Top Ten Countries - Number 8: Mali

The Dogon Escarpment.

Now, we are up to number 8. Mali is an amazing country located in West Africa. Land-locked, dry, terrorist activity in the north in recent years, it has had its issues that’s for sure. In fact, when I went there back in 2007 it had its issues – my flight was cancelled a few days before because they had decided to close the airport for a week to re-seal the runway! I can assure you that that is the only time I have encountered that particular problem.

I flew into Ouagadougou, the capital of neighbouring Burkina Faso, and made my way to Mali by land. I had a little less than two weeks there, I had left a couple of days later because of the new flights, and

Rooftop sleeping, Dogon Country. 

lost 2 days crossing to Mali, but I still managed to pack in a lot in those 12-ish days.

After crossing into Mali, I went with three charming people (two I met on the crossing) to Dogon country. We overnighted in the town of Banfora, before begin a trek in one of the most remarkable, remote places on Earth. The Dogon Escarpment is sort of like a big rock, well it’s a big cliff really. It goes on for 150 kilometres, and is up to 500 metres high.

It’s a popular trekking spot in this part of the world. Trekkers walk in the mornings and late afternoon to avoid the searing heat – I was there in November and it was over 40 each day at the peak. There are villages on the lower plains and on top of the escarpment, the trek goes through quite a few, and you stay at one on the lower plain the first night, atop it the second. We slept on a rooftop looking at the sky. Now THAT was brilliant!  As was seeing village life in the villages. Although there is a dependency on the trekkers and the tourist dollar, they still function a lot as they have done for hundreds of years. The only lighting is from car batteries.

pounding millet in a Dogon village.

Climbing the escarpment was a challenge, but not as hard as I had expected. On top we visited a village and saw a local school, being mobbed by children. This is only the simplest of possible summaries for this 3-day trek. Three of the best days of my life.

Boat, Mopti.

Around Mali there is a lot to see as well. In the region no countries has as many highlights as Mali. Taking a boat on the Bani River at Mopti. Not just the Bani river, it's at the convergance of two big rivers - the Bani and the Niger. A special place, a big riverside town, lovely spot, was one highlight, but the only place to rival the beauty of the Dogon country is Djenne.

Djenne street.

Famous for the biggest mud-brick structure in the world, most of the island town is made from mud. It’s an amazing place to spend a day, with passageways, beautiful houses and more. The mosque there is crowning glory of this town, a UNESCO-protected site, rising up in the middle. Today tourists are not allowed inside, but from outside it is still breath-taking. To get to the town you have to get your taxi onto a boat to get across the river. That’s part of the fun too!

The amazing mosque at Djenne.

Segou and the Niger River.

Segou is another pleasant river-side town in Mali. I only spent a day there, a very brief day, but life on the Niger River was a buzz, as were the donkeys and it seemed like a very pleasant town. We walked along the river in the afternoon as the sun beat down and saw the life-blood of this whole region of Africa – that’s the Niger river which stretches through many countries.

Bamako at night.

The last stop was Bamako, the capital city, a sort of sprawling ‘splat’ on the map in some ways. Capital cities are rarely a highlight in Africa, and Bamako didn’t reverse this trend, however it still was an interesting and lively place. If you want some decent food, or to do proper souvenir shopping or visit the best markets Mali has to offer, you come to Bamako. Or indeed, if you need a flight in or out of the country! It’s worth two days.

Young artisan at the Artisans' mmarket, Bamako

And so that’s my experience of Mali. Be aware that earlier this year there were major issues in the north and Timbuktu – oh yes, if you’ve ever wondered where Timbuktu was, wonder no longer, it’s in the north of Mali! Well the French Army was fighting there earlier this year, fighting terrorists and extremists who had taken over the place. Mali is a wonderful place, but, good idea to check the safety situation before you go!

So far the top ten has had two countries in Europe, and one in Africa. Next time we journey to another continent. Which one will it be?

10 – Slovakia

9 – Romania

8 – Mali

7 - ????

