dedicated to the British industrial revolution. In 1987 John Broome, the man behind Alton Towers, buys the lot and works start. In 1989 the project is halted due to lack of funding after the budget skyrocketed from the initial £35m to £230m. At that moment the roof had been removed in order to remove the heavy machinery from inside the building. Looking for more a more profitable outcome, a new project is submitted. The new idea is to build offices, a shopping area and a hotel. Despite strong rejection from public opinion permits are granted in 1990, but the high costs associated to it paralyse any work from 1990 to 1993.

- In 1993  Parkview International buys the BPS for £10m plus assumption of the debt incurred till that moment (approximately £70m). In 1996 a new project, called simply The Power Station is presented. The new development included a massive shopping centre with all sort of leisure locals and is approved in 2000. In 2005 permission is granted to knock down the chimneys after they are deemed  irreparable due to corrosion. An alternative research considers that they can be repaired and demolition is stopped. Still Park View wants to demolish and rebuild them identically piece by piece with the approval of EH.

- In November 2006 the Irish company Real Estate Opportunities (REO) acquires the BPS  for £400m. The Parkview plan is dropped and REO submits a new one by 2008, including real estate development for which an investment of £4000m is needed. Works are not even started and in November 2011 REO (and with them the BPS) files for bankruptcy. Back in 2009 the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, had said no to the possibility of building a 300+ metres eco tower. Finally, on February 2012 the BPS is back in the market again…

View from Gate 2, in Kirtling St

PRESENT AND FUTURE

The sale is managed by Knight Frank, who markets the BPS as “the last big development in central London”. Investors are being sought after all over the globe, mainly in India, Russia (a few years ago there had been talks about moving Chelsea F.C to the BPS and very recently it has been confirmed that the football club has put a bid for the building), China and Middle East, being the latter one the preferred options. The most optimistic voices hope to have the sale finished by the end of the autumn, once the Olympic games are gone and the city can go back to business as usual. Although the last time the BPS was sold it reached a price of £500m, however given the current global economy climate it is more likely that the price will go down considerably to something between £300m and £400m.

The operation has a carrot (the already approved plan to develop the area and build offices, hotels, a shopping centre and housing, valued at £5500m) and a stick (the buyer will have to finance the refurbishment of the BPS building, that in the current situation cannot be demolished, with an estimated cost of £150m, and provide another £200m to build the extension of the Northern Line tube line from Kennington area to Battersea). A recent research has shown that the BPS building is indeed a poisoned candy: if it could be demolished it would be possible to build up to 1200 flats more, increasing the operation profit to over £500m. The project, would theoretically generate some 25000 jobs, 15000 of them directly in the main building, and also apart from that the construction of 16000 new flats. This would be an enormous impact for an area like Battersea that has been considerably stuck for quite some time.

Getting the tube to reach Battersea has always been seen as a crucial factor for the success of any project related to the BPS. The lack of public transport (just a couple of small train stations and a few bus lines) has historically been an issue when discussing the redevelopment and future of the BPS, as the current connections are clearly insufficient to bring the massive amount of tourists and visitors needed to make the business in the area successful.

East wall from Gate 1

And what would happen if there is no buyer? The administrators (Ersnt&Young) are legally bound to maintain the building as it is part of EH, but unless a mid-to-long term economically viable plan appears, the ghost of the demolition will continue hanging around the historic building. The architect Sir Terry Farrell has presented a proposal that tries to achieve a middle ground: keeping the chimneys but demolishing the side walls, which would be replaced by columns and then building a park inside the BPS. This would radically reduce the price of both  redevelopment and future maintenance costs of the complex.

Currently the only use made of the BPS is the celebration of private events in the Boiler House, a venue with a clear roof section within the main building that has become trendy to host all sorts of celebrations (from video games presentation to sport galas, including the launching of the 2010 Torie campaign). It can be easily seen using Google Earth.

“VISITING” THE BPS

And it has to go with quotation marks because… it cannot be visited. As mentioned above both the BPS and the surrounding land are private property and apart from the events in the Boiler House there are no organised touristic visits (this was confirmed by the security company when asking at the gates).

Despite not being allowed to go into the building, it is still possible to see it from a reasonably close distance, so you can get a good idea of its real size along with other details (the considerable degradation state, how big the land around it, the difficulties of bringing up a plan to develop it, and the privileged location…).

The northern part of the perimeter that surrounds the BPS faces the Thames, so the only possible way to get a closer look is by boat. From the western side there are no good views since the train tracks and Grosvenor Bridge get in the way and make impossible to go close. The maximum proximity spots are in the south and the east of the perimeter and it is where the entrance gates are located.

Gate 2 (main entrance) is in Kirtling Street and offers a close view of the east side wall. Gate 1, just some 100 meters away but in Cringle Street, is the closest point of all and you can see even more clearly the shattered windows and the robust legendary chimneys. If you are looking for the best panoramic views, they are from Battersea Park Rd (south facade of the BPS) or from Grosvenor Road, just in front of the north facade on the north side of the Thames.

The best way to visit the BPS on foot is taking the train to Battersea Park station (directly from Victoria in just 5 minutes and if you sit on the left side of the train you will have great views when crossing the river and passing by the building) or hoping off at Queenstown Road station. If you stop at the first mentioned station you will come out in Battersea Park Rd and just  turning left and walking for a few meters the station will appear  in full sight. If you go to Queenstown Rd you will appear in the street of the same name. Then you have to turn right (direction northwest) and turn right again (to the east) once you reach Battersea Park Road (you can see the building by then). Both Kirtling St and Cringle St are off Battersea Park Rd on the left hand side. A perfect way to complement your visit to the area is strolling around Battersea Park, just a couple of minutes from the BPS and one of the nicest parks in all London.

Some interesting links:

- Image gallery from the BBC web, showing recent pictures of both interior and the exterior

- Image gallery from The Guardian with historical pictures

- Image gallery with different development projects for the area

View from Grosvenor Rd, north side of the Thames

Frontal view from Grosvenor Rd, north side of the Thames

I am not sure what finally happened to the statues in other ex soviet republics but in Lithuania Viliumas Malinauskas (famous entrepreneur and businessman whose family became rich selling the mushrooms and berries from the dense forests in the south of the country) had the brilliant idea of renting them from the government and setting up a theme park / museum. The curious and interesting result is known as Grūtas Parkas, aka “Stalinland”.

The project was controversial from the start, not surprisingly since it has only been 20 years since the Wall fell and many wounds and difficult memories are still open, fresh and bleeding. Many people opposed to it saying that a theme park about the soviet invasion was inappropriate and it could be considered making an apology of totalitarianisms. But to show another point of view, Grutas Parkas states in their web that their mission is to denounce soviet ideology, the propaganda culture, the lack of liberties under the regime and the Lithuanian Genocide. When Malinauskas was asked about the reason why he was doing it, his reply was: “(the park) is my gift for future Lithuanian generations. They can come here and make fun of these statues. That will mean that Lithuania and the Lithuanians are no longer afraid of communism”. Some of the politicians that accused him of being indifferent to other people feelings and their pain tried, unsuccessfully, to close the park.  Malinauskas, controversial as usual, ordered wooden statues with the politician’s faces and put them in th park among the other ones saying “those who are still scared of the shadows of the past have to be here with them”. Nostalgia or rejection? Probably uses a bit of both to drag visitors here. In any case people’s verdict has been clear so far: Grutas Parkas receives over 100.000 visitors per year despite being far from Vilnius and not very well connected to the main Lithuanian cities.

The park is close to the small spa city of  Druskininkai, deep into the south of the country and close to the Byelorussian border. “Druski” is a very popular destination for local tourism and we went there to get to know both the city and the amazing primary forests that surround the area. It took us some 20 minutes of leisure drive to reach Grutas Parkas. In my opinion they have chosen the right place to set the park up: a bit apart from the main road and by an idyllic lake, just at the heart of the quiet and peaceful  Dzūkija Natural Reserve.

Before the visit I did not know much about the site, just that it had a collection of soviet times statues and all the controversy surrounding the project. So I must say I was quite surprised when we arrived there and I realised that the external appearance of the park imitates to the detail the infamous soviet Gulags.

