Iceland
It might not be the most groundbreaking revelation for me to tell you that Iceland is very, very cold. But there it is. It’s freezing. The icy wind feels like it’s blowing in… Continue reading
Category Archive: Travel
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28 hours in Saõ Paulo
Last week, during a routine conversation about our upcoming projects, my boss casually asked me if I would be available at the weekend to drop something off in Saõ Paulo. I immediately said… Continue reading
Sri Lanka – Aragum Bay and Uda Walawe
We stayed in Aragum Bay for three nights, in a little ‘treehouse cabana’ in a hostel right on the beach. Our little wooden cabin, on stilts twice as tall as I am, and… Continue reading
Sri Lanka – Ella
The train journey from Kandy to the hill town of Ella, passing through Nuwara Eliya and other popular little towns, is said to be one of the most beautiful in the world. The… Continue reading
Sri Lanka – Colombo and Kandy
Because we flew with Emirates airlines, we were able to make a very quick stop in Dubai in the middle of our flight to Sri Lanka. We got a taxi from the airport… Continue reading
Cuba – Baracoa
Keen to leave Santiago de Cuba, and keen to try out the Taxi Collectivos (group taxis) that we had heard other travellers rave about, we decided to skip the bus and make the… Continue reading
Cuba – Trinidad y Santiago de Cuba
Wandering the cobbled streets of Trinidad, past colourful houses, noisy bars, terraced restaurants and little shops selling straw hats and key rings, you might be forgiven for thinking that you had somehow ended… Continue reading
Cuba – Cienfuegos
It took eight hours to get from Viñales to Cienfuegos and the air con stopped working about five hours into the journey. We climbed off the bus sweaty and restless and hot and… Continue reading
Cuba – Valle Viñales
An uneventful and aggressively air conditioned bus journey took us from Havana to the small town of Viñales. It only took four hours (including the obligatory stop at a roadside café/ gift shop… Continue reading
Cuba – Habana
I arrived at Gatwick very early in the morning, climbed sleepily off the Gatwick Express and waited for my friend Kati to arrive, reflecting that I would rather be literally anywhere else in… Continue reading
24 Hours in Paris
You know what they say about Paris? All that stuff about how it’s romantic and beautiful and always a good idea? Well if you believe all that then maybe you should stop reading… Continue reading
Vietnam – Nha Trang
I had a few problems getting my photos from my phone onto my computer so this last post has been waaaayy delayed. I’ve been home for just over a week and Asia already… Continue reading
Vietnam – Hoi An
From Sapa, we caught a night bus down to Ha Noi, spent a couple more hours exploring the Old Quarter and then caught another night bus to Hue. The Imperial citadel of Hue… Continue reading
Vietnam – Sapa
We arrived in Sapa at half past five in the morning after a long and bumpy journey on the night bus. We’d both slept pretty well but there’s nothing like stumbling out of… Continue reading
Vietnam – Halong Bay, Cat Ba Island
Instead of travelling to Halong City from Ha Noi, we decided to make our way to Cat Ba Island, which is in Lan Ha bay, a little further on but part of the… Continue reading
Vietnam – Ha Noi
After Kati left us to go back to England (sad times) Abs and I flew straight from Ho Chi Minh (which is in the southern end of Vietnam) to Ha Noi, right up… Continue reading
Vietnam – Mekong Delta
Abi (my sister) joined us in Vietnam just under a week ago and we had the best time running around Ho Chi Minh, eating loads of Pho, making her listen to our funny… Continue reading
Cambodia – Kampot (II) and Kep
Kampot has so much to offer – we stayed there for just four days and felt like we easily could have spent double that time exploring the city and the surrounding area. Our… Continue reading
Cambodia – Kampot
We arrived in Kampot late in the afternoon and it was almost dark by the time we were settled in our hostel and on our way into town. We’d been told by numerous… Continue reading
Cambodia – Koh Rong Samloem
Imagine any kind of tropical paradise, and you’d probably be picturing something a little bit like Koh Rong Samloem. Little brother to party island Koh Rong, Koh Rong Samloem has blue sea,… Continue reading