Kindle Writings on Mali:

Dhaka to Dakar  -Chapter Nineteen: Mali

Dhaka to Dakar: Book Three - Across Africa

Top Ten Countries: Number 9 - Romania

Not so far from the tenth country on my list, number nine is the incredible Romania. At present Romania is going through hard times, being very badly hit by the economic crisis, so why not journey there and pump some money into the economy? You’ll find it one of the most beautiful places in all the world, there’s no doubt. It had breath taking mountains, castles galore, a mind-blowing capital, warm-hearted people oh and you know, Transylvania, a place too many people associate with vampires, but in fact as beautiful as any region in Europe that there is!

Bucharest street near the station.

Start with the capital. Look, it certainly isn’t the highlight of Romania, Bucharest, but it’s at the very least an interesting place. Parts of it still echo the name ‘Ceausescu’, the somewhat heavy-handed brutal communist dictator, and in some ways the communist past of the city is what is interesting. The streets are wide and leafy, the buildings often grey and foreboding. The Peoples’ Palace is for certain one of the most impressive buildings in the world, the cost of building to the Romanian people though suggests it was not worth it.

The Palace of the People.

There’s even a few museums, including a nice outdoors one, and a replica Arc De Triumph, as the dictator dreamed to make Bucharest the ‘Paris of Eastern Europe’. What he did create was certainly an impressive and unique city.

Bran Castle

After Bucharest I visited Transylvania, simply a beautiful, green part of the world full of mountains and castles and wonderful medieval cities such as Brasov. Not too far from Brasov is Bran, a small town up a mountain with beautiful Bran Castle, fabled to be ‘Dracula’s Castle’, although this is not actually true. The castle though is worth visiting, perched sort of on a rock above the town.

Just down the road from Bran I found a place called Sinai, where you can find a really beautiful palace.  Peles Castle, which to me was more of a palace according to the images of what is what in my mind, is stunning, a little bit gothic, and provides the visitor with a wonderful tour where you can see much of the inside of the castle. It was one of the many highlights for me in Romania.

Peles Castle

Sigisoara

Sigisoara is a truly beautiful, again slightly gothic, medieval town in Transylvania. A place with arch ways over cobblestone streets, beautifully creepy graveyards, a couple of small museums and history with Vlad the Impaler, from whom the Dracula legend was born. I adored this small city/town. It has a wonderfully romantic (in a scary way :D) atmosphere and should not be left out of any trip to Romania.

Outside Transylvania to the north-west of the country is Cluj-Napoca, also just known as ‘Cluj’. The second biggest city in Romania, it’s big but beautiful in a way Bucharest

Cluj-Napoca.

isn’t. An old city with a young soul, it’s a university city. Not so far away are many places for day trips, including the Turda Gorge which is a wonderful place for a day hike. That in turn is close to the Turda Salt Mine, an incredibly expansive mine which these days you can take a tour into. When I was there, we basically had the run of the place which was unbelievable, the sort of place as a child you long to run around inside with no-one telling you where you can and can’t go (although there was a clear course laid out). Those were the days. But it’s really impressive without or with a guide.

Turda Gorge

Finally the mountains not so far from Cluj offer more fantastic hiking. There are small villages to be discovered and there was a wonderful ice cave as well. Romania will always have a special place in my heart. Like Slovakia, you won’t find it as expensive as Western Europe. Today it’s a little more on the tourist trail than when I visited in 2004, but it doesn’t make it any less beautiful or stunning. Most people don’t need a visa like I did nine years ago either.

Transport is good to the main centres, trains connect a lot of Romania, and indeed to neighbouring countries – I came in from Bulgaria and left to Serbia. Trams and trolley buses are popular in the cities, and of course there are always buses to the harder to reach places.

Salt Mine at Turda.

Two words that sum up Romania: Gorgeous and Stunning.

So:

10: Slovakia

9: Romania

What will be number 8? Stay tuned.

Kindle writings on Romania:

Dhaka to Dakar Chapter 9: Romania

Dhaka to Dakar Book 2: Europe

Top Ten Countries: Number 10 - Slovakia

If I had a penny for every time I have been asked what my favourite country I’ve visited is, I would have quite a few pennies by now I expect! So it got me thinking, everyone likes top ten lists, and I could make one of my top ten favourite countries to visit. What a great concept for the blog, I thought! Whew so then I had to nut down a top ten… and suddenly it wasn’t such an easy idea! Especially as things change, as do opinions. Anyways, I resolved to blog about a top ten, and after much consternation I came up with a list. What will be number ten? Slovakia! What will be number one? Ahhhh see now you’ll have to wait for that one! Please join me over the next few weeks, as I count down my top ten places I have visited!

