Scott's Travel Blog

Continuing along with my theme of wanting to visit unusual places that no (or not many) people I know have visited while experiencing a different culture and learning something at the same time I have booked my trip for 2013. In 6 weeks I will be flying to Ukraine to spend a few days in Kiev and a couple of days visiting the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

It’s a fairly short and, compared to my recent trips, nearby trip but due to issues with my travel budget this year I thought I would check Chernobyl off of my bucket list and save places like Kyrgyzstan for next year.

In total I’ll be spending 4 days in and around Kiev plus 2 days and 1 night inside the exclusion zone seeing things like the buildings of the power plant and the abandoned towns nearby.

Should be fun! Expect lots of photos of the trip, and The Travels of Charlie, when I get back.

Location of Chernobyl in Ukraine near the Belarus border

A couple of years ago I went on a trip to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (aka DPRK / North Korea). It was probably one of the most unique trips I have ever been on due to the nature of travel in the country – only a select number of people can visit each year and visitors follow an itinerary that has been authorised in advance, must stay with their guides and are not allowed to leave their hotel unescorted.

This may not seem like the type of trip I would enjoy, due to my love of getting off of the tourist trail and getting under the skin of a country on adventure tours, but I found it a very worthwhile trip. When I travel I like to learn as much as I can and open myself up to new ideas and I thought it was very important to see the country for myself instead of just read and accept what the media  tell us. I also like to visit unique destinations that nobody else I know has visited, that are off of the usual tourist trail, and the DPRK definitely fits that. I am glad I went on the trip and feel that I was able to learn a lot.

Until now my travel blog has been kept private on here to respect the privacy of my guides. I was given permission by my tour company to post information about the trip on my blog as long as I did not talk about the guides or show them in my photos to respect their privacy. I decided, on my own, to initially keep the blog password protected to add an additional level of privacy for my guides. However now that two years have passed, and the country is now under the guidance of Kim Jong-Un after the death of his father Kim Jong-Il who was the leader during my visit, I feel that it is important to share my experiences with others so they can make an informed decision if they are thinking about travelling to this unique destination.

I highly recommend a trip to the DPRK if you are looking for a unique, cultural trip to a country with a lot of history as long as you are willing to respect the culture of Korea and the rules of the trip. If you book a trip to the country you will be told a little about the DPRK and given a few rules about conduct during your visit and please follow these not only to respect the culture of the country but also to respect your guides.

The blog can be found by clicking here, or by clicking the “2010 China & North Korea” link in the menu, but to get you started here is a photo from my trip.

The Kim il-Sung Statue

Some of the things that I saw on my trip (for the benefit of search engines) were:

• Pyongyang
• Kim il-Sung Statue
• Juche Tower
• Taedong River
• USS Pueblo
• Yanggakdo Hotel
• Arirang Mass Games
• West Sea Barrage at Nampo
• International Friendship Exhibition at Mount Myohyang
• Sariwon
• Kaesong
• DMZ (De-Militarized Zone) at Panmunjeon
• South Korea
• Train to Beijing

(Please note – I have been given permission to include details of my trip on my blog by the tour company but the names of my guides as well as photos of them have left out to respect their privacy. It is forbidden for journalists to visit The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on a tourist visa and it is forbidden for us to publish information about our trip in any capacity without permission. As a result I do NOT give permission for anything I write about North Korea in this blog, or any photos I upload of North Korea, to be used anywhere for any purpose other than reading directly on my blog if you are considering travelling to North Korea as a tourist. In addition I do NOT give permission for my name, my blog’s address, or any photos of me to be used or quoted anywhere for any purpose related to The DPRK. If you breach this notice you will be subject to legal action from the tour company. Thank you for your understanding.

If you feel that the post / page containing this notice breaches any regulations or if it contains any information or photos which should be changed or removed to respect the rules of the tour company or the traditions of The DPRK please let me know ASAP so I can fix the problem.)