Grutas Parkas Entrance

Barbed wire demarcates the boundaries of the park and all along the perimeter is dotted with watchtowers, some even with dummies wearing Red Army uniforms. Each of the towers had a small old-looking speaker that played unsettling soft martial music non-stop, to remind the inmates 24 hours a day that the Big Brother was always watching, even when they were sleeping.

In the entrance path there was a train like the ones used to transport the deported persons to the Gulag. It looked similar to those we see in Holocaust movies, with carriages designed for cattle painted in red, with tiny windows covered with iron grids. The difference was that this time the locomotive had a distinctive red star at the front. When the park was being set the idea of making visitors arrive in these trains was discussed but was finally dropped after fierce opposition from gulag survivor groups. It was going a bit too far.

The Gulag Express

Once you cross the gates and you are in you bump into a signpost stating that all the historical references have been done by the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania. I think it was a check mate move by the owners to give the park credibility and plus of interest, although I imagine Malinauskas had little choice after all the problems he faced in when he announced the creation of the park. Still, if I think about Spain, I find really hard to imagine a Franco related museum or theme park in Valle de los Caidos (Valley of the Fallen) with the owners letting the left-wing Historical Memory Law Association do the texts and explanations. No way.

Grūtas Parkas is quite different from what I had in mind prior to the visit. It is much bigger (covers 20 Ha), with a smart and well thought set up and much more interesting than the “bunch of rotting statues piled up in a corner” that I had imagined. Apart from multiple statues and busts of Stalin, Lenin and Marx (the most repeated) there are other groups of sculptures representing idealised communist imaginary: stoic soldiers with fierce eyes, tireless looking workers, austere women with a martial aura representing Victory or scenes showing the relentless effort of the proletariat building the perfect society (for example a massive one of Mother Kryzhkalnis, symbolising the Red Army that freed Lithuania from the bourgeoisie nationalism).

Undercover partisans led by Antanas Snieckus

Some of the statues that really caught my attention were those of the “renegades”, Lithuanian citizens that worked for the soviet side and that are widely considered as traitors by Lithuanians, like  Vincas Kapsukas and Feliksas Baltušis-Žemaitis, or controversial and disputed figures like Antanas Snieckus. Most of the statues have a detailed explanatory legend in english, including the original location where they were standing before their removal, usually in prominent spots of the main cities.

Family Photo

Visiting the whole park takes a good amount of time since there are over a hundred statues and monuments and the complete distance to walk is more than 3 Km of narrow wooden paths, also Gulag style. One of the best spots is the so-called Museum or Information Centre, a 40s soviet dacha looking wooden house. Inside there is a collection of all sort of soviet era artefacts and memorabilia: flags of all the ex soviet republics, medals (both military and commemorative), uniforms, daily use objects…The walls were covered with propaganda posters and with the front page of the regime’s official newspaper, taking you in a time travel throughout the main news of the soviet occupation times: the deaths of Stalin, Breznev, Andropov and Chernienko, Bolshevik Party congresses, Gagarin in space, visits of soviet high ranks to Lithuania…). All of them have a footnote with English translation, what really makes things more interesting to the foreign visitor.

Statue of Lenin by the entrance of the Museum

There is another house that can be visited, containing the Picture Gallery with paintings done in soviet realism style. You can find the historical leaders (multiple portraits of comrades Stalin and Lenin, the feared  Dzerzhinsky, the mastermind of the Red Terror) and others of the idealised soviet society (there seems to be always one of workers harvesting).

In order to make Grutas Parkas look more as a “Theme Park ideal for the whole family” the complex has a restaurant, a small zoo and a children playground. On May 9th, anniversary of the soviet victory over fascism, a group of actors dressed as soldiers recreate the old parades. Here is how to reach the Grutas Parkas using public transport.

All entries about Lithuania

And, to be fair, even if Helsinki is not one of the “places not to miss under any circumstances” in Europe, it is possible to spend one or two very pleasant days wandering around and enjoying what it has to offer. Most of the must see places are close to each other, so it is possible to walk everywhere and there is no need to take buses or taxis. I must say that the post is a little bit tricky since I did not see all of the things described below in just one day (In fact I have been twice, once in the summer and the second one in November), but you can cover most of them in just one day if you organise the day efficiently.

Dates: a day and a half at the end of August 2004 and 5 days in mid-November 2008.

HARBOUR AREA AND SURROUNDINGS

The harbour is the neuralgic centre of the city and the area where you can find most of the interesting things to sightsee. In fact what I liked the most about Helsinki was its open spaces even in the city centre and the feeling of amplitude and openness to the sea. If the sun is shining the harbour area increases its appeal greatly, although it also has a charm with snow, a sort of climate that you feel it belongs to.

One of the top visits and a definite must see is the fortress island of  Suomenlinna, listed as UNESCO World Heritage site. It is only reachable by a ferry departing every 20 minutes from the harbour. Once in the island you can walk around the fortress walls (built by the Swedish in 1748) and check the different military barracks and buildings now transformed into museums. A popular attraction is a submarine also converted into a museum. The views from Suomenlinna walls are fantastic: the Gulf of Helsinki and the Baltic Sea in the background, the many islands that dot the Bay, the panorama of the harbour and the city centre…in 2-3 hours you can see the island fairly well unless you plan to go into each and every museum.

Suommenlinna's submarine-museum

The most popular areas to visit are the two main squares: Senate Square and Market Square. The big and wide open Senate Square, designed by C.L. Engel as the other buildings surrounding it during the first half of the XIX century, connects the city centre with the harbour. The building that dominates not only the square but the city is the Cathedral, built during a 22 years span (1830-1852) in a neoclassic style. Her shiny white colour offers a good contrast with the pale red bricks of the Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral, a bit further to the East, also on top of a promenade and visible from almost any place in the harbour and the Bay. The other two buildings flanking the square are the Senate and the University.

The imposing Helsinki's Cathedral

Market square is by the harbour and faces the Gulf. Usually is one of the most lively areas during the day, with stalls selling Finnish food and souvenirs (like the typical Scandinavian fur hats). A real classic thing to eat is a raw herring with chopped onions. It is good but the taste is quite strong, leaving you with herring’s aftertaste for the rest of the week, so not advised for honeymooners. During the summer it gets really crowded with people from the visiting cruise liners.

The two main arteries of the centre offer a pleasant stroll: the pedestrian Aleksanterinkatu and the very long Mannerheimintie with their beautiful Art Noveau buildings. One thing that caught my attention was that there are many streets and monuments named after people related to the Russian Empire. (Aleksanterinkatu after Aleksandar I, other streets crossing it are all named after his family, there is a statue of Aleksander II in front of the cathedral). Somehow I thought that after the bitterness left by the Winter War (Soviet invasion of Finland during WWII) they’d have deleted all the positive references to the Russian invader, but it seems that the Finnish people and government decided to leave the things as they were before the war.

Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral

A BIT FURTHER FROM THE HARBOUR

Temppeliaukio Church, excavated in a rock and with a crystal dome that lets the sunlight in, was interesting and is worth a visit. I went during the evening and it was empty. Going there gives you a good chance to walk around a more residential area with less tourists.

I also liked the Olympic area, where the Olympic Stadium and many other of sport halls are. In order to go there you need to continue going up Mannerheimintie (heading north), passing Töölönlahtiy Lake and the Opera. It is a 35 minute walk from the harbour. The stadium was built in the late 30s as Helsinki was going to be the site for the Summer Games in 1940 but WWII delayed the occasion till 1952.

If you are there during the winter and even if Ice Hockey is not your cup of tea, try not to miss one game of the SM-liiga, one of the best Ice Hockey leagues in Europe. There are 2 teams from Helsinki and one of them, HIFK, plays at Helsinki Ice Hall, just by the Olympic Stadium. I bought a ticket the same day of the game, just an hour before. Price was 18€ back in 2008 and I had a great time. At least the day I went the public was very calmed compared with Spanish football and basketball games.

During the summer there was DJ live music happening in the parks. It was crowded but still comfortable to be around, with people sitting and chatting rather than dancing, listening to the music in the background and not paying that much attention to the DJ on the stage.

