Derbyshire on the Doorstep – #1 Church Wilne Reservoir

 

 

The blissfully long summer has started for me, and that means I have a lot more time to reconnect with my love of walking. Derbyshire is a beautiful county; the north is home to the Peak District and adorably quaint villages; the south also boasts luscious rolling hills and open countryside. I want to take some time to share some of the wonderful locations within the county.

This week I visited Church Wilne Reservoir. This is located in the south of Derbyshire and is just a short and easy walk. The land is flat and a path around the reservoir allows for easy access, although the walk could be made longer by including footpaths through the surrounding fields.

I find Church Wilne to be quiet when I visit, with only a few families or dog walkers. This is great for me as I like to take my dog along, less people means less stops and distractions en route. The quiet environment also makes for a peaceful walk.

Nearby villages include Sawley, Breaston and Draycott, all of which have a range of pubs and tea rooms.

The area is mostly shaded by trees and woodland and it is well kept and clean.

 

Grid Reference: SK 4617 3233

Postcode: DE72 3QF

 

#3 ‘Small Great Things’ — A Thousand Splendid Words

I came across this novel in so many different shops, it appeared to be very popular last year. I didn’t know what to expect from the novel, I hadn’t read anything by Jodi Picoult before, but the blurb was gripping. The story is centred around the death of a baby in hospital, three days […]

via #3 ‘Small Great Things’ — A Thousand Splendid Words

#4 A New Semester — A Thousand Splendid Words

I’ve been back in Birmingham a week now and I’m in the last few days of my Christmas holiday. Currently, I’m doing my printing and reading for the upcoming week and settling back in to what will hopefully be a healthier routine. This semester, I have seminars on Thursday and Friday every week. This […]

via #4 A New Semester — A Thousand Splendid Words

Paris of the East

This was my second time visiting Budapest; there is so much to do and so much to see in the city (at student friendly prices), I knew I would eventually go back.

The flight out of Birmingham (BHX) was with Wizz Air. The flights originally appeared cheap at £65 return each, but hours before the flight we decided to upgrade to Wizz Priority. Their hand luggage policy allows one cabin bag each and nothing else. The extra £18 each allowed us an additional bag and what should have been priority boarding, but they seem to let everyone pile through the boarding get at the same time.

 

 

The flight was delayed by half an hour, so we arrived past midnight. Set on saving money (my boyfriend loves saving money, it’s probably for the best) we took public transport to where we were staying. Due to how late it was, instead of the journey taking one hour, it took over two. We changed bus after thirty minutes and had to wait for the other one. Being the middle of the night, in a quiet, dark area, we were a bit nervous. We survived though, and nothing was stolen! It was gone 4.00am before we managed to sleep. This set us back for the short time we were there. We are not early risers anyway but with a lack of sleep, it’s rare to see daylight hours.

Day 1:

We woke up fairly late, mid-afternoon I must admit. We took a bus to the centre and had something to eat.

Life goal: make our way around the globe on McDonalds.

We then took a walk along the Danube River, stopping for a few mini photoshoots along the way.

Day 2:

Before going to the Szechenyi baths, we went for a walk around a shopping centre on the way. This was my second time at the baths, the water was so warm, with the cold winter air, this was the perfect mix. After staying here for over four three hours in the water, once out and dry, we felt very drowsy and tired. Naturally, we went back for a nap. Three hours later we woke up ready for food. Burger’s Bar was close by and the food was delicious! We had a little difficulty trying to navigate the menu though.

Brits Abroad – Navigating a Foreign Menu

Day 3:

There are a lot of bakeries around in Budapest, we decided to give one a go before getting on the bus. The pastry is great and the sandwiches are all of local variety.

On our last full day, we went to the Hungarian National Museum. I wondered around not fully understanding what was going on around me, thankful for every corner I turned to find a seat. Being a lover of all things old (archaeology student), my boyfriend enjoyed all the displays on various time periods in history. He did present a fair point; to visit museums is culturally enriching and through more understandings of how others live, and have lived, it widens. your outlook on life.