My travel blog from my trip to Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica is finally online after much typing up over the past week. The blog is posted with each post on the corresponding day as I wrote the blog on paper while I was out there, or at least in detailed daily note form, with how I was feeling, what we did, what our plans were etc and so it’s exactly the same blog as if I had typed it on the road.

I had so many good experiences over there, saw many amazing things and made a few good friends too and the memories from that trip will stay with me for a long time. I guess the highlights would be swimming with dolphins in Honduras, seeing the glow of lava from the crater of a volcano in Nicaragua and the awesome night out in San Jose Costa Rica but that’s just a handful of things I did so if you’re interested then feel free to flick through the travel blog or just look at the photos or something.

Over time I’ll be adding my TripAdvisor reviews and comments about each country and town we visited to the “countries” section on this blog when I get around to it but for now I hope you enjoy my Central America blog and if you’re thinking about visiting the area then I hope it helps you make some decisions – that’s why I write this blog as I like to record my experiences for the future so they can help other people in the way that blogs have helped me.

To get you started here’s a photo I really like that I took in Honduras.

To read the entire blog click “2012 Central America” in the info at the bottom of this post, in the menu to the right, or select it from the “Full Updates” drop down menu at the top.

PS: Go Team Breakaway!

I’m now back in the UK after what has been a short but very sweet visit to Amsterdam and one which I’m glad I went on despite the stress caused during the planning stages.

This morning we visited the Anne Frank House which was another highlight of the trip. I highly recommend visiting this location if you’re going to Amsterdam as the story you will be told is incredibly moving but I would suggest that you pre-book your tickets so you don’t have to queue for a long time like we did.

The Queue for the Anne Frank House

The museum is in two parts – the first one is in the building next to the original house and gives you a background to the Anne Frank story, along with numerous artifacts, before you move through to the second part which is the original building which Anne Frank lived during the Second World War. In addition to the living quarters you also see the hidden annexe where the Frank family hid from the Nazis during the war.

The whole experience was incredibly moving and worth the entry ticket although, being one of the top attractions in Amsterdam, it is very cramped so make sure you don’t go along with any bags like we did. After the Anne Frank house we explored the city for a bit before having lunch near the train station.

Parade in Amsterdam

The parade was quite large!

We saw this band before Within Temptation on the other side of the city too

Me sitting inside an Aircraft Engine at Schipol Airport

Leaving on a jet plane

The journey home went smoothly and after flying back to Luton we all went our separate ways. The trip was short but full of great things and I’m glad to have made so many new friends and seen a couple of my favourite bands on consecutive nights.

This morning I had breakfast before making my way into the city to meet my friend Jonathan who lives near Amsterdam. I’ve known him for years but we’ve hardly met so while I was in Holland, even though it wasn’t the same city, we made sure we met up.

We met at Dam Square before exploring the city, having a few coffees and then ending up at a cafe on top of a tower overlooking the city which had some great views. It was great to chat for a while and catch up on things while seeing more of the city but it was soon time to make my way back to the hotel to meet up with my friends ready for the Within Temptation theatre show.

On my way to meet Jonathan in Dam Square

There was no need to arrive early as this show was seated but we left in plenty of time to make sure we found the venue and so that we could chill with some drinks at the bar. After purchasing some merch we made our way up to the first floor where there was a bar with a great balcony ovelooking the city. I decided to be classy with some rose wine while the others had other drinks.

The first half of the show was a slower, acoustic gig comprised of rarely played songs with a video background which was great as I’ve only ever seen full sets from Within Temptation. There was a storyline that followed the specially filmed video which made the theatre tour extra special compared to your average show. It was also very civilised with everybody sitting in their seats clapping after every song compared to the usual cheering and rock hands. After the first half there was an intermission and time for a few more drinks on the balcony.

Ant on the theatre balcony

Me with a Rose wine

Inside the theatre

Within Tempatation – part 1

Within Temptation Part 1

Within Temptation – part 1

As soon as the second half started everybody stood up and rushed forward although this wasn’t really an option for us on the balcony. The second half was a full band show playing many new songs along with a selection of hits from the past. It was such a great show, with such good energy, and at the end we all stood up and gave a very long standing ovation.