A GOOD PLACE TO EAT

Out of the different places I tried for lunch/dinner, the best one was one recommended by LP, Ravintola Kuu (web is in Finnish but you find the address on it). I ordered Baltic fried herrings and they were superb. Main dish + beer + dessert was 31€ back in 2008. I found Helsinki quite expensive for eating out and accommodation, pairing with Dublin and Moscow for the most expensive capitals I have been to. Not sure why London has such a bad reputation as a very expensive city. Trying to find something cheaper I tried a pizzeria (Virgin Oil Co) and the bill came to 29€, so next day I decided to go back to Kuu since it was so much better.

Some other useful notes: the taxi from the airport to the centre was 36€ (in 2008). When I went on business I stayed at Hotel Scandic Continental (4*), in front of Töölönlahtiy Lake. Very good hotel, Scandinavian style with clean and comfy rooms. Price was £93, with a (good) breakfast buffet included. You could use their bikes for free.

If you happen to have a few free days in Helsinki the best you can do is take a ferry and visit Tallinn for at least a couple of days. It is much more beautiful, cheap and fun, but that is a different story and for a different post.

In my opinion, the idea that London is a terribly expensive city to eat out is just an urban legend. Of course there are expensive places, also ridiculously expensive ones, but it is definitely possible to eat well for a very reasonable price (the budget for most of the places I recommend below is around £15 for a main plus a drink) and many different types of food. Legend has it that my cousin (born and bred in southern Spain) went back home after visiting me for a few days and he was asked by family and friends the usual question: “what did you like the best in London?” since it was the first time he had visited it. To the astonishment of all his answer was: “how much I have enjoyed the food”.

THAI FOOD

- Busaba: a very very successful “classic”, now a chain with many restaurants open mainly around central London. My favourite is the “original” (the first one I went to) in Wardour Street, famous for the long queues that were formed outside the restaurant, although at the end you hardly had to wait more than 20-25 min no matter how massive the queue was. It has shared long wooden tables and it is always lively and very noisy. It has one of the best Phad Thai dishes I’ve had.

http://busaba.com/

- Dim T: it is also a chain but the restaurant I always recommend is the one in London Bridge. Food is good, prices are also good and the views over Tower Bridge from the big windows are spectacular (even if just for the views is worth going there, better around sunset so you can see the bridge illuminated). On weekdays it is possible to find offers in voucher webs (like www.vouchercodes.co.uk).

http://www.dimt.co.uk/

- Ping Pong: Sunday is the day to go as they do “all dim sums you can eat” for £19.95. It is a bit above the targeted £15 budget but worth every penny. Their dim sums are great and it will be hard to stop eating until you feel like a balloon. Ideal if you are starving or if you want to concentrate all the meals of the day in just one. It is a chain with a few restaurants but I have only been to the one in Soho.

http://www.pingpongdimsum.co.uk//

TAIWANESE FOOD

- Leon’s Legend: located between Chinatown and Leicester Sq. The food style is different from the typical Chinese restaurant. Dishes are good and prices are low (normally around £10-£11 if you order a non expensive drink like the free refill tea, for example). The atmosphere is pleasant and generally quiet in a narrow wooden building with tables spread across several floors. My favourite is the signature dish Braised Pork Belly.

http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/venue/2%3A1901/leongs-legends

MEAT/GRILL

- Raizes: a Brasilian place around Bethnal Green area with all sort of grilled meat dishes. Food is very good and portions are very generous. Price is very reasonable and as an extra they have Stella 4% Triple Filtered from the tap for just £3 a pint. It tends to be quiet and it makes a great place to meet with friends for a relaxed chat.

http://www.raizes.co.uk/

- Bodean’s: another “classic” chain with four restaurants spread around London. I have been to the Clapham Common one. Good grilled meat, specially the baby ribs and reasonable prices. All in the restaurant has US style and flavour, including American beer from the tap (Coors Light for example). You can also find sometimes offers and discount vouchers to eat on weekdays, so check before going.

http://www.bodeansbbq.com/

- Patogh: a hidden Persian in Edgware Road (not too far from Paddington) that I tried not long ago and I have in mind going back ASAP. It is small and a bit shabby looking but we had a really-tasty meat feast for just £15. They have their own bread oven and a good starter is ordering a just out-of-the-oven bread with homemade hummus.

http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/venue/2%3A1224/patogh

JAPANESE FOOD

- Yoshino: located in a small alley close to Piccadilly, it is a common choice among the japanese community in London. It can be more expensive than the other places listed above but you can stick to the “YUKI” set menu for a little bit above £10 and have a sample of good japanese food. If you are in “sushi mode” they have excellent set menus, but you’d go above £20. Very quiet and pleasant and overall quality of the dishes is high.

http://www.yoshino.net/

-The perennially busy Japan Centre (also by Piccadilly) has many different take away sushi trays starting from £1.5 and a deli counter. Food is good enough and it is possible to eat inside in a couple of big shared tables (they provide chopsticks and napkins). It is not a restaurant as such but still ideal for a snack or a quick meal on the go. If the weather is good it is a perfect place to buy some food and then head to the nearby Green Park for a picnic. At the rear part of the Japan Centre there is a japanese supermarket with plenty of stuff. As mentioned it tends to be really crowded, especially during the weekends.

http://www.japancentre.com/?cmd=default

INDIAN FOOD

- There are hundreds of Indian restaurants in London and they usually are a good choice for a good non expensive meal. My favourite by far of all the ones I have tried is called Maharani, in Clapham High Street. I always order chicken korma (not a big fan of spicy food) and it is excellent. They serve Cobra and Kingfisher from the tap.

http://www.maharani-clapham.co.uk/

TAKE AWAY FOOD: (possibly) the best kebab and the best take away rice in London are…

- If you are a bit in a hurry and want to have a take away kebab (you can also eat it in), the best place I have tried in all London is Opuz Kitchen, in the heart of  Soho . It tends to be crowded but service is quick.

http://www.qype.co.uk/place/809932-Opuz-Kitchen-London

- And the Oscar for the best take away rice goes to... the chicken fried rice from Singapore Garden, (a tiny place at 474 de Chiswick High Road, west side of London). There are a couple of basic tables inside but it is essentially a take away and they always give you the food in a plastic lunch pack (they also provide plastic cutlery). The rice has something special that puts it light-years ahead of the trillions of takeaways spread around London. And it is just £5…

http://www.qype.co.uk/place/238949-Singapore-Garden-London

Share your opinions if you have tried any of this or tell us your favourite place!!

All the posts about London

MOROCCO 2006

The next chapter starts in Agadir. I was travelling on my own and I had rented a car to drive south along the coast all the way to Sidi Ifni and I was back in Agadir to return it. I was struggling to find the rental car offices, so I was driving up and down  looking for them.

I passed the same street a few times and when my “where the hell was that place??” face was probably at its best, a policeman came running towards me from the opposite sidewalk (in a 4 lane street), sorting out passing cars and asking me energetically to pull over. At the very same time, another policeman carrying a sort of ZX Spectrum joystick also came running towards the car. When the first policeman arrived where I had stopped, he started waving his arms frantically  and shouting “la vittese!!, la vitesse!!” (speeding! speeding!) while turning to his “friend” as in asking him: “isn’t it true that this guy was speeding like a rocket?”.

The other guy, still trying to catch his breath, responded affirmatively with his head and showing me the joystick, which happened to be a speed gun that, miraculously (and conveniently) was showing the number 67 on its screen. Despite being crystal clear that they were ripping me off big time, it was impossible not to take it with some humour. It was amazing how well-coordinated they were and how much they had trained for the whole “play”. This is what came to my head:

When the leading policeman saw my smile he smiled back. He assumed we were on the same wavelength, that I knew what was going on and their admired audience would not let them down after witnessing such a powerful act. He said: “the fine is 300 dinars” (funny enough just under 30€, it seems they ask for the same amount of money everywhere, maybe they even have an international Union of police-crooks). I replied: “All I have is 6€” and I looked at him as in saying “I am telling the truth and even if you deserve some money for your great effort everything has a limit”. I handed the 6€ over to him and he made them disappear into his pocket in a nanosecond, almost like a magician would have, and then asked me: “what is what you are looking for?”