NUMBER TEN: Slovakia

You know, there are many hidden gems across the world, quiet little countries next to neighbours which see a lot of tourists, and Slovakia is one of those. I spent less than two weeks there in 2004, but it’s one country I would love to return to. It’s got mountains and cities, history and culture, and with the Czech Republic next door and Hungary to the south, Poland to the north, it is often the forgotten country of the region.

And more’s the pity because it really is a great place to visit, although part of its charm is that there aren’t so many tourists as the neighbours. It’s location makes it easily reached by train, in fact Bratislava, the capital, is only an hour or so from Vienna in Austria. A hilly city with a citadel on high, with the Danube flowing through below, it has a charm of its own.

Visit the citadel which features an impressive castle, take the trams, or visit some of the beautiful buildings such as the Primate’s Palace which is beautifully maintained in all its European splendour. The cobblestone streets curl their way around and just walking the old town is a pleasure in itself. I was there in Summer and there really weren’t a lot of tourists around, I almost felt I had the place to myself. There are numerous bars as well, and lots of lovely spots for a beer, with prices well down on Western European prices, and Czech prices as well. For a day trip from the capital, Devin castle, built by the Romans, is a great option further up the Danube.

I also visited the Tatra Mountains, not far from the Polish border. The town I stayed at was Stary Smokevic, a great little place in the mountains. Just getting there is half the fun, after the train I took a sort of cable-railway up the mountain to this alpine town. In winter, the skiing is supposed to be fantastic, but in summer hiking was the go. At just over 2500, Slavkosky Stit was cold and windy at times, but a great if at times challenging hike. I found myself above the clouds looking down at the peaks of the Tatras, some higher, some lower. Back in town there are plenty of

nice places to eat.

And that’s about the sum of my brief stay in Slovakia. It’s one country I know I want to return to someday and get to know a lot more about. It oozes medieval charm, natural beauty and so much more.

If you’d like to know MORE about Slovakia, please check out the chapter on kindle:

Dhaka to Dakar. Book Two: Europe. Chapter 12: Germany, CzechRepublic and Slovakia.

or the complete Book Two here: (just $1.99!)

Dhaka to Dakar. Book Two: Europe.

Next time: Number nine! What will it be? Stay tuned!

Loving Laos

Hello everyone,
I have been doing a little video editing lately, and put together a video on my time in Laos.

Luang Prabang

Editing the video of my time there in April 2011, and I realised and remembered what a wonderful and interesting time I had when I was there. It still receives less publicity and less tourists than its neighbours in Thailand and Vietnam, but in many ways that makes it more special.

 Phonsovan was my highlight of Laos, the Plain of Jars and of course the experience of learning about how the community is coping and working together to remove unexplored bombs and mines. A sleepy little place at times, but still my number one.

The Plain of Jars

Vang Vieng on the other hand was pretty sad, with its excesses and the fact that basically it's been taken over by white people to service their own desires and whatnot. Today I believe it has chilled somewhat. Tubing was stopped at one point early this year, but I believe it's back up but there are less bars these days, which when I was there was the only thing the visitors cared about. Seriously guys, you can get shitfaced at home. Vang Vieng is actually in a very beautiful area though, and if you don't go tubing there's still a lot to see without the drunken 20 year olds.

Vang Vieng

So please, take some time to look at my latest video. I made the decision to not put a soundtrack on it this time, because I think of peace and tranquility when I think of Laos, and a little bit about 'Friends' as well. Here she is, 'Loving Laos'.