Setlist Part 1
The Last Dance
Bittersweet
Overcome
Restless
Sounds of Freedom
Our Farewell
The Swan Song
Say My Name
Never-Ending Story

Setlist Part 2
The Promise
Ice Queen
Caged
Iron
Lost
Faster
Stand My Ground
Mother Earth

Encore
Sinéad
Stairway to the Skies

Part 2 of the show was full band

Within Temptation saying goodbye

The theatre after the show

We were all pretty exhausted by the end of the show so we slowly made our way back to our hotel. The most direct way was straight through the red light district and it was quite an eye opener as this was the first time we had been there at night.

I’m back in the hotel now after a really great Nightwish gig and am completely exhausted but it has been such a great day.

I rose early and headed out to the venue before my friends were awake as some people I was due to meet were already at the venue from the early hours. The journey was fairly quick and after arriving at the venue some time between 8am and 9am I met my online friends and settled down ready for a long day of queuing.

There’s not much to report from the 10 hours in the queue. It was mainly good weather to start with so we took some time to enjoy the sun, walk around the venue perimeter, grab some snacks etc but as the day progressed the weather got worse. At one point it was raining quite heavily so the poncho I brought with me came in handy. The queue was split into two and the other side of the queue cheated and hid under this.

Some of the queue hiding from the rain under a plastic sheet

The HMH was next to the Ajax Stadium

Over the course of the day I met quite a few new people which helped pass the time and, as we had all queued there for a long time, we were all like minded. This was evident when it got close to doors and we all just wanted to get inside to secure our place on the barrier. When that time came we all ran (except past the security guards) straight into the venue and secured our places. I was lucky enough to get a place next to the people I had met and almost central on the barrier.

Me, Fiona and Squealing Pig

Squealing Pig!

Fiona sleeping outside the HMH

Eklipse were the first band on stage and played mainly covers on violins etc. They were ok but nothing special. Battle Beast were next and I was really impressed with their singer although they weren’t my sort of music. Then there was a tense wait while the set was changed over for Nightwish – this included the dropping of a huge material screen to create an effect when the band came on.

Eklipse opening for Nightwish

Battle Beast were next in line

Before Nightwish came on

The pre-Nightwish curtain

Nightwish were great – the new album combined with the pyro combined created a great atmosphere. The show started with Marco in a rocking chair behind the large screen and then burst into songs from the new album. There was a lot of pyro and a lot of energy but this was split into two with a quieter acoustic section in the middle.

The setlist
Taikatalvi
Storytime
Wish I Had an Angel
Amaranth
Scaretale
Slow, Love, Slow
I Want My Tears Back
Come Cover Me
The Crow, the Owl and the Dove
The Islander
Nemo
Last of the Wilds
Planet Hell
Ghost River
Dead to the World
Over the Hills and Far Away

Encore
Finlandia
Song of Myself
Last Ride of the Day
Imaginaerum

Here’s a selection of my best photos from the concert.

Marco Hietala

Nightwish

Nightwish and some pyro!

Nightwish

Nightwish Pyro!

Tuomas Holopainen

Nightwish saying goodbye

Absolute chaos trying to buy merchandise but after buying a t-shirt and a flag I made my way outside to meet my friends.

Tomorrow I’m starting the day by meeting an old friend of mine that lives not far from Amsterdam before seeing Within Temptation play a theatre show in the city.

I’ve made it to Amsterdam and have found it to be a colourful and diverse city so far. Tomorrow is the day I see Nightwish but first about my journey here.

Yesterday I made my way up to the Travelodge in Luton where I checked in and chilled for a bit while waiting for my friends who were joining me from another direction. After they arrived we chatted for a bit about the arrangements for the weekend before finding a local pub for dinner. It was quite a nice pub and I had a great steak and chicken combo. After dinner we made it back to the hotel for an early night ready for our early flight to Amsterdam this morning.

Today we made our way to the airport car park before making our transfer to the airport. There isn’t much to do at Luton Airport other than wait for your flight so there’s not much to report except we were glad when it was time for our flight. We flew with Easyjet so there was the usual panic for seats but we left on time and we were soon on our way to Amsterdam.