Cambodia – Sihanoukville, Otres Beach
It took us thirteen hours to reach Sihanoukville from Battambang, first on a ‘hotel bus’ to Phnom Penh and then in a minibus to the sprawling city. The hotel bus picked us up… Continue reading
Cambodia – Battambang
We arrived in Battambang in the torrential rain and by the time we had finally made it to our hostel we were completely soaked through, it was dark, and we were starving. We… Continue reading
Cambodia – Angkor Wat (adventures II)
Kati and I went ziplining through the forest above Angkor Wat. It was pretty incredible! We were really high up (above the canopy in most places) and the zip lines (ten in… Continue reading
Cambodia – Siem Reap and Angkor Wat
After a bumpy seven hour bus journey (along a road that hadn’t yet finished being built) we arrived in Siem Reap to neon signs, brightly lit markets and a whole street full of… Continue reading
Cambodia – Phnom Penh (part two)
It hasn’t taken us long to feel at home here – we’re used to the dust, the stares and haggling with the tuk tuk drivers. I really really like Phnom Penh and would… Continue reading
Cambodia – Phnom Penh
I was pretty nervous about the border crossing from Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh) to Cambodia (Phnom Penh). I thought that it would be somehow confusing or difficult, but in the end the bus… Continue reading
Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh stinks. But I kinda love it. It’s loud and smelly and busy and everybody seems to be playing a perpetual game of ‘chicken’ on the thousands of mopeds screaming around… Continue reading
Amsterdam (Twee)
Twee is actually the word for two in Dutch – how cute is that?! It was horribly rainy on our last full day in Amsterdam (boo!) so although we ate lots of yummy… Continue reading
Amsterdam (één)
To say that there are a lot of bikes in Amsterdam is sort of an understatement, in fact, to say that there are more bikes in Amsterdam than I have ever seen in… Continue reading
The Pirate is Two!
Happy Birthday to my lovely little blog, long may it prosper 😉 I started prettyvacantpirate to document my Gap Year, and since then I’ve written about all sorts of things, some more interesting than… Continue reading
Ireland, Dublin
I’m pretty disappointed that nobody has wished me ‘top o’ the mornin’ ‘ since Rob and I arrived in Dublin two days ago. Bitterly disappointed, in fact. Despite this set back, we’ve had… Continue reading
Water Baby
Ugh I’m so relaxed I can barely breathe. Turkey continues to be sunny and fantastic. I continue to be sleepy and increasingly interested in Turkish current affairs, or at least, the daily news… Continue reading
Sun Baby
I’m in Turkey! This is it; my final sunny, relaxing holiday, and then my feet will be on English soil for the forseeable future. The money I saved before April has done its… Continue reading
5.5 Koh Samui
My first impression of Koh Samui, besides the gorgeous beach right next to the pier where we arrived, was that it was big, hot, dusty, and apparently perpetually under construction. I love the… Continue reading
5.4 Koh Phangan
My phone informs me that it has been five days since I wrote about Koh Tao! I can’t believe how quickly the time has gone. We left Koh Tao and took the ferry… Continue reading
5.3 Koh Tao
It took us about seven hours to reach the island of Koh Tao, first by a frantic minibus journey to catch the coach, then a long drive, a ferry, a short walk, and… Continue reading
5.2 Cha Am
I’m not gonna lie, I’ve been wearing bikinis underneath my clothes ever since we arrived in Thailand, just so that as soon as we came in range of a beach I could run… Continue reading
5.1 Bangkok, Thailand
Our flight from Tokyo was pretty smooth and after a brief stop in Beijing we were on our way to Bangkok. The flight was quite turbulent, and even though I am not at… Continue reading
4.4 Tokyo
Just thought I’d add on a few of the things we did on our last day in Tokyo, before I head to bed to try and make the 4.30am start tomorrow a little… Continue reading
4.3 Nagoya
Our hotel in Nagoya is situated just a few blocks away from the centre, and wandering aimlessly in almost any direction will bring you to the neon jungle. On our first evening we… Continue reading