I told him the rental company name and he replied: “reach the end of the street, first left, second right. Bye” turning his back on me and if I did not exist any longer. At the end it was like paying for a Sat Nav session. While I was leaving the scene as quick as I could, the two policemen were going back to their original spots to catch the next “client”.

Remarkably, all this events described above happened in french and my french level is quite basic. After that when people ask me if I can speak some french I always reply: “enough to be ripped off by the police”.

USA 2000

I spent most of the year 2000 living in Columbus, Ohio, as a visiting scholar at Ohio State. Once I settled a little bit, one of the first things I did was buying a car with Pedro, my flatmate. The car was a mighty Toyota Tercel’ 85 full of dents and totally run down. We paid for it just US$200 and immediately dubbed it “the Flintstones’ car“.

One day during the summer I was going with Alba to Columbus Airport to pick Pedro up. We bumped into a traffic jam in the highway and the cars were completely stopped. The car behind me did not see me slowing down and he crashed into the rear part of my car at good speed. The other car was a brand new big BMW (series 5 I think) and its front part literally disintegrated after the impact against the Flintstones’ car’s back, to the extent that our hatchback was covered with engine oil. Our car was intact (it had a really thick rubber rear bumper) or maybe you just could not tell the difference with one or more new dents as it had sooo many. Ah! and the muffler had fallen and was lying in the road but it was not too surprising since it had been attached with a piece of string after a dubious homemade DIY repair.

That's me at the wheel of the mighty Flintstones' car

The BMW driver came out of the car, asked us if we were doing ok and apologised. We called the police and while waiting for them to arrive, the other driver could not stop looking at his ex fancy BMW and repeating to himself  “my car destroyed and THAT one without a scratch” (read THAT with all the hate and despise that you can fit in four letters). As soon as the agent arrived he asked us for the documents and after a few minutes he came back. The ensuing dialogue was more or less as follows:

Agent: your driving license is NOT valid (the Spanish license at the time was a (very) shabby looking piece of carton-paper and he was grabbing it with just two fingers as trying not to catch a contagious illness).

Me: yes, it is valid. It is Spanish, equivalent to international EU license and admitted in the Ohio traffic code.

A: (short pause) NO, you need an Ohio driving license.

Me: No. You can only get an Ohio driving license after 6 months living here and so far I have been just 5. Till then the Spanish/EU is valid (an epic win smile came to my face meaning “I am a smart cookie who has read all the related paperwork and small print, time to let me go”).

A: (longer pause) No. This license is NOT valid and I am absolutely positive about it. You are driving illegally so I am taking the car away and I am sending you to court.

Check mate. My smile was gone in a second. Despite my complaints, my beloved piece of junk was towed away and stored in some gritty car pound while the agent left us in a petrol station in the middle of nowhere saying “call a friend to pick you up”. Very considerate. Luckily one of our friends was home and she came to the rescue (Luisa, if you ever read this many thanks again).

During the following 2 weeks I got lots of letters and phone calls from all sort of lawyers and companies offering to get me trillions of dollars squeezing the other part involved in the accident. Both the letters and calls had a very aggressive style: “speak to no one and do nothing till we take you to a medical centre for an examination!!”. They had manage to get the police report with my details. Maybe this is common practice in the States but I found it all very intrusive and unsettling. I told of all them to go to hell with a one way ticket, first politely and afterwards swearing badly.

Although I was quite nervous, the “trial” in the traffic court was really quick. I was the first one of the day and I showed the judge (a really nice Hispanic guy called Antonio) the traffic code related section, my plane tickets and my passport with my entry date. In 5 minutes my case had been dismissed. He asked me if I wanted something else and I said: “yes, I do want the $70 I had to pay to get my car back”. He smiled and handed me a signed document to get them back, what I did in just 4 days. After that he asked if I wanted to fill a complaint against the agent since his lack of knowledge had put me into an unnecessary trouble. A flash image of the disgruntled agent chasing me with his gun appeared in my mind and I kindly declined the judge’s offer.

But as the Law always prevails, when I left the court feeling great and ready to celebrate with my friends, I found out that the time had run out in the park meter and I had gotten a fine…that I could not got it removed and had to pay…the $70 running away from me again.

Despite the all the twists and the parking fine this story had a happy ending: a few weeks after the crash and to my surprise, I received a cheque for $1000. It was from the BMW insurance company. They had checked my car and deemed it beyond repair, so they were giving me the market value it had. Not too bad at all considering that the Flintstones’ car continued to relentlessly go around Columbus and its surroundings for a couple of more years till one day decided to go to the car’s Heaven. That cheque paid for a 5 day trip to NY for 2 persons and a few rounds in my very missed  Out-r-Inn.

BONUS TRACK: HOLLAND 2001

Summer of 2001. I had just been hired by CMG WDS and they had sent me to Utrecht to go to training and to work from the company headquarters. They had rented for me a top floor in a lovely typical Dutch house in Schoolstraat, by Wilhelmina Park, in the historical city centre of Utrecht. I had the best of times that summer.

One Saturday in August, having Ilde and Lourdes staying over with us, we left home early to spend the day in Bruges. When walking down the stairs I noticed a bad smell and saw a big rubbish bag in front of the downstairs neighbour’s door. I recalled it had been there a few days and I made a mental note to ask him to take it out.

When we returned to the flat in the evening there were a couple of police cars parked by the entrance door with their rotating blue lights on. On our way upstairs we saw the neighbour door open and a few policemen inside. The smell was unbearable and very penetrating. A minute after we went inside out flat one of the agents knocked on the door.

He asked me if I was the person living there and I said yes. To my astonishment he told me that they had found the neighbour dead in his apartment and he had probably been like that a few days since the body was decomposing (it had been quite hot the last days). The death cause seemed natural but he still needed to interrogate me and run a  few checks.

Alba and I answered some routine questions about the last few days (what we did and where we had been mainly, apart from any interaction with the deceased. It happened that Alba had crossed paths with him 3 or 4 days earlier on the stairs and she had been the last person to see him alive. We also told him that Ilde and Lourdes had just arrived from Spain so they were spared the questioning. The agent and I went to the upstairs terrace check for any forced locks and any potential way into the building. The agent was very polite and friendly and when he left he gave me a card in case we remembered any more details.

Next day there was a hell of a weird situation when I had to tell both Dutch my manager and the coordinating secretary what had happened and that the police had kindly asked me not to leave the country “just in case”. They looked at me why their eyes wide open and the manager said “so you are a crime suspect? This Spanish people love trouble”. It took him a few very long seconds to start laughing loudly while patting by shoulder. Apaprently he found it hilarious. The secretary was not so sure about it and did not laugh. She was a lovely person and was somehow worried about me. I was really uncomfortable and sweating a river down my back since it was just my third or fourth week into my very first job…

The story went as follows: the neighbour was from Paris and his nephew owned the flat downstairs. They had decided to exchange flats for the summer with such bad luck that despite being in his forties he had had a heart attack. He was living alone and after not having any news from him for a few days the nephew had called the police. A few days later the nephew and his girlfriend (a young couple) came upstairs to apologise for the inconvenience (although of course there was no reason to do that). They were very nice and, not surprisingly, they were very affected.

But my more recurrent memory of the whole event happened when the policeman left after the questioning. We were speechless and in total shock, looking at each other and not knowing what to do. Ilde was very affected since it was the very first time he had travelled abroad and the “adventure overdose” had him hyperventilating. Precisely at that moment, a huge green fly (other witnesses said it was black, I remember it green) came flying through the window and I could not help saying “Wrong flat! the party is downstairs!”. The comment released the huge accumulated tension and we started laughing hysterically, not being able to stop in a long time. I can imagine the agents working downstairs and wondering what were those loud laughs coming from the top floor.

The initial plan was to fly from London to Palermo and from there to take a ferry to Stromboli, staying there 3 days before going to Salina for another 3 days. But we had to change it when we learnt, just a few days before our departure, that the ferry Palermo – Aeolians had been suspended over a disagreement related to the subsidies that the local government gives to the ferry company (or at least that is what they said). So finally we had to go all the way from Palermo to Milazzo, on the northwest side of the island, and take a ferry from there.