After arriving we made our way to the airport station and travelled into the city by train. The journey was quick so we arrived in the city too early to be able to check into the hotel and decided to have lunch instead. We found a fast food outlet just around the corner from the hotel that had free wi-fi so we chilled there for a while. The food was nice but a piece of advice for anybody who, like me, really dislikes mayonnaise – they put it on everything whether you want it or not so stay away from fast food outlets and stick with supermarkets or nicer restaurants.

The hotel toilet room was a little hard to turn around in!

We checked in and made our way straight into the city centre to look around. One of the first places we stopped was Dam Square which is the main meeting point in Amsterdam and seems to be the hub of activity like the South Bank in London. Like the South Bank they also had people dressed up in costumes like Ghostface and Darth Vader who, for a small fee, would pose for photos with you. I decided to take on Ghostface but became his next victim.

Walking around Amsterdam

I became the next Ghostface victim!

Walking around Amsterdam

One of the many canals of Amsterdam

My friends were feeling sleepy so chilled back in the hotel for a bit with food from the local supermarket while I wandered around the city checking out some more sights including the Anne Frank House, The Homomonument, several churches and many, many canals. The Homomonument was an especially moving sight as it’s a memorial made up of three pink triangles within a larger triangle which commemorates the LGBT victims of the Second World War.

The Amsterdam LGBT district

One of the three pink triangles of the Homomonument

The land part of the Homomonument

Anne Frank House

Me at Anne Frank’s House

After getting back to the hotel I saw my friend was making a skype call to the orphanage in Uganda where she volunteered for a few months (I visited during my last trip abroad) so I joined in the conversation to say hi. It was great to see how the kids were getting on a catch up about Uganda related things. However an early night is needed tonight, however, ready for a long day of queuing outside the Heineken Music Hall to see Nightwish so I’ll be signing off for now.

I’m now home after what has been an amazing week and a bit visiting the Ekisa Orphanage in Jinja, Uganda. The visit was definitely what I needed to get a break from things and I feel it has helped me grow as a person.

The journey back took quite a while, however. I left Ekisa at 6pm yesterday – thinking this would be more than enough time to get to Entebbe Airport in time for my flight. Unfortunately we got stuck in traffic going through Kampala which meant check-in for my flight had already opened by the time we arrived at the airport. Job, the driver, did really well at getting through the traffic in typical Ugandan style to make sure I got my flight on time.

While I was in the airport I was approached by somebody doing a travel survey, which is ironic as that’s my job in the UK at the moment. It was for on behalf of the tourism studies department at a Hong Kong University and they wanted to know about peoples travel experiences in Uganda and I was more than happy to oblige. It helped kill some time between arriving at the airport and getting on the plane.

The flight from Entebbe to Brussels went smoothly and, with the air of my priority ticket, I was able to skip past the security line and transfer straight over to the other terminal to connect with my flight to London. The flight back to London went really smoothly and I arrived back home on time.

This was probably one of the most worthwhile trips I have been on. I had a great time interacting with the kids – memories I have taken home with me and will keep with me for life. Emily and Emily do a great job helping these kids and I hope to be able to continue supporting them for some time to come – and I encourage you all to help out as well. I hope one day to return to Uganda – this trip has secured the country at the top of my favourite destinations list.

I encourage you all to help the people at Ekisa - dig deep they're worth it!

CLICK HERE to visit the Ekisa website and read more about the great work they’re doing.

Ps: Thank you to Emily, Aaron, Simon, Bridget, Stacey, Kelsey, Caroline, all of the Mama’s, all of the kids, and anybody I forgot to list at Ekisa – I had a great time visiting and I miss you all already.

I’m coming to the end of what has been a great week staying at Ekisa – the kids here are great and I really like this town. Much of the time has been spent interacting with the kids at the Ekisa compound but I’ve also spent quite a bit of time exploring the town and surrounding area.

