The final stop on my trip was Laos, where I got to visit Luang Prabang for a couple of days, and was able to take an overnight bike tour out to a small village up the Mekong.
Category: trip
Finally, after Hoi An, we went down to Hue, the old Imperial Capital.
After Ha Long Bay, we went to Hoi An, a lovely little UNESCO World Heritage town, which is just great if you can get in between the cruise ships.
Our first stop in Vietnam was Ha Long Bay, where we got to do a little kayaking before enjoying the scenery and the sunset from our boat.
In December, on the way to Vietnam, I was able to visit Kyoto for a couple of days.
There are a number of impressive shrines, gardens and palaces, all easily accessible by bike, which most hotels and Ryokans are happy to lend.
In May, a few of us went to Barcelona for the Primavera Sound festival. On the way, we stopped first in Lisbon.
IMG_1493
IMG_1495
IMG_1499
IMG_1500
IMG_1502
IMG_1506
IMG_20140526_131325
IMG_20140526_133030
IMG_20140526_124730
IMG_20140526_124543
IMG_20140525_180749
IMG_20140526_125341
IMG_20140525_180944
IMG_20140526_124500
IMG_20140526_141850
IMG_20140526_124620
IMG_20140526_124656
IMG_20140526_131322
And then quickly through Porto.
IMG_1508
IMG_1509
IMG_1515
IMG_1517
IMG_1518
IMG_1519
IMG_1521
IMG_1522
IMG_1523
IMG_1524
IMG_1527
IMG_1533
IMG_1534
IMG_1536
IMG_1538
IMG_1539
IMG_1540
IMG_1541
IMG_1543
IMG_1544
Before finally getting to Barcelona.
IMG_1555
IMG_1557
IMG_1561
IMG_1566
IMG_1567
IMG_1569
IMG_1570
IMG_1573
IMG_1574
IMG_1575
IMG_1576
IMG_1578
IMG_1587
IMG_1589
IMG_1591
IMG_1593
IMG_1595
IMG_1597
IMG_1598
IMG_1599
Where I managed to get out for a short ride on the last day.
The history of Malta runs way deeper than I had known before getting there, though I’d sort of purposefully under-researched the trip beforehand. I’d known a little about the WWII period, when it was critical in the Brits’ supply lines into North Africa, and the Italians and the Germans bombed it nearly flat, and a little less about how it figured in the post-crusades Mediterranean conflicts between the Ottoman and Holy Roman empires in the 16th century. But it turns out there’s been civilization there since the neolithic, 5000 years ago, it figured in the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage, and St Paul shipwrecked there on his way from Alexandria to Rome.
Birgu
Our base in Malta was in Birgu, the old harbor town which the Knights of St John successfully defended in the Great Siege of Malta in 1565.
Hagar Qim
Hagar Qim is a complex of neolithic monuments on the southern shore of Malta, and at more than 5000 years old, may be the oldest free standing stone monument on earth.
Valletta
Valletta is the new harbor city on Malta, new being a very relative term, since it’s been developed since the 16th century. It’s major attraction is St John’s Co-Cathedral, but the highlight for us was the museum featuring an extensive collection of arms and armor from the 16th-17th centuries.
Mdina
Mdina is the old city of the interior of the island, and is everything you expect from a medieval city, from the walls and the moat to the small winding streets. It’s also home to Malta’s other Cathedral, St Paul’s, built on the site the man himself is said to have stayed while shipwrecked on the island.
The cliffs near Dingli
