Reasons for Reasons
I was ‘raised’ – to use a phrase from our American friends – in south Lakeland and it has always remained home. Even though I left to study when I was 18 and didn’t return untill September 2010. A lot of years.
During those interim years I have had a great life, travelled and met some wonderful people and also have a managed to bring up my son fairly successfully. So, it although it was sort of ‘on the plan’, my move back North was not without trepidation.
As part of my ‘self affirmation’ that I had made the right decision I started a Facebook album ‘Reasons To Move North’. This has had wonderful comments from my friends but I never had the courage to make it public. Then recently I went on a Travel Writing Course with Zoe ,and much to my delight and surprise received more affirmation from positive comments on my travel writing. Something else which has always remained strictly within closed leaves.
A mindful review of my first year here followed and I realised that I had had an amazing twelve months. Yes, I have travelled away, but I have also done more here in the North West than I would have previously thought possible. And I have had so many visitors! People like it here! I have become a guide for friends and acquaintances who then spread the word about how wonderful the Lake District is. This led to my providing itineraries for weekends or longer visits. Some I accompanied, others I simply provided a ‘bespoke’ itinerary, with or with accommodation booked.
So, now it’s time to go Global!
And now I have built my own blog I have used my technical, from a previous life in IT, to build one for the Howgill Harriers. If you would like one put together then please contact me for a quote.
Two Weeks in Sabah
Two weeks in Sabah, Borneo have flown by. Days spent spotting wildlife in scattered remnants of rainforest. Followed by the grand finale of hiking up Mount Kinabalu. A lifetime of memories, each worthy of it’s own blog page and album of pictures. But for an initial taste, here’s the itinerary and a few of those images. The island of Borneo divides in to the Kingdom of Bruni, Indonesia and Sarawak and Sabah. The latter two being part of Malaysia. All four of the destinations, were in the northern area of Sabah. I flew into Sandakan...
read moreAlways Summer in Saigon
A few flowers on the trees to remind the UK that sprint is just around the corner! Though I know many of you are enjoying the snow! If you can name the flowers, or the bat, please let me know. I have no idea! Hiding in the flowers I found a tiny bat
read moreBánh cuốn – Spring Rolls
Back in the kitchen for another cooking lesson. Spring rolls or bánh cuốn. These I think I may be able to make at home. Provided I can get my hands on some rice paper. The filling was minced pork, onion, garlic shredded sweet potato. All of these finely chopped and mixed. Hands are best for this sticky job. Add a few large shrimp or prawns. Then the skill comes in. Trying to roll the ingredients neatly. Not looking too appetising at this stage, bear with me. My first attempt compared with that of my teacher....
read moreParks, Gardens and the Zoo
Among the rattle of bikes, screeching of buses and malodorous fumes, Saigon has a liberal smattering of gardens, parks and green spaces. Well tended, neatly trimmed. Blades of grass of uniform height with hedges so straight I almost expect to find Queen, a la Alice, to be painting the roses. Hardly wild places, they still provide welcome oases of calm and cool. Generally you just walk in and wander round. Enjoy the shade and the well tended lawns. The ‘Botanic Gardens’ is the exception. But for around £1.75 you will get two trips in...
read moreNew Year Preparation – Tết
Having just had the quietest and I must say cheapest, Festive Season ever, I am about to enter another. Vietnam, always up for a party, entered into the Christmas and New Year spirt with decorations and parties but their true celebrations have yet to begin. Tết Nguyên Đán, Lunar New Year will take place at the end of February. Shops are bright with gold and red. Vietnamese friends have already started cooking special cakes and savouries. In one kitchen today large jars of vegetables were soaking and marinading for Tết recipes....
read moreExtraordinary to Extra Ordinary – Saigon
Already more than twenty days into the New Year! From writing about two or three hikes a week I am shrunk to one ‘every so often’. I thought today that nothing of any great significance had happened since the first of January. What was extraordinary a few months ago has become ordinary. January last year and I posted about a day of haphazard weather in the North Cumbria hills. Dark dramatic sky, snow, wind, cold. A trip outside wrapped in all the hi tech stuff possible to protect me from the elements. I never imagined that one...
read moreCooking Bánh Xeo
I am frequently asked ‘what do you like most about Ho Chi Minh’. The answer: food and people. And in the absence of mountains my ‘social media’ posts of one kind or another frequently feature food either cooked or uncooked. As luck would have it one of the lovely people I have met is a fantastic cook and today I had a cookery lesson. How to make bánh xeo, crispy pancakes. Not that I’ll ever be able to reproduce them. My excuses a) the lack of ingredients, b) the rather unique cooking stove and c) they are very hard to get right....
read moreNew Year’s Day 2015
As the the inner districts of Ho Chi Minh sprawl to nearly 500km2 , and I live pretty close to the centre, it is hardly a hop and skip to see something a little greener than the concrete jungle. Thumbing through guidebooks and internet pages Cần Giờ Mangrove Forest and the Vam Sat eco centre only around 50km for the city and so hopefully ‘doable’ in a day. With maybe just a little help and local knowledge from friends. My first experience of public transport Vietnamese style. Riding my motorbike I have developed an aversion to...
read moreFourteen from 2014
Facebook and Google have both taken it upon themselves to define my year, not quite as I would have done. So I thought I’d give my own interpretation. One photo for one month. That was far too difficult. There have been way too many wonderful moments. In then end I managed fourteen fifteen. My year began in Milan with cold, crisp days and brilliant blue sky, window shopping for things too expensive to buy. Back home I was still tramping my way over the most northern Wainrights. Looking back it certainly wasn’t as cold as it looks to be...
read moreHigh Rise Horticulture
Houses packed as close as Lego bricks with little room for a blade of grass let alone a garden in parts of Ho Chi Minh. But up on roof tops, hidden from view some residents practice high rise horticulture. One of my students is a cook and passionate about food. Flowers and vegetables are cultivated high above the traffic crammed streets. Orchids run riot. Comfortable in heat and humidity they thrive to a point where Ms Mai resorts to heavy pruning to keep them under control. A far cry from my coaxing and pandering in attempt to keep...
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