That evening, we went to a local restaurant again, Nothing Special. The waiter was very friendly and it was very well decorated inside. The food was delicious, we were so full after but determined to try something from the desserts menu, we tried the cheesecake, which was to die for! If you’re in Buda area, this restaurant is worth the bus ride.

Nothing Special

My travel tips for Budapest:

• Few people speak English. Take a phrase book or have mobile data to help translate or locate places.
• Remember to activate bus tickets at the small red/orange device on the bus to avoid fines. we often saw people checking. Bus tickets are very cheap per journey.
• When visiting the thermal baths, make sure you don’t have much planned after. The heat made us feel very drowsy after getting out!

 

Brits Abroad – Navigating a Foreign Menu

After weighing up all the other local options, we decided we would try Burger’s Bar, only a three minute walk away from our Air B&B.

The waitress didn’t speak much English and the menu was in Hungarian. In countries such as France, we could take a guess at what we were ordering as some words are similar, but Hungarian is very different to English. English being my only fluent language, I feel very ignorant when travelling abroad to a foreign speaking country because I feel it is a British stereotype (does the rest of Europe hate us?! – serious question).

After staring at the menu for a while, we had the bright idea to get google translate up. This didn’t quite work out…

It was meant to be an item on the side menu.

After what seemed like forever, we discovered a basic cheeseburger and managed to order.

The food was great. The bread for the burger had a slight sweetness and the homemade fries were delicious! The seating area was small but had a unique style and it had a very local feel to it, with men gathering late in the evening to enjoy a burger and beer.

This place is cosy and the food was a reasonable price. I would recommend this to anyone looking to try out food on the outskirts of the city centre.

Burger’s Bar

Social Media Detox

Although I’m not sure how long this will last, I recently decided to disactivate and remove both Facebook and Snapchat. A few thoughts lead to this decision and it’s something I had been contemplating for a while.

To begin with, I start my day and end my day with scrolling social media sites, I also spend much of the time in between scrolling my newsfeed or snapchat stories. Considering that I spend so much time on these sites, they have no value to me. I don’t feel happier for doing it, I don’t learn anything of any value and it wastes a lot of my time.

Another reason, linking to the last, relates to a decline in my mental health. I want to feel happier and more positive. I am only a few days in, but I would like to think I’m feeling better already for not focusing my day on the unimportant and mostly dull content of the social media sites I’ve taken a break from.

At first, and still, it feels strange to not unlock my phone in the morning and not scroll Facebook or Snapchat. I almost feel lost without it and when considering that, I realised how much time I wasted and how much time I could have spent doing something more constructive. I do believe social media is an addiction. One that has its benefits but also an addiction that has drawbacks; I’m sure I’m not the only person to feel this way, but it’s not until you step away from social media that you realise the impact it has on your life.

I want to spend more time focusing on reading, writing (hence keeping up with my blog) and anything to better my chosen studies. There will be a post to follow on how this detox has been going, how long I managed to keep it up for and what I have learnt.

Thailand Diaries: Part 2

Phuket is the next part to our Thai adventure, an island in the south of Thailand common for travellers from all over the world enjoying the all-year-round sun on its white sand beaches. Phuket is filled with many resorts and just as many activities.

It was our first time flying with Air Asia and we were pleasantly surprised, for £50 return flights, we were given a choice of seat and a meal on the plane. It wasn’t long after getting up in the air before it was time to descend again, which is great for me because I find flying uncomfortable.

Upon arriving at the airport, we realised Phuket don’t have Uber, and we were still to discover Grab Taxis at this point. This forced us to use one of the minibus companies with a desk at the arrivals lounge. After paying we were given our tickets and told to go out to the taxi rank. We were met by some very angry drivers and were just told to get into the bus, with no further comment. After waiting there for five minutes, we wanted to know if the bus they rushed us onto was going where we wanted to go. Nothing was explained to us. We got out to ask the driver, just to be yelled at. After a few other people got onto the bus, our cases were unloaded, we kept our eyes on them but the angry driver decided to yell at Charlie, telling him he could get out if he didn’t like it! By then I realised that whatever we did as a couple in Thailand, Charlie would be the one to get the brunt of it. By the end of our journey in the minibus, we were the only ones that weren’t dropped off at the door of our hotel.