Once we were at Palermo train station we found out that (surprisingly) the fast trains (InterCity) were not working either, this time due to some strike, so we jumpedin a regional train. Since the train was stopping in every small village along the way it took us ages to reach Milazzo. The good side of it was that, as the tracks were by the sea, we could enjoy the beautiful landscape and have a feel of the peaceful villages along the coast. When we arrived at Milazzo yet another hurdle: the harbour was some 3 miles away and there were no taxis or buses in sight. In fact it looked deserted and sleepy. We asked around but we did not get very clarifying responses and we started to worry seriously as it was getting late to catch the last ferry (it departed at 16:30).

Then an old man driving a small Fiat that was roughly his age stopped in front of us and waiving his hand offered us a ride. Two other concerned tourists tagged along and we did our best to squash in the car with our big backpacks. The car struggled but in some 15 minutes we reached the harbour, just in time. Given the outburst of happiness of our freelance taxi driver I guessed we had given him more money than he expected, but all in all he had saved us  and it was well deserved.

The ferry took around 3 hours to reach Stromboli, the island located the furthest from the Sicilian coast. The first impression I got once I set foot on the island was that the volcano and the island are one and the same thing. The massive cone-shaped mountain dominates everything and it is like he allows the two small villages to rest on his side under his shadow and protection.  This mighty volcano has been continuously active for over 20.000  years and in clear days you can perfectly see columns of smoke and rocks emerging from its top. Almost all the islanders live in Stromboli, the bigger of the two villages, while the other one, Ginostra, is only reachable by boat and consists of just a few scattered houses. The island population is around 400, doubling during the summer months.

Admiring the mighty Stromboli after arriving at the island

The guesthouse we stayed at was a perfect example of the stereotypical mediterranean house: whitewashed with sky-blue painted shutters, a grapevine-covered pergola sheltering the central yard and with colourful bougainvilleas everywhere. Just a few meters from the entrance door, rock carved steps led to a small and always empty cove with volcanic brown sand. From the beach you felt you could almost touch Strombolicchio, a tiny needle-shaped islet  crowned by a lighthouse and with something mysterious to it. The water was fresh and transparent and the very first thing we did every morning was going for a wonderful swim to help us wake up.

One of the evenings, a bit before sunset, we took a boat excursion to the other side of the island to see the “Sciara del Fuoco” (Stream of fire). This  side of the cone is where the lava and incandescent rocks flow from the crater to the sea after big eruptions, forming a horseshoe-shaped depression after collapsing due to years of continuous activity. Once the sun was gone it was easier to appreciate the “fireworks”, although the sound of the explosions reached us very muffled  from the over 900 meters top. It is not surprising that the bad guy in the Disney version of Pinocchio was named after this fierce volcano who seems to be always angry.

We spent three wonderful days in Stromboli enjoying its laid back atmosphere and its great food. In fact I had one of the best pasta dishes ever: prawn filled black ravioli. The island taxis are electric golf carts to avoid any disturbing noise breaking the peacefulness.

Distances

Then we went for another 3 days to Salina, what was quite a different experience. Salina is the second largest island of the Aeolians (after Lipari) and has some 4000 inhabitants across different villages (Santa Marina, Lingua, Malfa, Pollara and Rinella), all of them reachable by road. Despite the island having up to 6 volcanoes, being one of them the highest in the archipelago (Monte Fossa delle Felci with 968 metres), its presence is less imposing that the volcano-island Stromboli. After jumping off the ferry some locals gathered around the harbour offered us rooms and we decided to stay in one of them in Santa Marina, the biggest village. After that we rented a scooter to explore around the island.

Volcano Fossa delle Felci in the background

On our second day in Salina we drove to the west side of the island, reaching  Pollara some 12 Kms away. The road goes up and down with the sea always in sight until Capo Faro. From the top of the hill we could see the inviting clear waters and we decided to go all the way down for a swim. Here in Capo Faro you could jump into the water from a concrete platform by the shore that had a ladder. Feeling light and refreshed we continued our way inlands to the quiet village of Malfa, where we stopped for a drink. The locals were killing the hot after lunch hours of the weekend playing cards and chilling in the shadow. The road that twists downhill from Malfa to Pollara offers stunning views of the small bay where Pollara is located.

Pollara is one of those places that many people have seen but they don’t know where it is. It was used as the location for the village where Neruda’s house is in the poetic movie “Il Postino: The Postman” (although the house itself and where the indoor shooting was done is somewhere else in the island). It is a really charming spot and if you have seen the movie I am sure you have not forgotten its beauty. We spent a few hours sunbathing in the rocks and swimming. There is a big stone arch over the sea just a few meters from the houses.

Stone Arch in Pollara

Some helpful tips:

-The main ferry companies servicing the Aeolians are  Siremar (www.siremar.it) and Ustica Lines (www.usticalines.it). The complete list of the different ways of reaching the islands is here

- The guesthouse we stayed at in Stromboli was Casa del Sole

- We had the delicious black ravioli at a well-known restaurant in Stromboli called Da Zurro. It was not cheap (15€ for a plate of pasta, 25€ per person in total) but I would pay them again happily.

- Another good place we tried in Stromboli was Le Terrazze Di Eolo, uphill in the heart of the village, by the main square. The views of the island, the sea and Strombolicchio were great. Cheaper than the previous one (16€ per person).

- In Salina we had a superb dinner in a Neapolitan pizzeria called Mareluna, just outside the village centre. Pizzas were great and the price was also good (15€ for a real feast).

- We rented the scooter here

How many UNESCO WH places have I been to?

This is how UNESCO defines what a World Heritage site is and here is the complete list of such places, totalling 936 by December 2011. This list is “alive”, with new sites being added each year and others being removed when one or more of the reasons that led to its nomination are gone or they are not being preserved according to UNESCO directives.

In total I have been to 136 sites:

Africa (10): Morocco (2), Egypt (4), Namibia (1), Zimbabwe (1), Tunisia (2).

America (14): USA (2), Guatemala (3), Honduras (1), Belize (1), Panama (1), Ecuador (2),  Brasil (1), Argentina (2), Saint Lucia (1).

Asia (23): India (5), Nepal (1), China (5), Japan (5), Vietnam (4), Sri Lanka (3).

Europe (85): Spain (22), Portugal (3), France (4), Belgium (3), Holland (3), Luxemburg (1), United Kingdom (6), Italy (10), Vatican (1), Slovenia (1), Croatia (3), Greece (2), Austria (3), Germany (5), Poland (4), Russia (2), Estonia (1), Latvia (1), Finland (1), Czech Republic (1), Malta (2), Montenegro (2), Lithuania (4).

Middle East (4): Jordan (2), Turkey (2).

My top 5

This is a really difficult question. A very tough one. Since many of them were outstanding I have decided my favourites based on a mixture of personal connection, how it made me feel at that moment and the footprint it left in my memory. At the end of the day a personal list cannot be objective, right? So, in no particular order:

The Great Wall: maybe if I had gone to some other section of the over 6000 Km long Great Wall I would not have picked it for the list, but the hike from Jinshanling to Simatai has been one of the most amazing experiences of my travelling life.

Tikal: astonishing mayan ruins in the heart of a thick jungle, both enigmatic and beautiful beyond words. There are moments like the one of the image below that are hard to beat.

Rome: it is simply my favourite city anywhere. The Roman Forum possesses an unmatched coat of class and historical weight to it and it is very vivid in my memory how much fun I had the first time I visited it when I was a lot into Roman history. Well, I still am and that might be the reason why I feel at home every time I go to Rome.

Abu Simbel: another unforgettable moment for me was when, after entering the site from behind the artificial mountain where the temple sits, I turned around and I saw the main facade of the Abu Simbel temple. Despite having seen it one thousand times in photos and documentaries I felt overwhelmed probably like never till that moment. Since we were taking a cruise in the Lake Nasser and the boat departed at midnight from the pier in front of the temple, by the evening all the tourists had left and I had the temple to myself for a good couple of wonderful hours. The dim illumination portrayed shadows that highlighted its grandeur and mystery.