Loving Laos - Youtube

Dhaka to Dakar - new covers :)

As many readers of this blog may be aware, I have taken to writing up some of my travels and made them available on kindle.
Recently I put a new one up - Short Journeys: Ethiopia

However, the original three books, the Dhaka to Dakar books (Asia, Europe and Africa) have been up for a while. In preparation for the new book, I did a littler reading into the best kind of covers for kindle and found that I had made a big mistake. The covers for the Europe and Africa books especially were complicated, comprising of several images, and looking at them again I realised just how bad they looked.
So, I have made new covers for the original three books. The individual chapters have sold ok, but the books themselves have not, so consider this a sort of rebranding. I have also reduced the prices too, each book is now $1.99 on Amazon.com. Here are the new images:

And on Amazon:

Dhaka to Dakar Book One: Journey Across Asia

Dhaka to Dakar Book Two: Europe

Dhaka to Dakar Book Three: Across Africa

Ethiopia - Short Journeys

Hi everyone!

Today I am happy to announce that I have a new book published on Amazon for Kindle. The first 'Short Journeys' is out, and the country in question is Ethiopia. Today I include an introductory excerpt for my blog to give readers an idea what's inside.

US Amazon: Short Journeys Ethiopia

UK Amazon: Short Journeys Ethiopia

Simien Mountains

This is the first ‘short journeys’ I have written. It was 2009 when I headed over to the horn of Africa to visit a country that had long held a big interest for me – Ethiopia. From outside it really came across as a very unique African nation, and I am glad to say that once I was there, it was equally unique. Ethiopia has a look, a feel, a rhythm and a way completely of its own. It’s not a country I can easily compare to other African nations I have visited, such as Mali or Cameroon.

A church in Lalibela.

It’s cuisine is quite unique too. It’s people have a wonderful love of their country, and are as unique as their homeland. Ethiopia’s history is rich, they have their own script and notable and deserved pride for their nation. A country that the world knows for several things, such as marathon and long distance runners, coffee, but perhaps more unfortunately, for poverty and famine.

The image that many have of Ethiopia is a starving people, the centre of the famine in Africa back in the 1980’s and still struggling today. Whilst there are significant areas in Ethiopia suffering from bad conditions, drought, desertification and famine, and

Monastery on the Zege Peninsula.

whilst this should never be forgotten, it is not fair that this is the central image of this amazing country. These common images are very negative ones, which sadly does nothing to help the country’s economy or its tourism industry. To those who are ‘in the know’ however, Ethiopia is a beautiful land of warm people, an amazing culture, brilliant trekking, history, and coffee! Not only that, but Ethiopia also produces a good amount of wine. There’ are many surprises awaiting those coming to Ethiopia.

I visited the capital, Addis Ababa, and places north of the capital. There are beautiful lakes, rivers and waterfalls. There are some stunning high mountains, ancient churches carved into rock, and wonderfully kind and warm people. The climate is cool to mild in the northern area which makes travelling more pleasant than some of the hotter areas of Africa. 

Included in the book:

Addis Ababa

Lalibela

Gondar

Debark

Simien Mountains

Lake Tana

Bahir Dar

Blue Nile Falls

A delicious Ethiopian meal.

Introducing 'Short Journeys'

This weekend sees the launch of the 'Short Journeys' - a series of ebooks I am writing about different places I have been in the last few years. The very first one is out in the next 24 hours, and it is about the amazing Ethiopia. Here is the front cover design for you and some information about 'Short Journeys'.

'Short Journeys'

‘Short Journeys’ is a series of stories about my travels to different countries. Whilst they are not intended as a guide book, I have endeavoured to include information about where I stayed, what I ate, what I saw and how to go about it if you were to visit the countries in question. My previous writings – the ‘Dhaka to Dakar’ books, were simply travel experiences. This time I wanted to go a little further for the reader.

I wanted to include any stories and experiences I thought were interesting, important or amusing whilst I was travelling. I want to encourage you the reader to read, think about, and then perhaps go there yourself. You will find information on the places I stayed and visited, and how I got there and around. Occasionally I may write about a place I didn’t stay at if say I stayed with a friend to give readers an option. However, please don’t use these writings as a guide book!

The countries covered will in the main part not be the most touristed of places. Hence they may be less literature out there for these places than say Western Europe, but they are places I found very interesting, beautiful, perhaps challenging at times, but essentially worthwhile. Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself and head somewhere you may have never considered before. You won’t be sorry!