We again stayed in an Air B&B which was nice for the amount we paid, but we realised a little too late that we should have researched the area. There was nothing around where we were staying and limited public transport to get anywhere else either. One man by the pool told us there was a bus that went by every hour that would take us to the old town or Patong Beach. On one occasion, we were successful in catching the bus, but on others we waited an hour in the heat before giving up. There isn’t a timetable, and the bus drivers often stop after half an hour to take a nap. If you manage to get the bus somewhere in Phuket, it is doubtful that the return will be just as easy. On the day we caught the bus to Patong Beach, we managed to get a bus half way back, which was fine because we planed to get a taxi the rest of the way. This didn’t work out. We spent twenty minutes trying to get a taxi, because I was unwilling to walk in the heat, but in this time a downpour came and at this point we decided it wouldn’t get any better so we walked for half an hour in heavy rain.

 

Most days in Phuket were spent by the pool, which we were happy with as we wanted somewhere to relax as well as seeing the sites. We ate out most nights here, trying a lot of the local cuisine, but one of our favourite places for food was Only Cheese. It felt like a hangout for local kids’ after-school as the style of the establishment was very simplistic, but we enjoyed the food and went back on a few occasions. During the day, we ate food from 7-eleven, these stores are everywhere in Thailand and often had food we liked.

 

One day, feeling hopeful, we decided to visit the old town area of Phuket. After locating a bus, it was apparently finished for the day (it was only noon). The daughter of the bus driver (who I’m convinced couldn’t be bothered to drive anymore for the day), kindly offered to drop us off at another bus stop on the way to her house. We then waited another half an hour here and there was no sign of a bus, as we were about to give up for a second time that day, the bus came.

We ate at a restaurant called O-OH Farm, with a green initiative, using locally sourced products. The food was delicious and although we ate a typically western meal, it was unlike any version of the meal I have tried before. After this we visited King Rama 9 park. After a hot summer, the park was very dry in the grass areas. It seemed to be a popular spot for locals enjoying a run around the lakes. We later walked to the main road in the old town. The area has stunning Portuguese architecture and many independent cafes to try. By our luck, as soon as we reached where we actually wanted to go that day, it rained heavily. Once it starts raining in the afternoon, its unlikely to stop so we decided to head back, satisfied with our day out.

 

We visited two of the main beaches in Phuket; Patong beach and Karon beach. There was a lot going on at Patong beach, many souvenir shops, places to eat and bars. On the beach, there were a lot of sellers bothering sunbathers, this I found particularly annoying with it being every few minutes. I enjoyed Karon beach more as the beach front didn’t feel like a warmer version of Skegness, it was quiet and the beach was peaceful too. Both beaches were beautiful and the sea was a refreshing temperature for the hot weather.

 

Many people in Phuket mentioned the ‘taxi mafia’, both in person and mentioned frequently in online forums. The taxi prices are five times more than Bangkok because all taxi drivers agree on the high prices, knowing that tourists will be forced to pay it with few other options. The taxi business is so strong in Phuket that Uber has effectively been run out. As well as the prices being high, most will pester you to get in. Not all were bad, Grab Taxis we found recommended on Google Maps so we tried this on a few occasions and were impressed with it. It works the same as Uber but the drivers can operate as normal meter-taxis also and they can take cash payment. I like the option to report complaints if necessary, meaning the driver must give a good service or their star rating will go down.

Over all, I enjoyed my time here but wouldn’t go back to Phuket. The island is surrounded by stunning beaches and turquoise sea, overlooked by green forests but this beauty, I’m sure can be found in other areas of Thailand, and perhaps areas not yet spoilt by mass tourism. There are so many different scams, it seems unfair almost on tourists (tourism being the main industry of Phuket), to be scammed out of even more money or treated badly by local businesses. Despite the odd occasion in our ten days here where things didn’t quite go to plan, we were definitely glad to enjoy a holiday that let us both relax and see the marvellous sights and culture of a major world city.