Petra: probably as many other people, the image I had in my head about Petra before I went was the famous entry to the place through the Siq and the Treasury façade sculpted in the rock. But I could never have imagined that the ancient city was so big and so had many other gems to be discovered. When resting by the Monastery I could see a local guy climbing all the way up to the top without using any security apparel or a net, just his bare hands. Once he was done he came back down and collected coins from the surprised (and scared) spectators. You can see him in the pic below wearing a flashy yellow t-shirt and standing quietly at the top of the highest pinnacle.

Despite having picked the above sites as my Top 5, I’d give an extra mention to Auschwitz Death Camp. It has possibly been the visit that affected me the most ever, even after having read lots about it and the Holocaust since my childhood. Auschwitz I, where the museum and the infamous gate are, was spine-chilling, but somehow still felt like a museum or other exhibitions and photos I had seen during the years. When I got totally shocked was when I walked around Auschwitz II Birkenau. It makes you feel the Germans and the inmates just left a few days earlier. I think is impossible not to feel moved to the core of oneself when imagining the real Hell it was. I saw people quietly weeping in far corners of the camp, not all of them Jewish, struggling to cope with the weight the place puts in your soul. Some other people went to comfort them spontaneously. Really moving, really hard.

Since I had to stick to 5 places that ended up being 6, I have left out other places that were incredible and that some other day I could easily include, like Galapagos Islands. Or Halong Bay. Or Pompey. Or Nara. Or the Cappadocia. Or Victoria Falls. Or Iguazu Falls. Or…well, picking only 5 is a difficult question as I said earlier.

I’m in the list but maybe I shouldn’t:

When facing the question the other way around, the answer is much easier. These have been the main disappointments:

Struve Geodetic Arc: it is a chain of 34 geodetic poles spread among 10 different countries. It was established and used by astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve to determine for the first time the exact size and shape of the Earth. I saw it in Lithuania, close to Vilnius. And although the history behind it is quite interesting, all is there to see is just a small-sized piece of granite with the UNESCO logo on it. Nothing else. If you take a trip just to see that you will surely be disappointed.

Kernave : another dissapointing site in Lithuania. Historically is important for being a Palaeolithic settlement that was permanently inhabited till the Middle Ages, but being realistic all is left to see is some 5 small hills in front of a river. It is nice to sit and enjoy the  landscape, but definitely a disappointing visit.

Archaeological Site of Carthage: there is hardly anything left of such an essential civilisation for History in the place where it flourished. The romans first and the passing of the years after them wiped any vestiges of the grandiosity of the empire once ruled by Hannibal, Hamilcar or other members of the Barca family. So they gave such a glorious name to the mediocre ruins of the Antonine Baths, that are roman, not punic. It is a sad joke of destiny and I felt cheated. I have seen many other roman ruins much more interesting, beautiful and well-preserved, like for example Jerash in Jordan.

Other candidates that were close to make the podium were the Medina of Tunis and the Jantar Mantar in Jaipur.

I am not on the list but I should be:

When comparing the sites in the section above and some others that are already in the UNESCO list, it hard to believe that some places have not been included as yet. Some examples:

Sossusvlei (Namibia): a salt and clay pan surrounded by a sea of colourful giant sand dunes in the heart of the Namib Naukluft National Park.

The Panama Canal: arguably the most impressive civil engineering feat ever achieved. Even if you have read many books and seen many documentaries in the Discovery Channel about it, it is hard to realise how much it cost and achieved till you go there and see it.

Lake Atitlan (Guatemala): one of the most charismatic places in Guatemala and in all Central America. An amazingly beautiful lake surrounded by 3 volcanoes and with a few mayan villages in its shores.

Jaisalmer (India): in the heart of the desert and sculpted in sandstone, it was full of charm and it glowed under the sun like any other city I have seen.

Final Note: it would be impossible not to see that UNESCO WH nominations are heavily influenced by politics and hidden interests beyond the true beauty and historical value of the site. It is a shame the low number of nominated sites in stunning countries like Guatemala, Turkey or Namibia compared with some small European nations like Belgium or Slovakia. Hopefully new nominations will balance things out and the list will become more and more credible.

What about you? how many ones have you been to? Which ones did you like more? and the disappointments? You are more than welcome to leave a comment and share it!

We booked a 2 day-one night tour in Hanoi with the agency Handspan. We left the capital early in the morning towards Halong, the city where the junks depart from, some 150 Kms to the East. The ride took around 3 hours. Through the windows we could see rice pads on both sides of the road, with people working on them wearing the traditional vietnamese hat (nón lá), definitely one of the most iconic images of Vietnam and South East Asia. The villages on the sides of the road were a random mixture of different types of low-rise buildings and houses, each one painted in a different colour and sometimes so close to one another that they almost overlapped. The tropical vegetation was blurred by the light morning fog. The closer we got to the Tonkin Gulf and the estuary of the Red River, the wider the open spaces and the rice paddies were.

The fact that Halong Bay is the most important touristic spot in Vietnam and one of the main ones in  southeast of Asia can be seen in the city of Halong and its harbour: it gives that impression that it has grown a lot in a short period of time, looking shabby and untidy. The first thing that caught my attention was the vast amount of junks and other type of boats anchored in the bay, some fighting for some space in the different piers by the shore and some others a few hundred meters into the water tied together in groups.  There were so many that they almost blocked the view of the Bay and the islands from the harbour. Most of the boats were empty and we could not see as much activity as expected since it was low season, but it was easy to imagine the kind of craziness that can happen during the hectic high season.

Photo by Francisco Amigo

We jumped on a small boat that took us to our junk. The first impression was that it was worth paying some extra money (the price we paid to Handspan for the tour was fairly expensive) since the junk was very beautiful and quite new compared with others boats around.  The cabins were big enough and neatly clean. The junk could take up to 20 people but we were just 8 of us on board (thanks again low season!). As soon as we boarded and dropped our stuff they served a nice lunch that we ate while the boat was leaving the harbour and entering the waters of the Bay.

As soon as the harbour is out of sight you start feeling the magic and the energy of such a special place. The boat zigzags through the stone needles and you realise they are everywhere you can reach at a glance. There are more than 3000 islands and islets spread in the Bay, although some vietnamese say (not sure if seriously or not) that the exact number is 1969, the year of Ho Chi Minh’s death. Not too long after we had departed we bumped into the first of the floating villages of Halong Bay. There are four in total with some 1600 people living in them. The people from the boat explained that the biggest one has a school so children don’t have to go daily ashore or live separated from their families to have their education. The village was close to a fairly big island that sheltered it from the strength of the open sea and the winds. The villagers live out of the fresh fish they catch and marine aquaculture, although nowadays they also sell souvenirs, drinks and other stuff to the tourists.

The iconic and world-famous stone needles islets are mostly limestone karsts shaped by millions of years of wind, rain and waves and some of them are hollow, hiding massive grottoes inside. We stopped in one of them,  Hang Sung Sot grotto, which had three broad chambers, with lots of stalactites and stalagmites sometimes fused together forming  thick calcareous columns. We visited the cave following a stone path, it was fairly crowded since there were a few boats visiting at the same time as ours. From the exit you have one of the most typical views of Halong Bay (the one you can see in the Wikipedia page about HB).

Views from Hang Sung Sot Grotto

A couple of hours before sunset the junk stopped at Titop Island. It had a small sandy beach and a temple looking sheltered viewpoint at the top. We decided to climb up the steep steps all the way to the top and it really paid, the views were magnificent. We were surrounded by many islets that popped out of the water dramatically, with almost vertical cliffs and a carpet of dense vegetation covering them. From the top we could appreciate better the different birds flying over and around the islands.

Not far from Titop the junk anchored to spend the night. We went for a memorable swim during sunset and despite the other boats that were around us everything felt silent and peaceful. When swimming we realised we were not alone in the water: there were dozens of jellyfish of considerable size, so Izumi and Aiko had to keep an eye on the water from the deck of the boat and if one of them was coming too close to us we rushed back to the boat, waiting for it to pass and then jump back into the calm and warm water again. It was a great moment to see the sun dying behind the steep peak of one of the islets.