Hachimantai dreaming

Just north of Morioka is a place called Hachimantai. Whilst I can't comment much on the town, I didn't really go in there, I did get a chance to look at two places in the area and both were spectacular in their own ways.

The lava flow is an amazing area at the foot of Mount Iwate. 

For those who are interested, the volcano that is the mountain last erupted in 1919, where ash was sent into the air. The lava flow, known as Yakehashiri,  is from the previous eruption in 1732. 

http://www.thr.mlit.go.jp/iwate/kodomo/english/iwatesan_e/CON5/index.html

This is where I got my information from. Amazing - they have the internet on computers now! Anyways today it's a rather large area covered with rocks formed from the molten lava which obviously cooled in the years after the eruption, and today have a nice path marked out through them that people can wander at their leisure. It's a truly remarkable place I had no idea existed! I would put it right up there with any tourist site in Iwate.

Mount Iwate in the background behind the Yakehashiri Lava flow.

Also in the Hachimentai region is an old sulphur mining town. It's part of the town of Matsuo, and was known as the Matsuo Gouzan mine. The drive up was beautiful, on a beautiful clear day. Unlike the lava flow, there was not a lot of people there to visit it, although the odd interested passerby did pop in.

In fact, the mine closed way back in 1969. The mine itself you can't visit, but the small accompanying town is still there of sorts represented as a collection of old concrete apartment buildings. It is said to be one of the creepiest places on Earth. I was there on a cool but sunny Autumn day, so it wasn't so creepy, but never the less it is an amazing place.

Not the sort of place tourists normally frequent, the old concrete buildings have most of the innards ripped out today, as you can see in the picture. I'm not sure how safe the buildings are, but I was with a few people and we all made it out alive! It's certainly eerie, and beautiful in its own way.

So it goes to show, I've been here a year and half now but still discovering new and unusual places to visit. Both of these are free of course - although you're going to need a car to get to either of them! Viva Iwate!

Robocon

Sunday in Ichinoseki, and I went to one of the more 'different' events I have been to since I have been in Japan. Ichinoseki played host to 'Robocon' - where high schools from across the country come to enter their robots in a competition to rival the Olympics. Well, maybe the Maths Olympics.... That's a real thing, right? 

The challenge was this - to make a robot that could jump. Hence the theme of the convention was 'Shall we jump'. Robots had to go down a short course jumping rope several times. Get turned around, come back and then skip five times. The students made two robots, one to do this 'course' and one to help with swinging the rope around. They all had hydraulic workings of some kind. Some were quite small, some where quite big, and one was tall with an aerial and every time the rope went over the robot, it caught and the timing was put out.

The robots were all dressed up in interesting fashions, as were the students operating them. I don't profess to know how the robots worked or new when to jump, but some had some sort of infra-red thing attached, like the sensors that tell urinals when to flush. Some students were smart and held the rope very low to make it easy for the robots to clear it, others were not so smart and paid the price sadly. Robots appeared to be great and worked well, or didn't work at all and didn't come close to finishing the course in the three minutes that were allowed.

The students all wore costumes which ranged from the frankly silly to sublimely ridiculous. Many wore helmets for no reason at all. I felt a bit sorry for the students to be honest. They were on TV, probably national TV, and there was quite an audience with organised cheering and a count in (3-2-1) for the start of each 'match'. Two robots were pitted against each other in elimination style.

What can I say? There may be robot competitions in Australia, I'm sure there are, but it seems very important here. Japan has a love of robots, just look through anime and manga and you can't fail to see that! For me it was just another slightly surreal Japanese experience!

Autumn is harvesting time in Iwate!

Here in Iwate Autumn is well and truly upon us and as the weather cools and within a month will be quite chilly, the rice fields are saying goodbye to the crop that has been growing in them for a while now. I wanted to share some photos of the local area, most are around Senmaya and Kawasaki - there are MANY Kawasakis in Japan by the way, this is obviously the one in Iwate! 

The rice is harvested, by machine or hand, and then hung up to dry out on wooden structures with wires connecting them as you see below and above here.