 

Thailand Diaries: Part 1

After three amazing weeks in the bliss Thai sun, I wanted to share my experiences, both good and bad. To start with, Thailand had been somewhere I had dreamed of going for a long time; the white sand beaches, the delicious cuisine, and my interest in Asian cultures. The cost was also attractive to me. While Thailand may not be one of the cheapest places to travel to, it is one of the cheapest places to fly to in Asia, as well as the accomodation options being of good quality for the price paid. Before my holiday there, I did have expectations of what the country would be like, but I think it’s fair to say, for one reason or another, not all of those expectations were met.

To start with, we nearly missed our flight, which would have been a huge set back to our holiday! For whatever reason, we thought our flight was a day later than it actually was, so when trying to check in online (the day of our flight) we were unable to. Charlie (my male) discovered that our flight was later that day. You can imagine our shock but luckily this was still six hours before our flight and our bags were already packed. Once we got over the initial panic, we managed to get to the airport in good time. We took a connecting flight through New Delhi and we flew with Air India – an airline I was sceptical of from a previous experience, but on this occasion, it wasn’t that bad. While trying to watch a film, I realised one headphone was playing the audio in English and the other in German, but that pretty much sums up Air India; dated and cheap but if that was the worst thing that happened, it’s hard to complain.

As mentioned in an earlier post, we chose to use Air B&B, mostly because the prices were exceptionally cheap for the facilities they had. It was just a small flat with its own kitchen, bathroom and balcony and a shared pool and gym. It was located near Punnawithi BTS station so it was only a short ride into Bangkok centre.

The BTS is a convenient system of public transport using a sky train to connect different districts in the city but for some places, we also had to take an additional bus. The BTS is modern and air conditioned, mostly used by shoppers travelling to Siam or those commuting for school and work. The bus on the other hand, was a wooden structure with no air conditioning. It was very old but quite enjoyable to ride and see parts of the city tourists wouldn’t otherwise travel to. It was also very cheap to ride!

On our first full day in Bangkok we chose to go to Sampeng Market. It was huge! It mainly appeared to sell fabric but also some stalls sold jewellery, handbags and smaller electrical goods. We tried some of the delicious street food; one of my favourite snacks was marinated pork or chicken on a stick, also sold on the streets in other parts of the city. I also really enjoyed the spring rolls sold by other street vendors. Unfortunately, we did not try any fried bugs, despite seeing them in many Facebook videos advertising Thailand, I didn’t notice any. There was a lot of grilled fish sold on the street, more so than any meat, but fish isn’t for me.

In our first few days we also visited The Grand Palace, a famous site of religious and cultural significance and great beauty! The buildings were vibrant and quite literally grand! Mostly covered in either gold or mosaic. Due to the recent death of their beloved king, many locals had come to the palace as a place of mourning and paying respect. Although we enjoyed our visit, it was far too hot to fully appreciate and we rushed around the site to get to the end. Fully covered in 34°c heat, we regret not going earlier in the day. One of the more memorable events of the entire trip came when we couldn’t get hold of an Uber, bus or taxi to take us back to where we were staying, so we decided to get into a tuk tuk. Having been in a few tuk tuks while in India, I didn’t think this was a bad idea. The price the driver was asking for was ridiculous but we managed to get this down by agreeing to stop by his sponsors suit shop. During the ride, the driver insisted on us looking at suits for fifteen minutes or he wouldn’t take us the rest of the way. He then decided to drive the wrong way down the street against oncoming traffic, which the police then tried to pull him over for but he sped past them. I decided to tell him I wasn’t happy with his driving, probably hoping he would listen to this and drive better, but I was mocked in response. We told him we wanted to get out and after getting out, I was only willing to give him a third of the price he wanted after taking us less than a third of the journey, and for the terrible driving. He was very unhappy and decided to try and punch Charlie, who is much bigger than he is but if we were to get into any trouble, it would not work in favour of the tourists. Charlie gave him a bit more money and we left (went to hide in KFC until he’d moved out of the traffic).