The dinner was great. They served fresh seafood (crabs, tiger prawns) and nicely cooked fish. After dinner we went to the upper deck to have a drink while looking at the stars and savouring the place. Even at night the temperature was warm and the wind mild, so we ended up sleeping in the deck chairs. It was well into the night when we finally went back to the cabins.

The second day started with another swim and after that the boat continued sailing in an area dotted with many islets of different shapes and sizes. The junk stopped by a group of them forming a closed circular lagoon. They put us in a small rowing boat and we went inside the lagoon through a big hole in the one of the walls. Once inside the guide explained us a little bit about the formation of limestone karts and the Vietnam government plans to preserve the beauty of Halong Bay while balancing it out with tourism income. After the visit we headed back to the harbour while having our last meal onboard.

If I had to choose just one place to go back to Vietnam I think it would be Halong Bay. I would have liked to stay one more night on board, maybe two days and one night felt a bit too short for such a wonderful place.

All the entries about Vietnam

August 11th 2007, the day that according to Chairman Mao I became a true man, has been one of the best and most memorable days of my travelling life. Going to the Great Wall had been a long life dream as a traveller although I was not exactly sure about what to expect. I had seen those pictures of the very crowded Badaling part of the wall and that was not exactly was I was looking for, so I did not know if the way I had always imagined my visit to the Great Wall (remote and empty of people) was possible anywhere close to Beijing.

The hostel I was staying in offered two different trips to visit it: the already mentioned to Badaling and a hiking day starting at Jinsahnling and finishing at  Simatai. Despite the second option being further away I decided to go for it as the hostel owner told me it was more remote and spectacular. But the great day started some hours before that, actually the previous night…

Some chinese friends had booked a karaoke room at a club called Tango, so after dinner we headed there. The place was located by the Temple of Earth Park and when we arrived we saw in a corner of the park lots of small colourful lights suspended in the air. When we went closer we realised that they were small light bulbs clipped to the lines of kites. As neither the kites nor the lines could be seen in the dark but just the blinking lights, it gave the impression of a giant invisible Christmas Tree. The kite owners guided them using something that looked like a big fishing reel that rested on their hips. We asked them how high the kites were flying and they replied that 800 metres (!!). With total disbelief we asked again and they replied the same thing, but I left it there as I did not want to go into aeronautic discussion with them. Maybe they gave us the figures in yuans and not in meters…

I thought that even 80 metres was too much but after that I read that some kites go up to 100-150 metres in festivals (not taking into account military ones, of course). Still, I bought a nice one nice to take back as a present for a friend without discussing any further.

The karaoke VIP room had a big red sofa for some 10 or 12 people and a big TV screen. In a coffee table in front of it rested a pile of fresh fruit and a few trays with shots. Right after we went in a staff member brought a bottle of Jack Daniels and started mixing it with Nestea in a big jag full of ice and lemons. I do not like whisky so I gave it a pass. One of the hosts insisted repeatedly and I finally decided to try it not to be rude towards him…and I ended up drinking around 10 glasses!! it was soooo good! I have not tried it since just in case it was the mystique of the moment what made it so good. At any time, if the amount of fruit or drink went down a little bit the same staff person came in to refill, he kept a constant eye peeking through a small window.

In any case I got quickly tired of cheesy chinese songs and, after destroying a couple of songs from the Beatless when I was pushed to sing, I rushed to the dance floor that had been calling my name from the very beginning. There was a Mexican DJ playing that night called Gabriel Sordo and he delivered an unforgettable session. I also enjoyed the atmosphere, healthier than in Europe (no people with sunglasses dancing like maniacs and no eyes popping out of the sockets). The original idea was to leave fairly early as next day was going to be a tough one but they had to drag me out around 4am and my feet aching of dancing non stop…

So back to the beginning of the story, the big day arrived and I was not in the best of the moods. I woke up at 6:30 after sleeping just over 2 hours and with a considerable hangover thanks to uncle Jack. We were a group of 6 persons and we left around 7 towards Jinshanling that is located some 125 Kms northwest of Beijing. The van ride lasted almost 4 hours, including one stop in a supermarket (the driver barely spoke english but he adviced “very hot, very drink”) and another stop as the driver overtook a car using the right lane and he got a fine.

It took quite some time to leave Beijing, even at that time of the day the traffic was busy. There were construction cranes everywhere, even more when we were in the outskirts of the city. They weren’t very nice: new buildings barely inhabited or under construction mixed with others crumbling down, probably waiting to be wiped. All seemed to be rushing to get ready for the soon to come 2008 Olympics. When we were closer to the destination the terrain became more hilly and also greener, mostly with bushes and low trees.

The entrance to the Great Wall in Jinshanling was so beautiful that all my tiredness and hangover were suddenly gone. The wall and the watchtowers around the ramp used to reach the top of the wall had been heavily rebuilt so they looked as they had originally been back in the 1570s under the Ming Dinasty when they were built. The area was fairly isolated, less touristic than I expected and there were not many food or souvenir stalls. Somehow the quietness being a Saturday morning in August surprised me in a good way.

Jinshanling section of the Great Wall

We started walking East towards Simatai around 11am and by then it was already hot. The Great Wall gave me an adrenaline rush from the very moment I set my foot on it and I stopped often to take a 360 degrees look to admire the landscape. The wall meandered endlessly in both directions like a giant stone snake resting over the hills and valleys. The continuous stretch of wall was dotted with watchtowers and beacon towers of different sizes every few hundred  meters. Despite its size and imposing presence the Great Wall felt light and agile. I had seen lots of pictures of it but being there was a completely different feeling, something really special.

Jinshanling section of the Great Wall

The more we walked further from the entrance the more the wall was deteriorating and showing its real age and face: potholes, loose bricks and stones, some of the protective barriers crumbling, steps missing parts and shaking when stepping on them, cracks here and there…but the magnificence, charm and magic spell were all there giving a real feeling if how ancient, powerful and venerable it was. It felt we were walking not only distance but also back in time.

Some parts of the wall were more deteriorate

We walked in no rush, sometimes stopping at the towers, not only to savour the astonishing views (Jinshanling has some 67 watchtowers and 2 beacon towers), but also to rest and drink constantly. The landscape was rugged, with small mountain peaks scattered sticking out from a green carpet of pine trees and bushes despite being in the middle of the summer. We bumped into just half a dozen other people doing our same route till we reached Simatai area that it was more crowded. For most of the journey  we almost had the wall entirely for us. In the watchtowers there were locals sending drinks, food and, sometimes,  souvenirs. They are peasants families that take turns to make some extra cash. The kids selling drinks followed us running over the side of the walls wearing flip-flops, seemingly floating over it and smiling at us.

Jinshanling. From the top of one of the watchtowers

We had been told in advance that the hike was a hard one and not suited for everyone and they were quite right. Some parts of the wall were so steep that we climbing helping our way up with our hands more than just purely walking. Also we had to be careful not to step on a hole or avoid tripping in the crumbling steps when going down a steep part. And it was really hot. One of my stronger memories from that day is that I drank some 4 litres of liquid and I did not have to “go to the loo” even once, I sweated all of it, including the Jack Daniels from the previous night.

Some parts were very steep

It took us around 3 hours to reach the top of the hill just before the bridge that leads to the valley were Simatai section is. The landscape from this point was simply superb. We paid 5 yuans to cross the suspension bridge and then we faced the famous 17 towers of Simatai with their impossible slopes. Simatai section was originally built between 550 and 557 BC, but heavily rebuilt under the Ming dynasty one thousand years later. For some specialists in the Great Wall Simatai is the most spectacular part of it.

Simatai towers and their impossible slopes

The steepness from the river to the highest tower was something crazy, following the crest of the Yanshan mountain and demanding a good deal of effort on each step we took. We were going up patiently, turning around again and again with our jaw dropping at the views. It is just around 2 kms of linear distance but it took us an hour and a half to reach tower 14, the furthest point you can go. After that tower (called Cat’s Eyes Tower or Mao Yan Lou) it is forbidden to continue, with a signpost indicating it and two guards making sure you do not try. The wall gets very narrow (no more than half a meter or even less at some points) and with a 80-degree gradient in the so called Heavenly Ladder.  Also it is seriously damaged so it is very dangerous to go past that point.