On my first full day here some of the volunteers invited me on a trip they were doing to take supplies to a primary school on the peninsula a couple of miles across Lake Victoria opposite Jinja. We started our journey by catching Bodas down to the lake front where Aaron, one of the guards at Ekisa, organised a boat to take us across the lake. The journey gave us some really good views but we got bombarded by bugs that live on the lake – piece of advice if you take a boat across the lake keep your mouth closed and wear sunglasses and a hat.

After arriving on the peninsula we caught Bodas up to the school we were due to visit, at the top of a hill overlooking the lake. Most people got there without any problems although our Boda had problems getting up the hill and I ended up ripping my trousers in the process so we arrived a long time after the others. We were greeted by the head teacher who invited us to sign the visitors book before giving us a tour of the school. The school was very basic and reminded me of the one I visited in Kenya a few years ago – holes in the wall and lack of facilities. However the children were really happy to see us and after giving out the supplies to the children we were treated to a song and dance presentation in the school hall.

A small fishing enclave on the shores of Lake Victoria

On the boat travelling across Lake Victoria

Me trying to be artistic with a photo after arriving on the other side of the bay

One of the better school buildings - this one had a roof and most of a wall

Once the presentation finished we walked with some of the kids down to meet our boat back to Jinja – it was a steep hill and some of the group had problems walking but the kids just ran straight down with no problems. Eventually we all got to the bottom and walked hand in hand with some of the kids to the town where the boat was due to meet us. When we arrived at the town we were greeted by a large group of kids who interacted and played with us for ages until our boat arrived to take us back to Jinja.

Walking back down to the shores of Lake Victoria

Some of the kids in the lakeside village saying hello to us

Most of my other trips out from Ekisa were to town but the one thing I wanted to do this time was visit the source of the River Nile as I was unable to get there when I was in town in 2009. We caught a boda there, and I’m glad we visited, although it was mainly a tourist trap with lots of souvenirs so we did what we needed to do before catching our boda to a nearby restaurant called Mezzanine. I highly recommend visiting Mezzanine if you’re in Jinja to see the great views of the River Nile and enjoy great food (I chose the Mr Potato Head Pizza with cream, roast potatoes, onion, mozzarella and rocket).

This week I was able to spend a lot more time exploring the town of Jinja which was great. I picked up a few souvenirs but was also able to check out some of the favourite local cafes and bars such at The Keep, a highly recommended place to chill with drinks and snacks while escaping the inevitable downpours that happen most days. There have been a few other places that we’ve visited including a coffee place called Flavours, a cafe called Ozzie’s and a restaurant called Skewers but The Keep was by far my favourite – in fact I bought a t-shirt to keep the memories going.

Jinja town centre

The rapids have been overwhelmed by water, but this marks the source of the River Nile

A statue of Gandhi at the source of the River Nile

A Mr Potato Head Pizza at Mezzanine, overloooking the River Nile

The highlight of the week, however, has been interacting with the kids at Ekisa. Despite having so little, and having so many bad things happen to them, they always have such smiles on their faces and I’ll miss them. I spent quite a lot of time playing with the kids but we also took them into town a few times. One of my favourite memories was taking a few of the kids into town on Bodas so they could have sodas at The Keep – I took Paul and he had such a great time it was a pleasure to help him have a great time. There are so many great memories I’ll take away with me that I won’t mention here, although I’ll really miss Jamil and his inquisitiveness, plus Mweru and his energy but I think I’ll miss every single kid here even though I’ve only been here a week. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Emily for letting me use her room while she’s been away and to Ekisa for showing me a great time.

Hand painting with Zak and Bridget

Me and Jamil at Ekisa

Me with Paul and Zuena at The Keep

Outside the Ekisa gate looking towards the airfield

Hand painting to raise funds for Ekisa

Me and Mweru at Ekisa

Mweru latched on to me and loved playing with me during my time at Ekisa

As I arrived at 10pm yesterday rather than the 220am of my old flights I was able to get up early enough to be able to explore Entebbe for a while before my friend arrived to collect me for the journey to Jinja. After getting up, repacking my bags and discovering how bad the ants are in Uganda I checked out of the room and headed out towards the Uganda Wildlife Centre to see some African animals. It was to be quite a walk but a guy was waiting near the hostel with a boda motorbike taxi and took me to the zoo in only a few minutes.