After three full days in Bangkok, we took an Air Asia flight to Phuket, the island your probably see in all the videos and photos with clear seas and white sand beaches. After spending ten days there, I can say it isn’t as glamorous as the photos would suggest…

Plan, Save, Travel

I am by no means rich and I don’t have every holiday I go on handed to me. Normally, I decide where I want to travel to a year in advance of the time I want to go and I find this to be a good strategy in travelling on a budget.

My source of income is a student loan and the amount I get is the minimum. Before further mention on my travel planning, I would first like to point out that once earning over £21,000, this loan will begin to be paid back and if I didn’t have the intention of getting a job to earn over this amount, I wouldn’t be spending three years of my life studying for a degree. I don’t see the money I do spend on travelling as a waste as travelling and immersing myself in in another culture, to me, is a life experience. I also believe that this is the best time in my life to go and experience the world, I am young, have limited commitments and I am healthy, which isn’t guaranteed in years to come.

For this year’s summer adventure, I am travelling to Thailand for three weeks with my boyfriend, also a student. I loved the idea of Thailand and it had been an ambition of mine for a while to travel there. Around September in 2016, I decided I wanted to travel there the following summer. Deciding early meant that I could begin to save, so I put a portion of my student loan into a savings account. This meant I did have less to spend on food, clothes, nights out, fast food and general living costs, although by no means was I eating pot noodles every mealtime (P.S. thanks mum XOXO).

For flights, we did pay more than we should have, but still, I was happy with £377 return flights. Early January they were £70 cheaper and it only went up from there. It shows booking early pays off. I also look for connecting flights to cut costs, this can save hundreds. My favourite website to find good deals on flights is Skyscanner; this shows which days are cheapest and is of great benefit if you can be flexible.

While were there, we will be using Air B&B for accommodation which worked out just as cheap as a shared room in a hostel would be. This option means that we can cook our own food if we want to, have the use of a pool and have our own space. Between two, some of the rooms we booked came to £7 per night! This is for a moderately nice room too.

We also intend to use Uber while there, a prepaid taxi service. While in India earlier in the year, a weeks’ worth of Uber cost us £35 and most on journeys we were in the car for thirty minutes or more, four times or more a day. Thailand has a similar cost of living, meaning I can expect this service to cost a similar amount. Uber is a safe and easy way to travel if you have internet access on the go.

Visiting places of interest are generally cheap, costing a few pounds for entry at the most. This is the same for food in a restaurant, street food costing even less. This is a surprise to me in Asian countries and it makes me realise how expensive it is to live in the UK.

I’m sure there will be another update post Thailand, but for now, I hope this gives some insight into my travel planning and inspiration for your own.

My Favourite Trio

I love reading and the sense of disconnecting from the real world and into a fictional fantasy; the author writes the words but the reader is left to imagine how those words would transpire into their own fictional world. I find many books to be interesting but one author I find to be particularly engaging is Khaled Hosseini.

He is most famous for his novel, ‘The Kite Runner’. This was the first of his novels I read and I enjoyed the strong imagery he creates to put the reader in Kabul at a time of conflict. Afghanistan is usually in the news due to war but these novels help to see another side to the country, and its capital painted in a positive light before war. The traditions and culture show the rich heritage of Kabul, making it more than a war ridden city to the reader. The novel is also filled with unexpected turns, enough to captivate a reader’s interest.

Although I enjoyed the his first book, and it would rank highly in the books I have read, my favourite all time book is ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’, also by khaled Hosseini. I came across this book when it was recommended by a friend and I am glad I chose to read it.

This book looks at two women from very different backgrounds forced into marriage for different reasons. This novel explores relationships at a time of desperation in Kabul and is written in a very similar style to The Kite Runner. The novel presents many questions, again enticing the reader to find the answers. I found ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ to be very emotional.

 

I am currently reading ‘And The Mountains Echoed’, one of khaled Hosseini’s most recent novels. Written in the same alluring tone, this novel again explores relationships but this time between two siblings and the love they share for one another. I am enjoying this novel as much as I enjoyed the other two and hope to comment further when I have finished reading it!