Sweating a little bit and tired...but very happy

The most famous of all the Simatai towers is the one called Watching Beijing Tower, standing 986 meters and from where you can see Beijing’s lights on a clear night despite being 120 Km away. The bricks used to build this tower have stamped on them the date when they were made and the code of the army that made them.

In the amazing video below you can see a professional and very experienced guide crossing the Sky Bridge and descending the Heavenly Ladder. It is easy to realise that it is not for everyone.

Once I reached tower 14 and after sitting to enjoy the feeling of achievement and happiness, I was really tired, so we went down using the open air gondolas, a good chance to enjoy the superb views. The ride back home passed really quickly as I fell asleep the very same moment I sat in the van. Twelve and half unforgettable kilometres that I hope to repeat someday.

Here are some links to wonderful picture galleries and info about the Great Wall:

From Jinshanling

http://www.greatwallforum.com/forum/jinshanling/5-jinshanling-photos.html

From Simatai

http://www.greatwallforum.com/forum/simatai/4-simatai-great-wall-photos.html

Flight details: London Heathrow – Panama Tocumén International with one stop at Miami International Airport. Flight with American Airlines. Flight time London – Miami was 9h 30min and Miami – London was 8h 15min. Miami – Panama took 2h 20min. Price per person was £631 bought 2 months in advance (AA website). Plane was a Boeing 777

Internal Flights:

Panama Albrook – Bocas del Toro: flight with Aeroperlas in an ATR-42. Flight time was around 50 min. Price was US$225.35

Panamá Albrook – Playón Chico (Kuna Yala): flight with Air Panama in a DH Twin Otter. Flight time was around 35 min. Price was US$144.10

Itinerary: Panama City, Bocas del Toro  (Bocas Town, Boca del Drago, Isla Carenero, Isla Bastimentos), Kuna Yala (Playón Chico).

PANAMA CITY

Accommodation

Dos Palmitos B&B

www.dospalmitos.com                info@dospalmitos.com

Located around Cerro Ancón area, we stayed there one night. It is a beautiful house in a very green and quiet environment. The room was a big enough, nice and clean. The breakfast in the terrace was really good. Price was US$96 per night (2 persons).

Barú Lodge

www.barulodge.com                       reservas@barulodge.com                     Tel. (507) 393-2340

Close to El Cangrejo area, by Via España. We stayed 3 nights. Very nice hotel, with good sized and clean rooms and a lovely garden where a good breakfast is served. The owner, Erwin, is one of the nicest and most helpful hotel owners I have ever come across. Price was US$77 including taxes for a double room (2 persons). Recommended.

Eating and drinking

Parrillada Martin Fierro

http://www.degustapanama.com/restaurante/parrillada-martin-fierro_97.html

Reputed argentinian style restaurant in El Cangrejo area. The meat was excellent, very much in argentinian tradition (thick cut but tender and tasty) and the decoration and service were very good as well. A bit pricey, US$31 per person, but worth it if you are in meatty mood.

Leños & Carbón

http://www.degustapanama.com/restaurante/lenos-y-carbon_140.html

Very popular grill-restaurant with a big terrace in one of the islands of Amador Causeway. The food, mostly the meat, was really good, with big portions. Definitely recommended. We paid US$30 per person drinking and eating in abundance.

Grill 50

http://www.grill50.com/?page_id=4

Sportsbar type grill off Via España. It is a popular chain where people go to watch football games, we tried the ViaPorras venue. Food was not too good and atmosphere was very noisy. Inexpensive (US$13 per person with a few beers). Not specially recommended unless interested in watching a sport event.

Pizzeria La Forchetta

http://cascoviejo.com/la-forchetta/

Great location in the heart of Casco Viejo, facing Cathedral Square and the Cathedral herself. Food was excellent, specially the ravioli. The venue was beautifully decorated. Recommended.

Mercado de Marisco

http://cascoviejo.com/mercado-de-mariscos-restaurante/

The Panama City fish market has a bar/restaurant in the second floor. We decided to go there as everybody recommended it to us. The place itself is very nice and authentic: as the building is wide open you can see the fish stalls and the crowds doing their daily shopping from the restaurant area . But the food was a disappointment. Tried ceviche, octopus, fresh fish and pasta&seafood and in general it was way below our expectations. Worth going to the place, maybe we were just unlucky with our orders.

Heladeria Granclement

www.granclement.com

Some local people recommended us this ice-cream deli that makes artisan products. They were really good. It is located at the heart of the Casco Viejo.

BOCAS DEL TORO

Accommodation

Bocas Town (Isla Colón)

Lula B&B                          www.lulabb.com

It is located in one of the side streets of the village, what makes it quiet but still just a few minutes walking distance from all main restaurants, bars and the docks. It is a nice wooden house with just a few rooms, clean and with a terrace. The owners are from the USA and they could not be any friendlier, helping us as whenever we needed it. Price per night for a double room with a nice breakfast included was US$55.

Isla Carenero

Casa Acuario

http://www.casaacuario.com/

A colourful wooden house literally on top of the water in the much quieter island of Carenero. Casa Acuario is one of the most charming places I have ever stayed in. The room was massive and very clean, with great views overlooking Bocas Town. The owner Joana was nice and helpful. Price for a double room was US$88 per night. Breakfast was not included (US$7, it was excellent by the way)

If you decide to stay in Isla Carenero beware of the tiny mosquitoes called chitres. They are so small that you cannot feel when they are biting you and you get an extremely itchy big red mark. They ate us alive despite using normal insect repellent. Try to buy the strongest repellent available.

Eating and Drinking

Bocas Town (Isla Colón)

El Pecado da Sabor

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/islacolon/D61972.html

We asked the hostel owners for their favourite restaurant in town and they sent us to El Pecado Da Sabor (it translates as The Sin Adds Flavour). It was really good, we had fish and my tuna with coconut sauce was superb. Price was around US$18 per person. Located in the main street by the big square. Recommended.

Buena Vista

www.buenavistabocas.com

Nice place for a quick bite by the sea. Fish tacos were good and in general food was cheap and good value for money (just US$10 for 2 beers and a taco). Nice relaxed atmosphere.

Isla Carenero

Bibi’s on the beach

http://bocasbuccaneerresort.com/surfside-restaurant-and-bar

Charming wooden restaurant over the water. The food, the atmosphere and the views were fantastic. Very good value for money and pleasant staff. We paid US$19 per person for a great fish dish and a cocktail. Recommended

Aqua Lounge

http://www.bocasaqualounge.info/

Lively hostel and terrace pub full of young people, many of them surfers (or pretending to be). If you are over 25 you might feel a bit out of place but I enjoyed it thanks to the music, the views of Bocas Town shoreline and the US$1 beers

KUNA YALA (SAN BLAS)

Accommodation and Eating

Yandup Island Lodge

http://www.yandupisland.com/index.php?language=english

Located in a very small perfect picture postcard island just off Playon Chico community and airport. After landing Yandup staff were waiting for us and they took us in a small boat to the hotel. The island was around 100-125 meters of diameter and there were some 10 huts, 8 were guest rooms and the others were the restaurant and for the staff.  The rest of the island had a small beach of fine sand, grass and a few scattered coconut trees.

The huts were made out of wood from the mangroves (Kunas promote sustainable tourism), the furniture was scarce and rustic, just the basic, but the bed was comfortable, with a mosquito net. There was not hot water or AC.

Price was not cheap: US$184 per night for 2 persons. This included 3 meals a day and water plus 2 excursions per day: one in the morning to a beach in any of the nearby islands and one in the afternoon to visit different parts of the community and to learn about their lifestyle.

Despite the lack of some commodities we truly loved it. It was beautiful, peaceful and authentic. The food was surprisingly good: very fresh and tasty and always different dishes during the 3 days that we were there.  Staff was really friendly as well.  Spending a few days in Yandup with the Kunas was one of the best things of the whole trip. Very recommended.

Three days in Kuna Yala