Almost every guide book about the region recommends staying away from Bodas due to the risk of injury. The roads in Africa can be chaotic and the traffic laws tend to be used as guidelines more than rules so when combined with the quality of the roads and the lack of helmets there can be a lot of accidents. However when you’re in Africa without your own transport and on a budget they tend to be the only way to get from A to B within a town. TIA after all.

A Lion at the zoo in Entebbe (Uganda Wildlife Centre)

A Uganda Kob

The bird enclosure

A Zebra at the zoo

I enjoyed my time at the zoo as I was able to see and get close to so many animals that I missed out on last time I was in Uganda including Lion, Crocodile, Snakes and Monkeys – the latter of which were wild in the grounds and got VERY close on occasions. The grounds themselves were lovely and and extended all the way down to the shore of Lake Victoria and as I was one of the only visitors this morning I was able to walk around in peace and soak up the atmosphere.

While I was looking at the Lions I noticed a jeep pull up near me and a man in a suit got out and started watching me. Originally I thought I was standing somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be but after walking towards him he introduced himself as the manager and he wanted to chat to me just to see what my views were on the zoo. We chatted for a few minutes about his zoo and other zoos I had visited and he asked my opinion on a few things they had done recently – it seemed like they genuinely care about what people think rather than just presenting the animals for you to see like in some other zoos. I was also asked what I thought about the entry price of the zoo and whether I received a receipt but didn’t think anything more of the answers I gave until I got back to the entrance. As I walked out I heard somebody trying to get my attention from the side window of the ticket office – it was the ticket clerk who sold me the ticket wanting to give me my receipt. It seems the manager had a word with him to find out why I didn’t receive a receipt, I assume to stop him pocketing the money himself.

A view of Lake Victoria from the zoo

Scenery at the zoo

An Ostrich at the zoo

Wildlife looking at me in Entebbe

A monkey having a drink in a pond

Some of the many, many monkeys roaming free at the zoo in Entebbe

A Monkey staring at his own reflection

A short, fast Boda ride later and I was back at the Entebbe Backpackers where I chilled with a magazine for a bit while waiting for my friend to arrive to take me to Jinja. I was chilling for maybe an hour before my friend arrived with Job, the Ekisa Orphanage driver of choice, and two kids from the orphanage (Paul and Zeke). The kids were really happy to see me, despite not being able to speak English, and we all sat around having some drinks and snacks in the shade for a while to give them a rest before heading off from Entebbe towards Jinja.

The left part of the building was my room at the Entebbe Backpackers

The main building at Entebbe Backpackers

The road outside the Entebbe Backpackers

The journey progressed slower than we expected so we decided to stop in Kampala for lunch at a place near the American Embassy called Le Petit Village. It looked like a really expensive hotel, built in traditional African style, but we stopped for their deli which served a great selection of baguettes. I opted for a nice Salami baguette which definitely filled a gap. I caught up with my friend and interacted with the kids for a while but it was soon on to Jinja.

It was a great feeling when we finally arrived in Jinja and made our way up to Ekisa which is on the outskirts of town near the Adrift campsite I stayed at a few years ago. As soon as I got out of the minibus I was greeted by another one of the kids, Mweru, who came flying through the air and hugged me. I have a feeling this will be the start of a lot of attention from him, but all of the kids were so curious when I arrived and I spent most of the rest of the day relaxing at Ekisa and interacting with the kids. The building has a couple of rooms for volunteers, a few kids bedrooms, two bedrooms for the Emilys, a lounge, kitchen and is set in a great walled compound which allows the kids to run around and have fun in safety.

Driving towards Kampala on the way to Jinja

I’m now relaxing in the room I’ll have for the week I’m here which usually belongs to one of the directors, but she’s in the USA on a fundraising trip, so it’s giving me a chance to get away from the constant chaos that seems to pour through the building.