Roaming in Roo

After a short adventure in Asia, I am firmly staying in the UK to enjoy the rest of the summer. A return to van travel in Roo, back on the road with Poppy as my only passenger and no route planned; just an idea of heading north.

As we left Norfolk at the weekend, we stopped in Fring in the west of the county for a beautiful circular walk filled with wildflowers and the sights of the harvest season in full swing. From Norfolk it was a drive through the Lincolnshire Wolds. I love the road from Horncastle to Louth (past Cadwell Park.) It’s better on a motorbike, but driving it in Roo still saw a smile creep on my face as I remember making the journey to Cadwell for race meetings so many times with Dad. 

From Lincolnshire it was on and up through the Yorkshire Moors, covered in carpets of purple heather. The weather has been just perfect for walking - sunny skies, but not as hot as in the south. Unexpectedly we joined the English Heritage after walking to Rievaulx Abbey from the bustling market town of Helmsley. After walking along tracks and shaded woodland you reach amazing ruins of a Cistercian Monastery, tucked in a valley with an amazing, small museum onsite too.  

So a great start to our unplanned ventures!

Two Sides to Every Story

Summer is here! I find myself just arriving back to the UK after exploring two of the ‘Stans;’ Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union, that lie at the heart of the Silk Road with a backdrop of majestic, snow-capped mountains. They also say Kyrgyzstan is the ‘Switzerland of Central Asia’ for the colourful carpets of wildflowers.

I could continue by telling you about the delicious food, the sights of galloping horses and the incredible mountain roads we travelled on, however, there is also another side to travel. Our flights over there were of Ryanair style, which for short haul flying is great, but after twelve hours on the most uncomfortable seats, surrounded by screaming toddlers on hot planes, we learnt not to choose that airline again! Two days into our trip, after a night at a yurt camp on the lake shore of Song Kul we became sick. Really sick. For the following two days we could eat nothing, had raging fevers and literally moved from bed to bed being cared for by the kindest, gentlest people. Two days doesn’t sound very long, but when you’re far from home it can seem like it.

So, yes, I have incredible photos to treasure of the landscape of these two young countries and memories of hiking there but, it will be the kindness of someone bringing me bottled water to drink late at night when I had run out, the feeling of a blanket being laid over me whilst all I could do was sleep and the patience of our bus driver who stopped along the endless gravel roads when my body needed to. 

Will experiences like this prevent me from travelling again? Absolutely not but it definitely reminds me of two things. Firstly that our health is the most precious thing and secondly that wherever you are in the world there will be people to show you love and kindness. With those thoughts, I look at the world map and wonder where my next adventure will be…

Reunion in the Cotswolds

 It’s funny how things work out and we end up in unexpected places. After my A levels didn’t go to plan, I took a year out to work full time and accepted a place at my second choice university. It was during the first week of uni that I met four girls that I would become beautiful friends and housemates with. We all studied different things and came from different parts of the UK, but we seemed to make a good team.

Twenty years since we graduated and we found ourselves together in the sunshine exploring the Cotswolds, a lovely area of our country with pretty villages and footpaths to walk. We all slowed down and enjoyed time to sit and catch up in many a pub and tea room to celebrate our friendship. Poppy of course came to!

Break in Bosnia

It’s amazing how much you can fit in to just a few days away. This time it was Bosnia and Herzegovina that I explored. A really easy to navigate city with a horrific recent history within my lifetime and the most stunning National parks with majestic mountains to rival those in Western Europe. After a short flight, I found myself just 20mins from the bustling city of Sarajevo, where the spire of the Cathedral and the minaret of the mosque shared the skyline. A free walking tour gave me my bearings in the Old Town before I headed up the hill to find my hostel. 

My two full days were spent exploring other places in the country including Konjic, Mostar, Blagaj, Kravice waterfalls and hiking in Sutjeska National Park. The weather was perfect and when I reached Trnovacko Lake (shaped like a heart,) an old man wandered out of a hut, checked our passports, poured a glass of pear brandy and went off to make coffee. It turned out I had just crossed the Bosnia/Montenegro border! The brandy and coffee were a great way to start the week!

On my final morning, I took the cable car in Sarajevo to see the now abanndonned bob sled track from the olympics. The forest is being left to grow around and over it and graffiti artists have adorned it with colour. 

A great taste of another Balkan country in just a few days!