Category: My blog
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Old Muscat
Alcohol purchased and discreetly stashed, we arrived at the hotel Panorama, based in the Panorama shopping mall. The first thing that struck me about Omanis was how nice they are. Softly spoken and really helpful. The second thing was how many of the men wear the dishdashah. (Long white robe, usually topped off with a…
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Oman – planning and flying
Quite frankly I was even less prepared for this holiday than I usually am. When someone dies, there is a lot to do and the past few weeks had been very hectic. I packed a few hours before we left home for our flight, having been interrupted by a mad dash to the solicitors after…
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oman
I wasn’t going to write a blog about Oman. After the passing of my mother I just wanted a quiet holiday to reflect and recharge. However, my mum was a keen reader of my travel ramblings and I think she would have found this country fascinating. So here it is and I dedicate it to…
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Porto
Well the venture into Porto never happened. Too tired and too lazy I’m afraid. After a delicious and huge breakfast at the hotel TRYP, we laid out on bed chairs by the pool like a pair of beached whales until the last possible minute before we had to leave for the airport. Our journey home…
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Ponte da Lima – so good we visited twice
We checked out of Gerês this morning and drove to Ponte da Lima to do some walking along the river. We did a circular route. We only intended to walk 10 kilometres but it ended up being double that. How do these things happen? Mystifying. Anyway it was a beautiful day although the trail itself…
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Gerês- Peneda-Gerês National Park
Something happened to my blog yesterday and it disappeared so here’s a quick recap. Basically the park is meant to be the most protected in Portugal so we were expecting a quiet place with a few hikers, similar to Manteigas. How wrong we were! Absolutely mobbed, mainly by people who aren’t the least bit interested…
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Praia da Amorosa and Viana do Costelo
This morning I realised that what I thought had been a thoughtful gift of wine and beer in the fridge from the owner of our “apartment “ turned out to be the equivalent of a mini bar. I discovered the chit underneath another piece of paper, detailing the prices of everything in the fridge. Needless…
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Travel day and Viana do Castelo
We left Manteigas on a clear, sunny morning but it didn’t take long for some low cloud to roll in. This wasn’t helpful on the road to Gouveia ( yup, same road we came in on, still as scary as the first time)but we made it ok. It was a dull, cloudy drive but we…
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PR2MTG Boar Route Manteigas
Another lovely day, another hike. This time our walk took us up to the Poca Inferno waterfall then a climb to 1306 meters, over into a plateau full of boulders and alpine flowers and then back down into Manteigas . We only saw two other people walking this route which was approximately 11 kilometres in…
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PR6 MTG Glacier Route Manteigas
If you like a firm mattress, Hotel Berne is the place for you. I don’t, and I spent the night feeling as though I was sleeping on a door. Not since Cambodia have I slept on such an uncomfortable bed. It took several coffees before I felt ready to attempt our walk of the day…
Middle-aged flash packers 