The countryside is perhaps at its most beautiful right now, and flowers are still blooming which is nice because as the winter approaches the greens, reds, yellows pinks and blues will all be traded in for the white of snow. It's interesting living in such a rural community. Actually when I think about it this is a very organised rural community. That is why we will see in October and November many festivals - because everyone harvests at the same time (because it's the right time to harvest) and the end of the harvest is the reason that most of these local festivals began in the first place.

You can see below some farmers employ a different technique for drying out the rice. The rice spirls up a wooden pole, again guided by wires and sticks. We see rice everywhere in this area, it's easily the primary crop. The interesting thing to remember - Japan still imports a lot of rice!

So this is a little look into the pulse of the local community around Ichinoseki - an area which covers a hell of a lot of towns. Can I understand the life of a farmer in Iwate? No that still escapes me somewhat. But I do appreciate the order and planning which goes into it all. This area is something of a bread basket. What they lack in cattle they make up for in staples. I hope you enjoy these pictures!

Electioneering at its finest

It's October here in Iwate and the rest of the world too by chance, Autumn is here as the nights get a lot colder and the days cool down too.
Last weekend there were local elections in Ichinoseki, for the post of Mayor and other positions in town. I was up in Morioka on Sunday filming so I missed the big day, but I experienced the build up to the fourth election I have seen in three years in Japan. (2011, 2012 and two in 2013).
It seems elections are a regular occurrence in Japan. Every morning I drove to school at 7.30 I would pass a van parked on a main intersection and people with microphones would introduce themselves to cars waiting for the lights to go green.

A van outside my apartment building.

These vans then did the rounds most of every day up until about 8pm in the evening, with an introduction message repeated and several people with their hands stuck out the window with white gloves waving like the Queen of England. It's all very ... fake I guess. Apparently they are only allowed to talk policy in a forum with the other candidates present. More relevant for the parliamentary elections, but I wonder if people are voting for people depending on how nice they sound.
What is more amazing is the fact that people don't retaliate towards these vans, which truly appears as no more than noise pollution. I think if politicians went about elections this way in Australia the vans would end up egged very quickly indeed.
Still, elections are better than no elections. Right?

Vibrant Vietnam

A little video for you all. 2011, March, the main part of the trip started in Vietnam. Will be visited in a 'Short journey', probably next year.

Motorbikes in Ho Chi Minh City

here is the link:

Vibrant Vietnam


Don't forget:

Dhaka to Dakar

Videos of Ethiopia

Addis Ababa

Back in 2009 I took what was an amazing trip to Ethiopia with two friends of mine. This will be the subject of the very first book in the 'Short Journeys' range, coming in around a month's time to a Kindle store near you (also know as Amazon).

Today I am very happy to be able to share with you two videos I made of that journey.

The first, Extraordinary Ethiopia, sees me visit the capital Addis Ababa, Lalibela, Gondar and Bahir Dar.

The second video remembers the trek through the Simien Mountains, a national park which was truly spectacular. One of the highlights of all my travels.

Please enjoy :)

Free Kindle chapter!

Hello everyone!
Just a quick blog to say that I have a promotion going on Amazon for the next five days. The very FIRST chapter of Dhaka to Dakar is available - Malaysia and Singapore. Yes, I didn't start the Dhaka to Dakar journey in Dhaka, strangely enough. So if you'd like to take a look into the book, this chapter (Chapter One overall, and first chapter of 'Journey Across Asia') is now FREE for download for five days!

Link here:

Dhaka to Dakar: Malaysia and Singapore

And for more info on the book and ALL the chapters:

http://dhakatodaker.webs.com/

More on the new writings and videos in the next few days! Take care!

Kazakhstan Videos

Everyone, in lieu of the new books I am working on, I am also working on some short videos of my time in different countries. Today I present one I just finished working on last night. This is a short summary of my time in Kazakhstan where I visited:

1/ Almaty and Medeu
2/ Semey
3/ Astana

It's shot with my old Canon video camera which used mini-DVD tapes. In particular it features some performances from the Museum of Kazakh Musical Instruments in Almaty which was great, and you can see a lot of the strange and wonderful buildings in Astana. Shot in June 2011. Enjoy!

Curious Kazakhstan